Capital Radio Group
30 Leicester Square London WC2H 7LA
T 020 7766 6000
F 020 7766 6 100
I w.capitairadiogroup.com
28th October 2004
Toyin Abetgu
Ligali
PO Box 1257
London E50UD
Dear Toyin,
Developments at Choice FM
Following our meeting a while back, I thought you would like to be kept informed about developments at the station.
Since Capital Radio Group acquired Choice FM in March of this year there has been much speculation about the future
of Choice. I therefore think it's important that you hear about some of the many positive developments at the station and
provide an opportunity for you to give us your views.
Choice FM occupies a unique place within the radio landscape and within the communities it serves. The vision for
Choice FM under Capital’s stewardship remains the same as that of the previous owners, and is one of the many reasons
Patrick Berry continues to be Chairman of the business. Choice FM is the only analogue radio station in London to have
the remit of providing "an urban contemporary music radio station primarily targeted at the African and Afro-Caribbean
communities with cross-over appeal to the wider market". This has been its remit from the original license in 1990 and
remains the core remit today as enshrined within its official format.
Capital Radio Group acquired the station to use our expertise, experience and resources to invest in and build the station
to serve those communities better than before and provide a stronger business for its employees, presenters, advertisers
and other stakeholders.
To this end we have already launched a number of initiatives which I would like to let you know about.
First, we recently announced the formation of a Choice Action Advisory Group to advise Choice on all its Social Action
initiatives. All our social action activity on-air and off has now been brought under one umbrella, called Choice Action.
This new advisory group is to be chaired by Lord Adebowale, the Chief Executive of Turning Point, and will be made up
of a number of prominent people within the community. Its remit is to advise Choice FM on all its Social Action
initiatives ensuring that we continue to focus our efforts on the issues of most concern and relevance to the community.
Choice Action already covers a large number of initiatives already in place such as Peace on the Streets, Youth Talk, the
Health and Lifestyle Show and will advise on our continued backing of causes of most relevance to our listeners such as
gun and drug crime, sickle cell, leukaemia and so on.
Second, it has long been a criticism of UK media that UK urban talent has been largely ignored in favour of US acts. The
UK Urban music scene is extremely vibrant but unfortunately there are too few outlets championing and showcasing our
home-grown talent. We believe that Choice FM has a major part to play in helping further develop UK Urban Music, just
as Xfm under my guidance, has helped UK guitar bands become a major success in the UK and internationally. We have
therefore decided to launch a wide-ranging initiative to showcase and champion UK urban talent, called Choice UK
Cuts. We have created a dedicated Saturday evening show, which will only play up and coming signed and unsigned UK
acts. MasterStepz weekday early evening show will also feature Choice UK Cuts within the show and we will actively
playlist UK talent within the entire schedule. In addition we are going to host live evenings where new acts can be
showcased to the industry and our listeners.
The first of these events will be in November of this year. We very much hope that with our support many more UK acts
can not only become successful in the UK but that success can be exported internationally.
Thirdly, we announced on Monday of this week a unification of our North and South programme schedules into one
consistent and strong line-up of shows that we believe will create an even better product for our listeners and our
advertisers. Historically certain specialist shows could only be heard in either North or South London. By bringing the
schedules together we have created the Best of Choice, and in so doing increased the specialist music output on the
station by now transmitting specialist shows previously only available on one frequency across the whole of London. For
example, Daddy Ernie's weekday evening reggae show could only be heard in South London on 96.9, but now can be
heard across the whole of London on both frequencies. The same is true for Martin Jay's Soca Show, Natty B's Reggae
Chart Show, Masterstepz Street Soul show, Gammo Speng's Saturday Night Link-Up Show amongst others. At the same
time our heritage shows that were already available across both services remain in place, with the likes of Jenny Francis
continuing her weekday evening show, DJ279 on the Rap Show and of course Angie Le Mar hosting our Saturday
morning topical discussion show. We are also investing in new talent and have announced that Richard Blackwood is
joining the station to host an afternoon show on both Saturday and Sunday alongside Choice and MTV presenter Kat.
With these changes the whole of London now has access to the best specialist shows from each of our licences. Moreover
this unified output is now forming the base for our national broadcast right across the UK on DAB digital radio and
digital television platforms, taking Choice FM to more than 26 million households right across the UK.
Lastly, in the next month or so Choice FM will be moving from its current base in Borough High Street to Leicester
Square. This is not a vanity move by Capital Group but instead it enables both Choice FM staff and presenters to have
access to state-of-the-art production and broadcast equipment which should not only provide a better working
environment but access to new skills through our extensive training programmes and ultimately a better sound on-air for
our listeners.
As part of the Capital Group, Choice FM staff and presenters have better working conditions, better career prospects,
better training and better facilities than ever before. We want to build Choice FM into the UK's leading urban music
station, with a daytime music policy dedicated to hip hop and r'n'b and an evening and weekend line-up of specialist
shows covering all genres of music of black origin along with discussion shows and social action programming designed
to ensure that we remain truly connected to the communities we serve.
With your help and support the UK can build an urban music brand to be truly proud of and one that can genuinely sit
alongside the major players in the market. Creating a stronger voice and platform for music of black origin and the issues
and lifestyle of those who love this music.
I have noted your recent flurry of complaints to Ofcom about Choice FM and 1 would appreciate the opportunity to meet
up again and address any ongoing issues you have.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Bryce
Managing Director
As a reminder as of 22nd November Choice FM will have moved to its new address:
Choice FM
PO Box 969
30 Leicester Square
London WC2 7BB