Talpa, the Dutch media company of John de Mol that owns Radio 10 Gold, has decided to adopt a new business strategy which will see a slimming down of its Talpa Digital division that currently employs 20 people. Only a few months ago, Talpa announced some ambitious digital plans, but this week Talpa’s management decided that the company will not invest in new digital activities unless they are part of the company’s core business: television formats, the production of TV programmes, and Talpa Music which holds the digital rights to hundreds of thousands of songs.
This decision casts a further question mark over the future of Radio 10 Gold, which is still owned by Talpa. It appears that radio is no longer regarded as a “core activity” now that Talpa has sold market-leader Radio 538 to RTL Nederland. Recently, several offshoots of Radio 10 Gold were launched on the Radio Digitaal website.
This shift of focus will alert a number of potential buyers. Media Network is aware of at least one serious offer to buy Radio 10 Gold that was rejected a few months ago. At that time Talpa said that radio was still part of its strategy. Exactly what will happen to the online radio services remains to be seen. A spokesman for the company would only say that Talpa Digital will continue in a slimmed-down form.
(Sources: Emerce, Broadcast Magazine)
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 14:12
I should love to know more about the serious offer for Radio 10 Gold that Media Network mentions.
I have failed to understand Talpa’s motives all along, because of conflicting signals. On the one hand, they have been winding the station down step by step since 2003. On the other, they refuse to let anyone else have it.
Now that the station will not be avaliable on portable and car radios, I cannot imagine who would want to buy and I don’t understand why Talpa wants to keep it. The mystery remains unless Andy can solve it for us.
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 14:18
Sorry, the information was told to me in confidence by one of the people involved, and I do not betray confidences
Their refusal to sell also puzzled the individual concerned. But there might have been some other negotiations going on at the time.
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 14:25
“Now that the station will not be avaliable on portable and car radios,”
That never caused them any problems before - they were many years that the station was only available on sat./cable.
Why should that suddenly become such a massive drawback ..???
Anyone would think people still listened on MF …
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 14:31
In fact the plan that I was told about didn’t involve mediumwave.
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 14:46
Quite, the reality is that MF radio is simply no longer commercially viable in W. Europe.
Look at Norway for another example, or Switzerland for that matter …
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 16:21
I quote from the Media Network article a little further down called Dutch radio listening figures for June/July 2007 August 30th 2007 - 10:02 UTC by Andy
Radio 10 Gold, which leaves mediumwave tomorrow, held on to a share of 4.3%, but most industry observers expect this to fall significantly once the station is only available on cable, satellite and online.
Note : Most Industry Observers !
In a couple of months time we will know whether the comment above or the industry observers are right.
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 19:03
Actually there’s no conflict between the two. Many people listen to Radio 10 Gold on cable at home, but in the car and/or on the beach the easiest way to pick it up was on mediumwave. When that’s gone, people on the move will be obliged to listen to other stations, even though Radio 10 Gold may have been their first choice. That’s bound to affect what people record in their listening diaries.
Ray is correct in saying that MF radio is no longer commercially viable in W. Europe, because it’s extremely expensive to operate if you want national coverage, and advertising agencies don’t understand how to sell airtime on stations that target older listeners. But it’s an exaggeration to say nobody listens to it. If it’s the only way to hear something you want to hear, people will use it, at least here in the Netherlands. Radio 747, another station that’s only on mediumwave outside the house, has doubled its audience in the past year. But it’s an old audience, 55+.
Non-experts talk in simple terms about FM vs AM. It’s much more complicated than that, especially in the Netherlands where radio is strongly personality-driven. People here are more interested in the content than the platform.
on Aug 30th, 2007 at 21:20
“People here are more interested in the content than the platform.”
I think that is true of most places Andy, except there are some who class themselves as audiophiles who will listen to anything as long as it is in so-called CD quality. They tend to be of a certain age i.e. too young to have spent many a night listening to Radio Luxembourg on good old 208!! Alas they will never know the true joy of radio listening.