Good news for struggling Capital Radio Group yesterday - Simon Mays-Smith of JP Morgan, a leading media analyst in the city, said he reckoned recent programming and music policy changes at Capital FM, coupled with the growth of the group's other stations, would enable the company to boost both overall audience figures and advertising revenue in the near future. The analysis helped the group's share price rise by 4%.
Mays-Smith's positive predictions were based on Chris Tarrant’s decision to stay on at the staying on at the Capital FM breakfast show for another year, plus the ever increasing listening figures for Xfm, the popularity of some new shows at Birmingham station BRMB and improvements at Capital-owned stations in Liverpool and Scotland.
He also predicted a general boost in the radio advertising industry if we go to war. Apparently companies will be less willing to launch major TV ad campaigns during an unpredictable wartime situation – opting for cheaper, quicker-to-produce radio advertising: "A TV campaign takes time to get to air and advertisers might be holding back right now, whereas a radio campaign can be made one day and on the air the next.”