News story about an appeal by The Wireless Group plc for programme presenters for its newly licensed local commercial radio station with a talk format in the Edinburgh market of the UK, written by Grant Goddard in January 2005 for The Radio Magazine.

1. NEWS: NEWLY LICENSED
EDINBURGH TALK RADIO
STATION APPEALS FOR
PRESENTERS
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
January 2005

2. The Wireless Group [TWG] CEO Kelvin MacKenzie has issued an appeal to
the people of Edinburgh to apply for presentation jobs with the city’s new talk
station 'Dunedin FM'. MacKenzie explained his needs to the local press: "The
first requirement for speech radio is intelligence. The second requirement is a
good voice. The third is the ability to entertain, and the fourth is the ability to
get on with the listener.” MacKenzie said that experience in public
broadcasting might prove inappropriate: “We have got some people who work
for other radio stations who have expressed interest. It would be very hard for
a BBC employee to make the jump though. If you make a good listener, you
might make a good presenter."
MacKenzie explained why he believed a talk radio format was appropriate for
the new station: "What attracted me to the commercial opportunity in
Edinburgh came from the percentage of Scottish listeners that we have on
'TalkSport', which is out of all proportion to the population." He said that
Dunedin FM was merely a “holding name” for the station and that it was more
likely to be called 'All Talk' or 'News Talk' when it launched later in the year.
"Edinburgh is a modern city, so we probably want to have a modern name,” he
said.
Asked about the station’s talk programmes, MacKenzie explained that they
would be “populist” rather than tabloid: “People want to come on and let off
steam. We are in the release valve business, giving people a chance to come
on and voice their anger so they can go away feeling better. We are a
psychologist too. And we are also about entertainment. I sincerely hope we
won’t sound like Radio Four or Radio Scotland. There’s no point sounding like
the BBC. It’s a taxpayer-funded monopoly. It’s a perfect disgrace.”
Asked if he had listened to any Scottish stations in preparing his licence
application, MacKenzie replied “not at all” and said that the demographic
statistics had told him everything he needed to know. Although the licence
application proposed a station appealing to an upmarket audience, one press
commentator suggested that Dunedin FM will “contradict all the promises of
upmarket sedateness.”
MacKenzie will need to prove that he understands the Scottish radio market
with this new Edinburgh station, after the poor track record achieved by his
other TWG stations in Scotland. In Dundee, 'The Wave 102’s share of listening
has fallen from 13% to 6.8% during the last four years, while 'Q96’s share has
fallen from 5.5% to 3% in Paisley over the same period. The Radio Authority
issued Q96 with a 'yellow card' penalty in 2002 for failing to meet its 20%
minimum speech programming requirement. And, last year, both stations
breached Ofcom’s advertising code for broadcasting commercials without first
obtaining copy clearance.
MacKenzie will soon be appearing on our TV screens in a show called 'Vote
For Me' which, in 'Fame Academy' style, will produce a suitable candidate for
the next general election.
News: Newly Licensed Edinburgh Talk Radio Station Appeals For Presenters page 2
©2005 Grant Goddard

3. News: Newly Licensed Edinburgh Talk Radio Station Appeals For Presenters page 3
©2005 Grant Goddard
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Talent Sought For Dunedin FM', #665, 8 January 2005]
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