It’s Friday night, and the De’Lacy track “Hideaway” is booming out of the speakers. It’s a song featured as part of the Club Classics show heard on national Hot Adult Contemporary network Heart, found at 106.2 MHz across London.
If the mid-1990s “banger” isn’t your style, there’s always contemporary dance tracks over on CHR network Capital FM; love songs on Smooth Radio; Friday Night ’50s on Gold; or L’Heure Exquise with Emma Johnson & John Lenehan on commercial Classical network Classic FM.
Still not satisfied? How about a little Elastica, Doves and classic David Bowie over on Radio X? What about Krept & Konan & WizKid offering up some U.K.-flavored hip-hop on Capital Xtra?
Music not your thing? “Leading Britain’s Conversation” is popular Talk network LBC discussing holidays to Portugal, now open from a COVID-19 travel ban.
No matter your choice, consumption to each of these eight radio brands means you’re supporting a British audio media giant that wants a greater stake in iHeartMedia.
Each of these eight brands are owned by Global Music & Entertainment, led by Ashley Tabor-King and bankrolled by his father, Michael Tabor.
The elder Tabor wants FCC “pre-permission,” if you will, to hold up to a 49.99% non-voting interest in iHeart.
Here’s the rub: iHeartMedia has petitioned the Commission to allow Tabor’s Bahamas-based fund associated with Global to have up to 9.99% interest in iHeart.
As the two parties squabble over how many £1 notes are converted into U.S. dollars, Global can safely declare that it is Europe’s largest radio company and home to brands entertaining some 25 million citizens of Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales via traditional radio or on DAB+.
The similarities to iHeartRadio are striking, notwithstanding the fact that the “Heart” brand is one of Global’s biggest.
“As well as our national shows, people across the UK wake up to local breakfast shows on Smooth, and end the working day with local drive-time shows on Capital and Heart,” Global notes, using a broadcast schedule not unlike a iHeartMedia-owned music station.
There are also branded events — something iHeart has excelled at. And, there’s an outdoor division and digital advertising exchange DAX.
AUDIO CONTENT, WITH PASSION
“People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”
That statement appears on a giant blue-and-white sign hanging at the reception desk of Global’s 30 Leicester Square headquarters in London, in the heart of an entertainment district that includes an adjacent TGIFridays and statues of Mr. Bean and Paddington Bear.
It powers a 14-year-old company formed through the acquisition of now-defunct radio station owners including GCap Media, GMG Radio and Chrysalis Radio, Global’s first acquisition. This £170 million deal, in June 2007, gave the newly formed company ownership of the Heart brand, and that of LBC; two additional brands were phased out.
In October 2008, Global’s position as an owner of radio stations across the U.K. expanded in a big way, as it agreed to acquire GCap for £375 million — giving it national CHR brand Capital FM and Classic FM, Radio X (then Xfm, with signals in London and Manchester), Gold, digital brand Chill, and what is today Capital Xtra (formerly Choice FM).
The GCap deal was cleared after divestments, in order to adhere to U.K. regulatory ownership policies. But, Global wasn’t done from its domination plan. In June 2012, Global agreed to purchase GMG Radio for £70 million, handing it the Smooth brand and the former Real Radio, merged into Heart. The deal triggered a bidding war and competitive feud against Bauer Media, Global’s chief commercial competitor in London and other markets across Great Britain.
Just how many listeners are there to Global’s stations?
That’s unknown. RAJAR, the non-profit radio audience measurement operation serving Great Britain, has frozen its reporting at Q1 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heading in to the pandemic, Capital was on a downtrend; LBC was on the rise. Heart was the biggest national commercial network; Classic FM had particular strength against the BBC.
In London, LBC was a dominant leader, with Heart 106.2 in a tight battle with Bauer’s Magic 105.4. But, when isolating morning drive, LBC, Heart and Capital FM 95.8 were a solid 1-2-3 in the Quarter 1 2020 ratings — a huge statement for Global.
Given its prowess in just 14 years, Global could be celebrating its 15th year with a fuller heart full of riches.
And, they could very well involve American greenbacks and iHeartMedia’s properties.
