My letter to OFCOM. in support of Rock Radio getting the licence back: am writing in connection wit

From: Stewart Eadie <stewarteadie7@googlemail.com> Date: Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 11:28 PM Subject: My letter in support of granting Rock Radio Glasgow the West Central Scotland area licence To: commercialradio@ofcom.org.uk

Paul Boon

Senior Radio Executive

Ofcom

Riverside House

2a Southwark Bridge Road

London SE1 9HA

Dear Sir,

I am writing in connection with the award of the “West Central Scotland area licence” and my support for its award to go to Rock Radio Glasgow.

Rock Radio Glasgow can genuinely be an alternative for listeners saturated by bland banal Pop and suede 'rock' programming, as well as being a proven past commercial success before it became the kind of station that the other 3 proposers for the 96.3 licence, in Go Glasgow, Clyde Rocks and Original seem to aspire to be, that, being of the old Rock Radio when it was rebranded to Real XS to achieve a wider audience, the one that proved to be a commercial disaster, with core advertisers deserted the station and less than 3 years later rebranded to Xfm, causing it18 months later to be closed down. This despite the Radjar figures apparently 10k up, or so you were lead to believe. Proof the that the other 3 proposers for the licence have got it wrong and Rock Radio Glasgow have go it right, as the old adage says, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. The original Rock Radio in Glasgow got the formula right before the meddling and rebranding destroyed it from the inside. I hope Ofcom can accept my case for granting the 96.3 FM Licence to Rock Radio Glasgow, in support of my observations and support I would like you outline a few facts, personal observations and maybe some insight as a true Glaswegian Rock fan, for the need for a dedicated 24hr a day 365 day a year bonified does what it says on the tin commercially viable, self sufficient integral and integrated part of the heart of a vast Glasgow Rock scene a genuine Rock Radio Glasgow station. After all we as the prospective audience are the Bottom Line!

With Go Glasgow and Clyde Rocks (two of the applicants) having run trials already. Clyde Rocks ran for a month throughout May on DAB – the usual 'rock' which consisted of nothing heavier than the Stone Roses and Oasis and including many acts which simply aren’t rock. Clyde Rocks is basically Clyde1 and Clyde2 only they’ve used the word 'rock' to cover up for the deficiencies in actually not being able Io distinguish Black Sabbath from Joe Bonmassa and Yes from Tool, with what they think is 'rock' being New Order, Joy Division, Franz Ferdinand's and The Dandy Warhols which is not rock but more like, in total, the Brit Pop, Madchester Avant-garde, Electro Synth rubbish that no self respecting 'Rock Station' would ever play! Plus handing Clyde Rocks the license would likely allow them to cover even more football, probably the primary reason for them wanting it in the first place, to cover every Rangers and Celtic home and away fixture, league and Cup match, as they will do if Ofcom given them another frequency to do so, if Ofcom go ahead and grant them the licence then its more about sport and not about music that's dictating the licence award and that will be greatly disturbing to all fans of Rock music everywhere not just in Glasgow or Scotland but the whole of the UK and Europe. Go Glasgow has a DAB license already and the fact that it’s made up primarily of former Clyde and Real Radio DJs, should tell you all you need to know. If I want to listen to Clyde Rocks or Go's idea of 'rock', then I can also choose to listen to Capital, Clyde 1, Clyde 2 (on MW), Heart, Radio 1, Radio 2… Go’s bid seems barely any different, especially in the lack of Rock music judging by their DAB content! Rock to them its just Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé and Madonna, not a band like Iron Maiden who over the last 36 years have sold over 100 million records worldwide and on their current Global World tour are using a branded Iron Maiden Boeing 747 to carry band crew and equipment piloted by lead singer one Mr Bruce Dickinson from airport to airport thus show to show! They are a band for example with plenty of great songs that Rock Radio Glasgow can play without repeating the the same playlists over and over not pumping out the same old Pop acts disguised and rebranded as Rock already played on numerous local and national stations, that we can tune into around Glasgow already.

This leaves Original's remit of AOR, COUNTRY, POP and SOUL, nothing very original in the name or the output if your a bonified Rock fan, I am 53 and Original intends targeting my demographic just like Go and Clyde Rocks seems to want to do but fails miserably trying to cover far too many genres – and none of them genuinely Rock how are they going to manage that without specialist shows that cover huge areas of Blues and Progressive Rock, something I don't even think any of the other 3 proposers for the licence have even thought about but Rock Radio have when they talk about BANDS BREAKING ON TO THE SCENE IN PUBS AND CLUBS RIGHT THROUGH TO THE MAJOR ARTISTS PLAYING HAMPDEN AND THE HYDRO. Its the strength in depth across all different areas and genres of Rock, that gives its bid the edge and its commitment to its audience that Rock Radio Glasgow has over all its other 3 proponents of being a Rock orientated station when you compare their respective bids..

For example in its previous Rock Radio guise, I even got to broadcast a 2 hr show myself on the old Rock Radio network in both Glasgow and Manchester, It was part of what was called The Punter Power Hour, it was great comparing the indents and local advertising that aired between tracks and showed just how commercially viably a station it was until those in suits got a hold of it and ruined it. The day I recorded my show in the stations Glasgow studio, I meet an old friend, one I had listened to as a DJ nearly all my adult life, a central figure in the broadcasting of Rock not only in Glasgow but thought Scotland, the legend called Mr Tom Russell, I think even those at Ofcom might know who Tom Russell is(?), certainly the Radio industry in Scotland does, as, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards, I think it safe to say that Tom's 35 year plus association with the Rock industry in Scotland having aligned himself with the Rock Radio Glasgow bid for the 96.3 licence, completely outweighs any Rock based credibility any of the rival bidders have proposed, especially when it comes to understanding content and giving a professional insight into playing a wide selection of rock music both old and new, well known rock classics, great album tracks, new releases, introducing new bands, plugging the live music scene, giving new young local bands some airplay.

The other bids state that they’re targeting specific age ranges and genders, this does not show that they’ve done more market research than Rock Radio Glasgow, it just goes to show the other bidders just did not know the audience they were actually trying to reach but were basically Clutching at Straws as Rock Radio Glasgow already knew the market existed and knew how to reach it, Rock Radio Glasgow purposely did not set an age range on their format as the station is open to all: men, women, kids, families… Rock Radio Glasgow obviously understood how to drive their own market research by specifically not targeting a specific demographic and let the music do the talking, remember they have done it before and know, who, what, where and why they are doing it - for!. This is arguably the last major market FM radio license up for grabs in the UK. Glasgow is a rock city, Scotland is a rock country. If everything happens for a reason, then at this particular juncture in the UK and the Scottish economy's history, with us leaving Europe and another looming Scottish Referendum, for independence, wouldn't it be satisfying to know that Ofcom granting its last great City FM Licence after reading hundreds of pages of each parties submissions, to a station that was going to serve not only an audience but more a community and a lifestyle than a commercially defined demographic, at last satisfying the legions of dedicated rock fans and their families, who advertisers will know will pick up on their message and brands as well as allowing Rock Radio Glasgow to do its job of Rocking the airways of Glasgow, I could not think of a more social consciously aware act than that, for the future of Radio in Scotland and Europe as a whole. I only hope Ofcom agree.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards

Stewart Eadie

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Photo taken April 1996, yeah over 20 years ago! The night Deep Purple played the Barrowlands