GWR received a knock back on Friday when competition authorities said its acquisition of the Bristol version of Chrysalis dance station Galaxy gave the group - which owns the main commercial pop stations in the City - too much dominance in the area. GWR acquired the station as part of a deal with Chrysalis last year - they made it a sister station to Vibe FM, the dance station they half-own with Scottish Radio Holdings in East England. It was hoped that, because SRH own half of the Vibe stations and given upcoming legislation that will reduce restrictions on radio ownership, competition authorities would allow GWR to extend its dominance in the Bristol radio market. The authotrities weren't convinced however, and are demanding GWR reduce their share in the Vibe brand to 25% before they can take over the Bristol station.
GWR operations director, Steve Orchard, told Media Guardian he was surprised at how strict competition authorities had been: "We were expecting remedies, but this is the most severe set of remedies. It is difficult to see the rationale behind this when Vibe 101 also covers south Wales, where GWR has no stations. It is a particularly severe judgment. But it is still an important investment for us."
GWR are expected to negotiate further with the competition authorities to see if a more favourable deal can be done. Meanwhile, with competition authorities seeming to be stricter in this area than many expected, the major radio groups may have to put on hold any further mergers and acquisitions until after the forthcoming communications act becomes law.