Bauer Media purchases Communicorp

marno21

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/what-will-bauer-do-with-the-irish-radio-stations-it-picks-up-from-denis-o-brien-1.4567359

This deal was given the green light late last week. Article from the IT above about Bauer and what they may do with the stations.

I speculated recently that they would go full on to drive deregulation in the market. Regulations on Irish radio are nice and all that but in today's environment they are severe constraints on keeping stations viable. The talk/current affairs quota has no place in 2021.

I speculated that The Last Word on Today FM may be an early victim of this if they seek to rebrand Today FM as nationwide Hot AC station similar to their own Hits Radio (which is syndicated across the North of England on many legacy ILR stations such as Radio City, former Key 103, Clyde 1 etc). A nationwide, personality driven, tightly playlist Hot AC station would not have a news/magazine show at drivetime, competing with a similar show on the group's other national radio station.

However, Dublin Talks was quickly targeted. It remains to be seen if they follow this trend across the stations. The mid-day talk show on Spin South West was dropped as far back as 2012.

Acquistions are another item to keep an eye on. Will the Irish Times seek to offload Beat and RedFM? If so, Bauer would own the regional youth stations in Dublin, Cork, the South East and the South West. None of their target areas overlap but there are obvious networking opportunities there. Similarly, Wireless own the Hot AC stations in Dublin/Cork/Limerick so there is precedent here, and networking has commenced on those stations.

Declan A Walsh

marno21 wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/what-will-bauer-do-with-the-irish-radio-stations-it-picks-up-from-denis-o-brien-1.4567359

This deal was given the green light late last week. Article from the IT above about Bauer and what they may do with the stations.

I speculated recently that they would go full on to drive deregulation in the market. Regulations on Irish radio are nice and all that but in today's environment they are severe constraints on keeping stations viable. The talk/current affairs quota has no place in 2021.

I speculated that The Last Word on Today FM may be an early victim of this if they seek to rebrand Today FM as nationwide Hot AC station similar to their own Hits Radio (which is syndicated across the North of England on many legacy ILR stations such as Radio City, former Key 103, Clyde 1 etc). A nationwide, personality driven, tightly playlist Hot AC station would not have a news/magazine show at drivetime, competing with a similar show on the group's other national radio station.

However, Dublin Talks was quickly targeted. It remains to be seen if they follow this trend across the stations. The mid-day talk show on Spin South West was dropped as far back as 2012.

Acquistions are another item to keep an eye on. Will the Irish Times seek to offload Beat and RedFM? If so, Bauer would own the regional youth stations in Dublin, Cork, the South East and the South West. None of their target areas overlap but there are obvious networking opportunities there. Similarly, Wireless own the Hot AC stations in Dublin/Cork/Limerick so there is precedent here, and networking has commenced on those stations.

By its present owners Communicorp. Would they be doing a bit of clearing up of some programs before Bauer Media take over at the end of this month?

madnessnmayhem

wonder will Newstalk be in trouble? I know a few people who left one station to join them interesting times ahead for all

marno21

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

By its present owners Communicorp. Would they be doing a bit of clearing up of some programs before Bauer Media take over at the end of this month?

I presume Bauer have been directing traffic in the background. Cutting Dublin Talks would be top of the list for cost cutting at 98FM anyway.

Declan A Walsh

It will be interesting to see what happens with The Last Word on Today FM. It's now the only talk show, without music, left on Today FM, apart from its weekly music review slots. There used to be a number of talk shows in years gone by. There are a few which mix music with some chat, such as Mairead Ronan's and Dermot and Dave's.

The other intriguing thing is what happens if Matt is given a slot (presumably daily) on Newstalk? Will this lead to a bit of a shake-up at Newstalk?

Will Spin1038 and Spin SouthWest have syndicated programs, meaning more staff shake-ups?

Loafing Oaf

madnessnmayhem wrote: »

wonder will Newstalk be in trouble? I know a few people who left one station to join them interesting times ahead for all

Well Catherine Martin said:
“Any media companies involved in mergers have to seek clearance from the minister on the grounds for assessment that it won’t damage media diversity."

I'm taking this to mean Bauer had to commit to retaining Newstalk in pretty much its current form before getting the go-ahead

marno21

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

It will be interesting to see what happens with The Last Word on Today FM. It's now the only talk show, without music, left on Today FM, apart from its weekly music review slots. There used to be a number of talk shows in years gone by. There are a few which mix music with some chat, such as Mairead Ronan's and Dermot and Dave's.

The other intriguing thing is what happens if Matt is given a slot (presumably daily) on Newstalk? Will this lead to a bit of a shake-up at Newstalk?

Will Spin1038 and Spin SouthWest have syndicated programs, meaning more staff shake-ups?

They could go with a 2 presenter show on Newstalk like Radio 1 drivetime. The current setup of separate news programmes on the music station and the talk station at drive makes little sense.

Spin 1038 and Spin SW are networked from Dublin weekdays 10am-3pm and 7pm-12am. Only breakfast and drive are live from Limerick.

Muller1991

Sorry to bump an old thread, just announced today that Bauer have completed the purchase of Iradio.

https://www.newstalk.com/uncategorized/bauer-media-audio-completes-acquisition-of-iradio-1620584