UK media group axes digital radio stations
Gcap Media, the UK’s largest commercial radio broadcaster, today axed its two digital-only radio stations after admitting the medium had not matched up to expectations.
Planet Rock and theJazz will close as Gcap instead focuses on its core FM brands such as Classic FM and Capital 95.8.
Chief executive Fru Hazlitt labelled digital radio as “economically unviable” and also announced plans to sell its stake in national digital radio platform Digital One.
Gcap has lost patience after spending £8m (€10.7m) in the last financial year on digital radio, which accounts for 9% of all radio listeners.
The company has 15 million FM listeners and Ms Hazlitt said: “FM is the backbone of the radio industry and we believe it compares favourably to any of the digital platforms currently available to the consumer in terms of quality. It is also the source of the majority of our revenue.”
She added: “If digital is going to be viable on a local and regional level, it will have to be on a much lower cost platform.”
Despite GCap’s exit from the market, BBC Radio and the 4 Digital consortium - which has been chosen to operate the second national digital broadcasting platform – confirmed their commitment to digital radio in the UK and are looking at ways of encouraging quicker consumer take-up.
