Searches for radio stations before and after a rebrand
It’s just over a year since the biggest commercial radio rebrand in history. Global Radio, the UK’s biggest commercial radio group, dropped familiar local names such as Essex FM, Southern FM and Invicta FM in favour of their Heart radio brand. Heart was already a household name, at the time of the rebrand, in markets such as London and Birmingham. The decision to rebrand 29 local radio stations has resulted in networking from London and only a local breakfast and drive show.
It was a courageous decision during a time of deep recession and uncertainty – but has it paid off? The latest listening figures, released in January 2010, have put London’s Heart as the number one station in the city. A quick glance at the local Heart listening figures (thanks to RAJAR) shown below indicate a great success for the Heart rebrand. 21 local radio stations increased their listening share, 8 lost some listening share and there were 2 non-movers.
| Radio Station | Listening Share Jan 2009 |
Listening Share Jan 2010 |
Change |
| 100.7 Heart FM | 9.1% | 9.1% |  |
| 102.4 Severn Sound FM | 10.8% | 12.6% |  |
| 102.7 Hereward FM | 12.6% | 11% |  |
| 2-TEN FM | 8.7% | 11% | |
| 2CR FM | 6.5% | 4.9% | |
| 96.9 Chiltern FM (Bedford) | 9.2% | 11.9% | |
| 97 FM Plymouth Sound | 12.1% | 13.8% | |
| 97.6 Chiltern FM (Dunstable/Luton) | 9.1% | 10.4% | |
| Champion 103 FM | 12.4% | 10.2% | |
| Coast 96.3 | 8.2% | 9.4% | |
| Essex FM | 13.5% | 13% | |
| FOX FM | 10.2% | 11.5% | |
| Gemini FM East (Exeter Area) | 11.8% | 12.7% | |
| Gemini FM West (Torbay Area) | 10.4% | 11.5% | |
| GWR | 14.2% | 13.3% | |
| Heart 106 | 7% | 6.6% | |
| Heart 106.2 FM | 5% | 5.3% | |
| Horizon Radio | 14.4% | 16.1% | |
| Invicta FM | 10.8% | 14% | |
| Lantern FM 96.2 and 97.3 | 14.9% | 18% | |
| Marcher Sound | 7.9% | 8.1% | |
| Northants 96 | 8.7% | 13.9% | |
| Ocean | 6.3% | 6.8% | |
| Orchard FM | 15.1% | 18.1% | |
| Q103 | 10% | 10% | |
| Radio Broadland | 12.3% | 13.3% | |
| SGR Colchester | 11.2% | 12% | |
| SGR FM | 8.8% | 11.2% | |
| South Hams Radio | 11% | 8.5% | |
| Southern FM | 13.5% | 12.9% | |
| The Buzz 97.1 FM | 2.8% | 3.3% | |
An interesting point to note is that if you take a look at the 3 sample stations (Essex, Southern and Invicta) on the a Google Insights graph, in the picture above, there is a peak at the point the rebrand to Heart happened. You’ll also notice two peaks in December 2009 and January 2010 at exactly the time of heavy snow fall in the UK. When listeners were in need of fast, accurate snow info they were searching for the old local radio station names.
Time will tell if the rebrand has paid off but one year on things are looking rosy for the new local Heart radio stations.
Tags: commercial radio, essex fm, global radio, heart radio, invicta fm, local radio stations, radio group, southern fm
