I have got an update on both storys:
GCap/Global Radio update:
Quote:
GCAP Media is on Wednesday expected to be taken over in an agreed £371m deal by Charles Allen’s Global Radio, creating a dominant commercial radio group to challenge the BBC.
The owner of Classic FM and Capital Radio in London is finalising details of the deal after holding a board meeting to discuss it on Thursday.
Fru Hazlitt, GCap’s chief executive, is expected to leave once the takeover is complete. After only three months in the job, she can walk away with close to £1m. That sum is made up of a year’s salary and bonus in lieu of notice and gains on the purchase of GCap shares, which have risen 60% since her appointment and the subsequent approach in December.
Global, which already owns the Heart and Galaxy stations, is expected to sell off stations in London and the Midlands to appease competition concerns. A combination of the two companies will give it a 47% share of radio advertising that is likely to attract the attention of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.
GCap’s management team is said to be deeply disappointed not to have been given the chance to lead its own turnround. It was created in 2005 with the merger of Capital Radio and GWR.
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Virgin Radio update:
Quote:
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Virgin Radio is also about to change hands. Parent company SMG hopes to raise close to £70m, with UTV the favourite to win the auction.
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Full story here:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3602101.ece
Info from Timesonline.
---------- Post added at 17:57 ---------- Previous post was at 17:39 ----------
GCap has also told Ofcom that TheJazz will closed on the 31st of March:
Quote:
1.3 The national DAB service provided by The Jazz (operated by GCap Media) is due to close on 31 March 2008. This service had proved popular attracting 364,000 listeners a week. Upon the closure of the Jazz, Classic FM (also owned by GCap Media) has stated that it will provide jazz programming between midnight and 2am each day, although it has no obligation to do so in its licence and could drop this at any time. No other jazz programming is available on commercial radio either on FM or DAB in the UK.
1.4 Ofcom would welcome the provision of a 24 hour a day jazz service on DAB in London, the North-west and elsewhere in the UK, either by GMG Radio or any other operator, as this is a clear gap in the market (and one not provided for specifically by the BBC).
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Info from Ofcom.
Here is the link for that story:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/cond...ormat/summary/[/quote]