Money the stumbling block for "Radio London"
A press release issued today by Radlon, the company which plans to launch the commercial station Radio London broadcasting to the UK from Flevo on 1008 kHz, suggests to me that it could be a very long time before we hear any regular programmes. Confirming the upcoming test transmission on Tuesday, Radlon concedes that:
"Our fund raising has been rather slow. This time of year many people are away on vacation and we have lost a few weeks because of this. However, response has been very encouraging, despite what are difficult times for the radio industry. We now need to start closing deals and this is what our team are currently focusing on. Opportunities to invest in this project are still available with investments starting at £10,000. Anyone interested should contact us ASAP."
Note the complete absence of any information about firm commitments to invest so far. The language is deliberately vague. When I was involved in the past with two attempts to get commercial radio stations on the air - albeit shortwave ones - there was lots of "encouraging response" but very little hard cash. A small group of us invested, and lost, our own money while most "supporters" were content with buying a T-shirt. Call me cynical, but I've been there.
At the moment, the minimum figure of £10,000 suggests that Radlon is looking beyond the anorak community for investment, and that's a wise move. As has been shown by the experience of Radio Caroline over the years, these people are often prepared to help in a practical way - many of them are frustrated would-be broadcasters who hope to make useful contacts - but they tend to be tight-fisted when it comes to parting with their money. Indeed, Radlon realises that it needs to look beyond the anoraks for its audience if it's going to be commercially viable:
"Commercially, it is important to attract and please an audience, of hopefully 1 or 2 million listeners and not a minority group."
The problem is that now is not the time to be launching new media projects from scratch in Europe, especially if you're a small company. The media industry is consolidating: recent deals have strengthened the position of the European media giants like Sky and SBS. Economies of scale help to sustain the industry through tough times. A newcomer with no proven track record is not going to be seen as a wise investment by many people.
I'd love to be proved wrong, and for Radio London to be a success - if only because there's something inherently unsatisfactory in good Dutch broadcasters being unable to secure frequency space while a high power transmitter capable of national coverage sits idle.
5:06:41 PM 
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