UK

Welsh telecoms company Ogi has signed a new deal with two of south Wales’s community radio stations in a new cross-station partnership.
From this month, Ogi will sponsor breakfast on both Bro Radio in the Vale of Glamorgan and GTFM in the Valleys.
Commenting on the new partnership, Ogi’s Brand Marketing Director, Sarah Vining, said: “Our brand has become synonymous with community-driven partnerships – and that’s something we’re very proud of.
“We jumped at the chance to continue to support local radio stations, like Bro Radio, in an area where we’re building our network. We’ve already funded their St Athan transmitter and supported a number of their events, including the recent community awards.
“Sponsoring the breakfast shows on both Bro Radio and GTFM feels like a natural fit for us. All three are about connecting communities: they do it through music and chat, and we do it digitally with our full fibre services. Together, we’re powering-up local communities, strengthening the sense of belonging to the place we call home.”
Nathan Spackman Bro Radio’s Operations Director said: “Community Radio stations like Bro Radio and GTFM are embedded in their communities, so this partnership gives companies a chance to access audience that are harder to reach through larger brands, affordably and easily.
“We’re delighted to welcome Ogi on air as our partners for Vale Breakfast, as we look to continue waking the Vale of Glamorgan up with local news, information and great music every single morning.”
Terry Mann, Station Manager at GTFM, added: “It’s great to welcome Ogi on board as the new sponsor of Valleys Breakfast. By working with Bro Radio, we’re able to provide radio coverage across much of southeast Wales for advertisers of all sizes, with the revenue generated helping us to continue to deliver high quality local radio, offer new opportunities to volunteers and support our communities.”
Since 2023, both stations have been able to offer both FM and DAB coverage to listeners and advertisers across Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan and the Valleys in southeast Wales.
Ogi is currently rolling out a new full fibre broadband network in places like the Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf, offering next-generation fibre to the premises services, often for the very first time. […]

A new consortium has been created to apply for the East Antrim small-scale DAB licence.
The team behind East Antrim SSDAB includes Blast106, Belfast 89 and Sunshine 1049 who have already launched the Lagan SSDAB Mux earlier this year covering Greater Belfast.
Sean Og Mac Braoin, Launch Coordinator for East Antrim said at the launch of East Antrim SSDAB’s bid earlier this week: “The experience that launching and successfully operating the Greater Belfast DAB Mux puts us in an unrivalled position to guarantee the success of a DAB multiplex for the people of Larne, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey.
“For radio stations it also means that they can choose to be on the East Antrim Mux only or to expand across the wider region from Lisburn to Larne, something we can uniquely offer.”
Chairman of East Antrim SSDAB is local Newtownabbey man, Chris Barber who is also a director of Blast106. Chris is confident of the success of SSDAB in the East Antrim region saying: “I’ve been involved in local broadcasting in Belfast for almost 20 years so it will be nice to bring that experience and those contacts to my home area and making sure that local people from Larne to Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus to Ballyclare will have a raft of new local radio stations to enjoy with varied music and speech output.
“To quote a famous Irish chat show host, there’s one for everyone in the audience.”
East Antrim SSDAB has signed up 11 of the 24 stations that the mux can accommodate and are looking to hear from other services such as online stations or aspirant community audio services to join the mux. […]

Virgin Radio UK has been named as official radio station for CarFest, Latitude and Hardwick Festival.

Latitude takes place at Henham Park in Suffolk on 25th to 28th July, Hardwick Festival is on at Hardwick Hall in Durham on 16th to 18th August, whilst CarFest will be on in Laverstoke Park Farm in Overton on 23rd to 25th August.
The station will be broadcasting live on the ground from the three events so that listeners can enjoy the atmosphere without worrying about sleeping in a tent or buying wellies.
Headline acts like Duran Duran, Keane, Snow Patrol, Richard Ashcroft, Deacon Blue & UB40 will be hanging out as Steve Denyer & Stu Elmore bring the best chats and live tracks back to the Virgin Radio UK audience.
Mike Cass, Content Director, Virgin Radio UK says: “Virgin Radio UK is all about celebrating the best music out there – and we’re delighted to be in the middle of it all during festival season this year.”
Anjna Raheja, Festival Director of CarFest, says, “Virgin Radio has been part of the CarFest family for the past few years, and we are delighted to have made this official. The support the station gives us is incredible and a true partnership… like-minded visitors, listeners, music artists and presenters all coming together to ensure that CarFest continues to grow, flourish and raise money for UK children’s charities.”
Hardick Festival founder John Adamson says, “We are delighted to welcome Virgin Radio as our official broadcast partner for Hardwick Festival’s 10th Anniversary. Join us from 16th – 18th August 2024 as we celebrate a decade of exceptional music and entertainment with our biggest and best line-up to date. This milestone promises to be our most memorable Festival yet.”
Latitude’s Festival Director, Melvin Benn, says: “We are thrilled to welcome Virgin Radio back as a broadcast partner for this year’s Latitude Festival. Our shared commitment to showcasing exceptional music and comedy makes for a great partnership.
“The Latitude lineup, featuring Duran Duran, Keane, Nile Rodgers, Rag’n’Bone Man, Rick Astley, and Myles Smith, is adored by the Virgin audience. Likewise, comedians such as Sara Pascoe, Jo Brand, Judi Love, and Joanne McNally are firm listener favourites, so a great fit.” […]

Capital Breakfast presenters Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby are the first speakers to be announced for Radiocentre’s next Tuning In conference. 
The trio, who have been working together on the show since April, will take to the stage at London’s Picturehouse Central on 17 th September.
They will discuss how they entertain the nation every day and the work they do with commercial partners to bring brands into the show. Their appearance will be the first time they have sat down with advertisers and agencies since Jordan North joined the team.  
Radiocentre’s CEO Matt Payton says: “We are delighted to welcome Global’s  high profile breakfast show hosts to the stage of Tuning In. Jordan’s arrival has certainly intrigued many clients and agencies who will now get a chance to see and hear from the team up close.” 
The event will showcase the latest developments and innovations in audio advertising, and is open to all Radiocentre members, UK advertisers and agencies, with more speakers being announced soon.
Visit here to sign up. […]

Tony Blackburn celebrates 60 years in radio later this month and BBC Radio 2 will be marking the occasion with a day of special features.
Radio 2 will highlight the anniversary on July 25th, the date Tony first appeared on Radio Caroline on in 1964.
Gary Davies (in for Vernon Kay, 9.30am-12pm) will be doing a special edition of his De Ja Woo feature where he’ll invite listeners to share their memories of Tony who will join Gary in the studio, and he’ll be chatting about his broadcasting career on The Jeremy Vine Show (12-2pm).
Tony will also mark the moment on Sounds of the 60s with a Summer of ’64 special (Saturday 27 July, 6-8am), and in The Golden Hour – having introduced Motown to British radio in 1964 and being such a huge champion of it – he’ll be playing all his favourite Motown hits (Sunday 28 July, 7-8pm).
On BBC Sounds there will be another opportunity to listen to Happy Birthday, Tony Blackburn! marking his 80th birthday in 2023, Tracks of My Years featuring the songs that have soundtracked his life, and Clash of the Pirates which celebrated 60 years of pirate radio with fellow pirate DJ Johnnie Walker earlier this year.
Happy anniversary, Tony! […]

Ofcom has delayed the launch of an online only service from the BBC saying it could have a significant adverse impact on competition.

The BBC wanted to launch an extra Radio 2 “oldies” station online before getting approval to put it on DAB from a Pubic Interest test.
But now, following the latest RAJAR results which show online listening is bigger than AM/FM, Ofcom says the regulatory process must take place first.
Separately, Ofcom has accepted that a new Radio 1 00s service and Radio 3 chill service can go ahead on BBC Sounds.
Commercial radio body Radiocentre has welcomed the news, with CEO Matt Payton saying: “This decision represents a significant shift by Ofcom, as it is the first time that it has accepted that an online-only BBC radio service could have a material impact on competition. This stands to reason considering the rapid growth in online radio listening and the importance of online revenues.
“Obviously, we would have preferred to see all these new BBC services subject to a full Public Interest Test and regulatory process. However, this is an encouraging first step.
“Hopefully it signals a greater focus from Ofcom on BBC accountability and market impact, which is something we will also be seeking from the new government.” […]