Last month, Global Radio announced that it had exited the joint venture – a deal inherited from the firm Global acquired, Chrysalis Radio. Now TalkSport owner UTV is looking to take Global’s place in the planned service.
The Irish outfit was already involved in the second digital multiplex with a resurrected version of Talk Radio, which was repositioned as a sport-focused station in 2000 under the watch of former chief Kelvin MacKenzie.
The reformed Talk Radio would provide the manpower and facilities to create content for Sky News Radio, while the two stations would be a good fit to be sold together.
UTV Radio’s chief executive, Scott Taunton, declined to comment when approached by Media Week.
But the group is known to have had conversations with Sky News over the venture, which was left without essential funding after Global walked away.
Global Radio, which inherited the deal from Chrysalis, walked away from the planned venture last month, but is still looking to play a role in some capacity.
UTV has been striving to increase its radio footprint for some time.
In January this year, merger talks with Virgin Radio owner SMG broke down following a dispute over pensions.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)