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C4's entry into the radio market comes at a critical time for the medium. Despite the early adoption of DAB, UK radio audiences are falling. This fall is marked amongst young listeners, who are switching their listening to web radio stations (such as 'Last FM') and mobile MP3 players. The greatest fall, however, is in local radio where traditionally commercial stations have been very successful. Those local radio listeners who are not moving onto the internet are generally switching over to BBC Radio 1 and 2. They are generally not taking up DAB Digital Radio despite its widespread availability.
"The future of radio is digital. To date, however, digital radio has failed to meet its full potential. Listening hours are falling and young people are listening to less radio. They are not ‘turning off,’ but radio has not played the same role in their lives as it has for previous generations. The internet and their mobile phones have assumed more importance in their quest for knowledge, entertainment and communication."
4Digital Multiplex Application, March 2007
Whilst many 16-34 year olds listen to music on new digital media, they are more likely to download podcasts of radio programmes than they are to use a DAB radio set. Since the launch of DAB, commercial radio has steadily lost share to the BBC. Whilst some of the BBC's lead is due to the loyalty older listeners have for its speech based output, the new opportunities offered by DAB have not been capitalised on by the commercial sector. What take up there has been of DAB has been down to BBC investment and cross-media promotion.
"The BBC has steadily increased its share of radio listening and dominates the radio market with 86% of all listening to national speech radio. In a pluralist and democratic society, citizens and consumers should be able to enjoy a viable alternative to the BBC with in-depth news and current affairs, dramas, comedy and documentaries."
DAB has at this point reached less than 20% of households and most of the 5 million sets that exist are secondary 'kitchen' radios. It is into this 'stalled' situation that C4's bid comes. C4's successful marketing track record and popularity with younger and 'upmarket' audiences give it a chance of developing a 'critical mass' of new services that will make the digital radio a ‘must have’ device (rather than ‘nice to have’).
"Commercial radio in the UK is at a crossroads. It is time for a change: radio needs to innovate again. 4Digital Group believes it can secure the future for commercial digital radio by bringing together a compelling blend of new, diverse and engaging radio services, fresh talent and ideas, and the marketing expertise, relationships and confidence to put radio back where it belongs – at the heart of a multi-media, multi-platform UK."
The 4Digital Group
"The 4Digital Group believes that radio in the UK has a strong, confident future. Digital radio – with its potential to provide new services, interactivity, electronic programme guides, colour screens, instant music downloads and enhanced advertising – can transform the listening experience yet still retain radio’s enduring strengths."
4 Digital Group is a multi-media alliance combining leading UK radio, television, publishing, retail and technology companies. The group is led by Channel 4 Radio and its other shareholders are: Emap, UTV, Chrysalis, BSkyB, Carphone Warehouse and the UBC Media Group. Strategic partners in the bid include the BBC, Universal and BT. Station content will come from organisations including: Disney, Penguin, Gaydar, The Princes Trust, The NME, The Financial Times and Club Asia.
The 4 Digital Group will launch with eight new national services available from the start of the 12 year multiplex licence period: E4 Radio, Talk Radio, Closer, Sky News Radio, Sunrise, Virgin Radio Viva, Original and Radio Disney. This will be the first time that so many national services will have been launched at the same time. A further two C4 stations will launch within the first year of the multiplexe's operation. The first of these will be Channel 4 Radio, closely followed by Pure4. By phasing the launch dates, Channel 4 Radio hopes to maximise the impact of an extended marketing campaign for each service in a similar way to how the BBC launched its new digital radio services in 2002.
'The Podcast Service' will offer downloadable content from a wide range of programme providers. These will include: The Financial Times, IMG, The NME and Penguin, as well as material from existing radio companies such as Gaydar and Club Asia.
The C4 Channels
Channel 4 Radio Limited will operate three services, each one competing directly with the BBC.
E4 Radio is predominantly a music service aimed at a 15 to 29 year old audience.
Channel 4 Radio is a speech-based service for a 30 to 54 year old audience. There will be an emphasis on news, current affairs, comedy, drama and documentary.
Pure4 is a music and speech service targeting 30 to 49 year olds with 'an eclectic range of music, complemented by intelligent conversation about the arts and contemporary culture.'
E4 Radio: Connectivity, Community and Personal Creativity
"Young people are listening to less radio. 15 to 24 year olds are listening on average 12% less than three years ago, and for the 15 to 19 age group the decline is even sharper – a 15% decline in three years... This generation of 16 to 24s has grown up with the web, expecting a high level of interaction and instant access to what they want. Radio may have been the original community medium, but for this audience community means social networking on MySpace and Bebo and MSN instant messaging... We believe that radio can play a powerful role for this age group, but only by ripping up the rule book and starting again; putting connectivity, community and personal creativity at the heart of radio."
E4 Radio is a music and entertainment service, with an 'irreverent attitude and cross genre music appeal.' It is designed to appeal to 15 to 29 year olds, with a focus on the '18 year old mindset.'
It will attempt to 'blur the traditional broadcaster-listener boundaries' by making P2P (peer to peer) networking central to the schedule. All the elements of the station will be decided in collaboration with the audience. This approach has already been used succesfully by E4 television.
"This radical approach to engaging an audience has already been central to the success of E4 which now has, by a large margin, the biggest youth audience of any digital television channel. Elements of the on-air packaging for E4 have been designed by the audience for a number of years. The youth drama 'Skins', a phenomenal success for the channel, was created using a panel of young writers from the target audience and an online community of fans was developed on social network sites before the show went to air."
To manage this approach E4 Radio will have a production team in which the 'online editor' will work alongside the 'on-air editor' to link content on-air, on-line and mobile content. E4 Radio will have mobile production units who will constantly roam the country and engage with the audience. 'Peer presenters' will be chosen from the E4 Radio community as it develops.
"As a result, it is likely that presenters will be the same age group as their audience – a genuine opportunity for young people to be heard on national radio as never before."
In line with C4's remit, E4 Radio is designed to be 'serve the community,' but in new and distinctive ways.
Channel 4 Radio: Intelligent, Informed, Provocative
"Channel 4 Radio will be a contemporary speech station with public service values infusing a blend of lively debate and entertainment. It will be driven by intelligent, informed, provocative ideas, opinion and conversation. It will challenge convention and contribute to shaping and reflecting an informed civil society in Britain. In the same way that Channel 4 Television has always exceeded its public service remit, and constantly sought to refresh it for the benefit of the audience, Channel 4 Radio will bring a new kind of public service to radio."
If E4 could be described as 'Radio 1 for the Google generation,' Channel 4 Radio could be described as a 'less stuffy, more inclusive Radio 4.' Just as E4 radio benefits from its association with E4 TV, Channel 4 Radio hopes to benefit from its association with the widely respected Channel 4 News.
"At the heart of Channel 4 Radio will be one of the best resourced news services in British commercial radio, with the unique advantage of working in close co-operation with Channel 4's television and online news operations."
Four 'heavyweight' news programmes per day will be at the heart of the schedule. The morning news programme in particular will be a very important feature, competing with Radio 4's Today programme. 'As one of the most mature democracies in the world, Britain needs more than one heavyweight radio news programme in the morning.'
Other current affairs and documentary programming will be linked with Channel 4 TV output 'enriching the audience's experience in both media.' C4 Radio will also hope that it can draw the 'ABC1' demographic that the TV channel commands, if so C4 Radio will be very attractive to advertisers. The target demographic of 39-55 is also very significant, 63% of BBC Radio 4's audience is 55+ and research has shown that younger listeners are increasingly put off by the 'stuffy' elements of R4. There are currently no other high quality speech services targeting younger adults.
It is also well known that the R4 audience is, in the words of Greg Dyke, "horribly white." It is hoped that C4 will bring the diversity of audience that it acheives in its TV output.
"It will work... to showcase a range of voices to represent the UK’s rich diversity of communities, regions and lifestyles. It will aim to be more inclusive and outward-facing than the BBC."
Pure4: From the margins into the mainstream.
"The way we all consume music has changed dramatically in the past five years. Music is more readily accessible than ever before. We can now carry our entire music collections around with us. Online music shops and online radio stations... allow us easy access to more of the music we like, and quickly introduce us to music we have never heard. Music knowledge is no longer the preserve of experts; it is open to everyone to discover for themselves... commercial radio has failed to keep up with these developments. It has all too often stuck with the tired formula of a limited and repetitive playlist and formulaic presentation... Pure4 will combine music discovery and rediscovery seamlessly. Whether a single, an album track or a live session, from the most established artists to the newest releases, the playlist will be driven by the quality of the track rather than its genre or era.
Pure4 is intended to be 'an accessible station for knowledgeable music lovers' aged 30 to 49.This is a large audience that feels itself 'too old for Radio 1 and too young for Radio 2.' As well as music programming will range across contemporary culture including: art, theatre, film ,books and entertainment.
The service’s remit will extend far beyond music, it will be a place where the audience can find out about the arts, contemporary culture and entertainment scene, from films and plays, to books and exhibitions. Pure4 will present hourly news bulletins, with longer news programmes at key timesduring the day and evening. Online Pure4 will build a community centred on a love of music and culture and their contributions to the online forums will inform the on air content throughout the day.
The BBC has attempted to attract this type of audience to R3 and R6 (with limited success) but no commercial music station exists for this intelligent, 'upmarket' audience.
Marketing
Channel 4, Sky and the BBC are joining forces because all are hoping that 4 Digital Group can do for digital radio what Freeview did for digital television. It took the BBC's support of Freeview to make it happen, the success of the service, however, benefited all broadcasters. The 4Digital Group has made an agreement with the BBC on the development of DAB, which it is hoped will give digital radio the consumer breakthrough that failed to happen after the BBC launched its digital services in 2002.
"Channel 4's television and online presence in homes across the UK, as well as its experience in successfully launching new channels – E4, More4 and Film4; Emap's wide range of national publications, which provide opportunities for brand leverage and cross-promotion; Carphone Warehouse’s 650 highstreet retail outlets; and Sky’s substantial subscriber base in more than eight million homes across the UK. 4Digital Group firmly believes that the industry needs to move quickly and effectively to drive early promotion in the first three years of the multiplex. It is during this critical time that the UK will be undergoing its transition to digital television, and radio must remain at the forefront of a converging multi-media environment."
New technology
In 2006, DAB radio sales accounted for over one quarter of all radios sold in the UK. The persistence of analogue radio sales shows that consumers are not yet convinced that DAB is a 'must have' technology in itself. DAB was initially promoted (somewhat misleadingly) as being of higher quality than analogue radio. What has not yet been marketed is the range of new interactive technologies that digital radio can carry.
The 4 Digital Group has secured partnerships with technology companies that will 'drive the adoption of new and more sophisticated digital devices into mobile phones, car radios, personal computers and Wi-Fi systems.'
These sophisticated radios will be able to carry a range of new services provides by 4Digital stations. These will include:
- Dynamic labelling and intellitext
- Enhanced electronic programme guides
- 'Slideshows'
- Podcasts
- Music downloads
- Mobile television and video services
- ‘Red button’ interactive technology
These services and the devices that will carry them, may help Radio become a part of 'high value, high tech' mobile technology.
New opportunities for independent production
Channel 4's biggest ambition is to do for radio what it has done for TV. If the commissioning structure of radio can be changed in line with these ambitions then the radio audience will grow as new talent and creativity is encouraged in the medium.
"Currently, commercial radio offers few opportunities for independents; producers must rely on the BBC as the sole commissioner for many genres. Channel 4 Radio Limited intends to change that by commissioning independents to produce many of the distinctive elements within key day-parts and built-programmes across its three new services. Over 25 years, Channel 4 Television has built a remarkable relationship with the independent television production sector – nurturing and developing companies in every region and nation of the UK and providing a platform for a genuine diversity of voices. That approach and experience will inform Channel 4 Radio Limited’s relationship with independent radio producers. Channel 4 Radio Limited’s presence in the independent commissioning market will be at least as great as the BBC’s, creating a more open, competitive and creative environment for producers."
