Radio To Go case history: UTV Radio
UTV Radio Group, 2007
Background
In 2005, UTV plc bought the Wireless Group, comprising the national AM service Talk Radio (now Talksport), and several FM and AM local stations around the country, mainly in South Wales and the Northwest, and renamed the group UTV Radio. Music policy was determined centrally by UTV Radio’s group Head of Music, with networked overnight programming and local scheduling of daytime output.
Objective
UTV Radio’s portfolio of music stations had suffered some serious staff losses under various previous ownerships. As often happens under these circumstances, the remaining staff had inherited complex Selector databases, but had not been given any training in maintaining or developing these databases. My task was to review each database, troubleshoot areas where the databases were not working as well as they could, and to train and assess staff onsite, spending a day at each location.
Approach
Over a period of about seven months, I worked with staff either on site, or sometimes with staff travelling to a central location, in Wigan, Chesterfield, Bolton, Swansea, Stockport, Bradford, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Stoke and Dundee. Skill levels varied, but the task at each station was to resolve scheduling conflicts, and ensure as fresh and varied a mix of output as the format would allow, and to explain to staff, precisely and clearly, why each action was being taken, and to enable then to continue working more effectively. Feedback and reports to management followed each visit. In all cases, debugging led to smoother scheduling, and in some cases the change was spectacular.
Result
Longer hours are normally fostered by a fresher and effectively rotated mix, and in subsequent 2007 and 2008 Rajars almost all UTV radio stations reported longer hours of listening, allied to increased reach.