Britain's KERRANG! RADIO To Launch Next Summer

October 3, 2003

Richard Wray and Julia Day of The Guardian report that media company Emap, publisher of U.K.'s long-running weekly heavy metal publication Kerrang!, won a lucrative radio license Thursday (October 2) to broadcast a station based on the magazine.

Emap beat 10 rivals, including bids backed by Ozzy Osbourne and local comedian Jasper Carrot, in a hard-fought battle for the last of the Britain's big FM licenses.

Kerrang! Radio will be based in Birmingham and aims to appeal to 15 to 34-year-olds with a blend of youth programming and hard rock it hopes will lure listeners away from Radio 1.

The license is free but analysts believe it could be worth up to £25m in advertising.

David Witherow, the Radio Authority's executive chairman, said Kerrang! won because of its appeal to the youth market. "Its programming aimed at an under-served segment of the younger population will clearly widen choice in the region," he said.

The successful bid from Kerrang! also marks a return to the West Midlands' rock roots. LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH and NAPALM DEATH all hail from the area.

While the Radio Authority took five months to decide on the winner of the last regional license it will award before it becomes part of new regulator Ofcom, the Kerrang! station has been two and a half years in the making.

Karren Brady, managing director of Birmingham City Football Club, who fronted the bid and will become Kerrang! Radio's chairman, said the new station should be operational in nine months.

"It is very focused on youth but not in a patronizing way and dedicated to the West Midlands. I think it will be very important to the area for young people to have a voice," she said.

She added that Kerrang! Radio will not be based on the same content as Emap's existing Kerrang! digital radio station but instead it will cover local issues. The station is already looking for premises on Broad Street, the club and bar heartland of Birmingham. "The emphasis will be on youth, rock and local people," she said.

"This is a real West Midlands radio station."

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