Real Radio goes national across Wales

By Andy Roberts
BBC News

Tony Dowling says Real Radio's success is down to staying in tune with listeners and advertisers

The boss of Wales' biggest commercial radio station says he is confident it will stay in tune with its listeners as it goes national.

Real Radio expands to cover the whole of Wales from Cardiff on Tuesday.

In the same week rival station Red Dragon will be renamed as part of the Capital network of big city stations.

The changes have prompted the manager of a south Wales community radio station to claim that big networks risk losing touch with local listeners.

The latest round of consolidation in the radio industry follows a decision by the regulator Ofcom to allow companies more flexibility to share output across their stations and serve larger areas as owners seek to make their businesses more viable.

The Marcher and Champion stations in north Wales were relaunched as part of the Heart network in June.

But the first week of January will see major changes affecting Wales' two biggest commercial stations.

Real Radio , which launched in south Wales in 2000, has since expanded to cover west Wales and will officially launch in north and mid Wales on Tuesday to become the first national commercial radio station for Wales.

DJs Jagger and Woody welcome Only Men Aloud to Real Radio

Tony Dowling, station director of Real Radio Wales, said while its programmes would be produced in Cardiff, they had recruited a sales team and journalists to be based at premises in Wrexham.

"Real Radio's aim is to provide the whole country with a fantastic radio station that has entertainment and great music at its centre," he said.

"Relevant information services are important to our listeners and we will be reflecting the nation in our news and sports bulletins."

Meanwhile Red Dragon , based in Cardiff since 1985, will be rebranded as part of the Capital network of stations across many of the UK's major cities on Monday.

Managing Director Sally Oldham said the station would remain relevant to the listeners of south Wales despite sharing much of its output with the other Capital stations.

"Our news team will remain at our studios to produce the local news and sport and we will have continued commitment to local traffic and travel," she said.

"We have had no redundancies and locally relevant programming will run across the whole day with weekday breakfast and drive shows and weekend breakfast all being originated from our studios in Cardiff Bay."

Radio Ceredigion struggled for survival until being taken over

While stations in the cities and urban areas are being supported by large radio networks, rural stations have been hit hard by the economic downturn.

In April, Radio Ceredigion in Aberystwyth was taken over by Town and Country Broadcasting (TCB), and in December, Newtown-based Radio Maldwyn went into liquidation.

However, a new tier of community radio has emerged in recent years, largely run by volunteers, in areas deemed too small to be of interest to commercial stations.

Afan FM is one of nine full-time FM community stations currently on air in Wales, having launched in April 2007 to serve young people in Neath and Port Talbot.

Station manager Craig Williams says it costs up to £100,000 a year to run the operation, mostly with grant aid from the Welsh Assembly Government, Neath Port Talbot council and the Big Lottery Fund.

He adds that a relaunch of the station under the name XS on Friday 7 January will ensure a tighter focus on music and content appealing to young people.

"The message is that we're still 100% committed to serving the community, with even more local news and information," he said.

Craig Williams (right) says community stations have to sound professional

"A new, more focussed brand will help our survival - community radio is no different to commercial radio in needing to attract an audience.

"Public bodies won't fund a station that nobody listens to."

Mr Williams claims the big commercial stations risk losing touch with the public as they become increasingly centralised.

He is particularly disappointed to see the end of Red Dragon after 26 years on air.

"In this age of commercial radio networking one of the most recognised broadcast brands is disappearing," he said.

"Community radio is the tier of radio that will fill these gaps."

But Tony Dowling of Real Radio disputes any suggestion that large commercial stations risk losing touch with their audiences.

"It's crucial for all radio stations to remain relevant to their audiences, both listeners and advertisers - otherwise they will leave," he says.

"But relevance doesn't just mean knowing what's going on at the town hall - it's about understanding our listeners' lifestyles, interests, habits and musical tastes.

"There is still a place for local radio stations - the BBC for instance provides some very strong stations on a local level.

"But in the big wide world of 24 hour TV and easy access to the internet, people don't live in cocoons anymore.

"They want entertainment, music and information that reflects and connects with their lives - they don't necessarily care whether it's being broadcast from down the road, the next town or 100 miles away."