After a summer of relentless criticism from commercial rivals accusing it of impinging on their territory, the BBC has done little to ingratiate itself with the radio industry with its decision to replace outgoing veteran Radio 2 breakfast DJ Sir Terry Wogan with Chris Evans.
In particular, the combination of Evans with Chris Moyles, his breakfast counterpart on Radio 1, has caused disquiet among commercial stations trying to attract younger listeners -
and the advertisers that chase them.
Stuart Taylor, chief executive of GMG Radio, which owns Smooth Radio, accuses the BBC of deliberately appointing a younger DJ to attract more young listeners, the main target audience for advertisers and commercial stations, to what has long been a station with an older listener profile. ‘The BBC does distort the market,' He says. ‘Radio 2 is being taken to a younger audience. Replacing Wogan with Evans is on that strategy.'
Digital opportunities
Taylor's view is shared by Clive Dickens, chief operating officer of Absolute Radio, who says the crux of the problem is the BBC's ability to pay more for on-air talent. He wants to push the issue. ‘The BBC should be forced to disclose how much it is paying for talent,' he says. ‘There are already discussions about whether [BBC director-general] Mark Thompson should be earning four times the salary of the prime minister. The BBC sets the market rate and pays significantly more than commercial radio.'
That said, there are tentative signs of optimism in the hard-pressed commercial radio sector that the expansion of digital radio will allow it to fight the BBC on more equal terms.
‘Digital radio levels the playing field and will make it easier for commercial stations to compete with the BBC,' says Tony Moretta, chief executive of the Digital Radio Development Bureau. ‘On analogue, there isn't the space to take regional stations national, but companies such as Bauer Media will be able to use DAB to take their radio brands, such as Q and Heat, national.'
Digital radio is beginning to gain critical mass. The platform had a 20.8% share of all radio listening in the second quarter, up from 17.1% in that period last year, according to Rajar. The government has indicated that it is prepared to set a switch-off date for analogue radio transmissions.
There are things commercial radio thinks it can do that the BBC can not, such as issues-based campaigns. GMG, for example, is devoting a day of programming across its national network of Smooth, Real and Rock stations to the Help for Heroes charity for wounded servicemen and women.
Equally, some commercial stations believe their smaller scale and regional status are a strength. Travis Baxter, managing director of radio at Bauer, says: ‘Our aim is to engage our audience at a local level. So we want stars in local markets, such as Mike Toolan, who presents our breakfast show in Manchester with Chelsea Norris on Key 103.'
While the commercial radio sector has already been forced to undergo a period of consolidation to survive, the BBC's decision to continue to aggressively schedule against it will not have eased any of the pressure. With greater DAB penetration, and evidence from BBC chairman Michael Lyons that there may be soul-searching at the corporation over how far it is distorting the market, there is hope that, in the mid- to long-term, commercial radio's future holds more than just further cost-cutting and consolidation.