Analysis of the impact of weekday daytime programme changes at London, UK local commercial radio station 'Capital FM' on its ratings of 15-24 and 25-34 year old listeners, written by Grant Goddard in September 1991.

1. PROGRAMME CHANGES AT
LONDON'S 'CAPITAL FM'
ATTRACT YOUNGER AUDIENCE
BUT SEND OLDER LISTENERS
TO 'BBC RADIO 1' FOR REFUGE
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
September 1991

2. In January of this year, a brown envelope containing a new set of audience
figures landed on the desk of Richard Park, Capital Radio plc's Programme
Director. There was plenty of good news within them and the station's PR
machine duly went into action selling the company's continuing success story.
But a closer look at the figures showed a significant audience trend. The
cornerstone of 'Capital FM' programming, the weekly daytime schedule, was
losing listeners in substantial numbers.
It was true that Chris Tarrant's breakfast show continued to draw a massive
audience, backed up by a huge publicity campaign using television and
posters.
But, from 0900 onwards, there was a notable loss of listening in the core 15-34
age group. John Sachs' 0900-1200 show had lost a third of its 15-24 year old
listeners in the last six months.
And the following shows, Mick Brown (1200-1400) and Richard Allinson (14001630), were both substantially down. Only David Jensen's long-running
drivetime show (1630-1900) had held its listenership.
Since the last set of figures six months earlier, London had seen the launch of
several new music stations, of which 'KISS FM' was most obviously looking to
steal Capital FM's audience.
KISS' first set of figures showed it had attracted around 25,000 listeners aged
15-24 to its daytime shows, but Capital FM had lost twice that number during
some parts of the day.
So the blame could not be put on KISS alone. There was something more
fundamentally wrong with the daytime sound. Richard Park acted swiftly. A
new schedule was introduced in March, the severity of which shocked some
staff at Capital.
Out of the daytime line-up, and out of Capital completely, went John Sachs
with his housewife-orientated innuendos ("Sachs/sex in the morning"). Out also
went Richard Allinson, banished to the overnight shift and holiday relief.
In an interesting move, the successful breakfast and drivetime shows were
lengthened. Tarrant now ran an hour later to 1000 to try and stem the critical
post-0900 loss of listeners, while Jensen started half-an-hour earlier at 1600.
The three shows that had been in between were amalgamated into two and
given to Pat Sharp and Mick Brown. Having attracted large numbers of
London's pubescent girls to sample their pouting evening shows on Capital in
the 1980s, Mick and Pat have been set the same task in the 90s – but with real
grown-ups.
Programme Changes At London's 'Capital FM' Attract Younger Audience But Send Older Listeners To 'BBC Radio 1'
For Refuge
page 2
©1991 Grant Goddard

3. In addition to these personnel changes, Capital FM upped the quota of dance
music played in daytime, programmed even more 'strong songs', and stole my
KISS FM slogan "The Music Leader".
The net result – more music, more hits more frequently, more competitions and
less of the DJs' personalities getting in the way of the music flow.
And what do the listeners make of it all? The latest audience data (JICRAR
1991, Wave 2) shows Capital had some success at halting the decline, but
further remedial action must still be on the cards.
Amongst the fickle 15-24 year old audience, the later-ending breakfast show
and Pat Sharp's following programme have clawed back some of the previous
period's losses. Mick Brown's show has merely maintained the audience
inherited from that slot's predecessor, Allinson.
But latest figures for David Jensen now show a loss. The problem is – if you
turn your daytime sound into fast, hit-after-hit, no-nonsense hype, Jensen
tends to sound a bit old fashioned and out of touch with the music once four
o'clock comes around.
15 to 24 year olds who quite warm to Mick and Pat's 'wideboy' stance are more
likely to tune over to another station from late afternoon. Six months ago,
Jensen had a 6:1 lead over KISS' competing drivetime presenter Dave Pearce
at 1700. That lead has now fallen below 2:1.
The writing is on the graph paper. How long will it be before Jensen is
pensioned off to a slot on 'Capital Gold', to be replaced by some 'smoothy' like
Martin Collins who at least sounds as if he is under 40?
Interestingly, KISS FM's new figures also show growth in the 15-24 audience,
seemingly unaffected by Capital FM's schedule change. So both stations are
now fighting tooth and nail for this age group, with lots of dance music and
competition giveaways.
But that means the older 25-34 year olds are increasingly being left out. KISS
had made a marginal impact on this age group, while Capital FM continues to
lose their loyalty. In the last year, 25,000 of them have tuned away from
Capital FM's daytime shows, reducing the audience of 25-34s by a third in midafternoon.
In London, at least, it seems as if 'BBC Radio 1's less abrasive pop music and
more chatty presenters are becoming the refuge for 25-34 year old music fans
whilst, conversely, the 15-24s are deserting it for the younger sounds of
Capital FM and KISS.
The problem for Capital FM in the long run is how to lose its audience
gracefully in the expanded marketplace with new competitors.
Programme Changes At London's 'Capital FM' Attract Younger Audience But Send Older Listeners To 'BBC Radio 1'
For Refuge
page 3
©1991 Grant Goddard

4. And, in this age of targeted radio, how far will it fight for one particular
demographic, at the risk of alienating and losing others?
Meanwhile, London's 25-34 year olds face increased difficulty finding a
commercial music station that completely suits their tastes. The time has never
been better to launch a rock music service that could mop up this age group's
intolerance of the dance-orientated music that now dominates the pop charts.
In fact, a rock station in London must represent Richard Park's worst
nightmare. Having already seen KISS slice off the far left of Capital FM's
audience, a rock station would produce a similar effect on the far right. And
'Rock FM' would dent the Capital Gold audience, something that none of the
other new stations have achieved.
How long will it be before David Maker asks The Radio Authority if he can
change the name of his recently acquired London station?
[Submitted to 'Broadcast' magazine, unpublished]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk
Programme Changes At London's 'Capital FM' Attract Younger Audience But Send Older Listeners To 'BBC Radio 1'
For Refuge
page 4
©1991 Grant Goddard