'Oh, for the days of Tiger Tim' - Can STV beat the big boys of radio?

The Herald Scotland

28-05-2025

STV's plans to broadcast to the 35-54-year-old demographic are a clear attempt to grow the brand, and perhaps enjoy a decent revenue boost. (Ah, the glory days of 1957 when the TV station was cited as 'a licence to print money.')
Management signal hope with the promise to 'deliver a new level of cross-platform commercial flexibility, offering advertisers a multi-platform and data-supported targeting opportunity.'
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And intent is reflected in the hiring of Graham Bryce, the former boss at Bauer Media UK, who has been in radio almost as long as the Archers, Managing Director of Audio. Bryce says he is especially keen to capture the morning market where radio listening is highest – and TV viewing at its lowest.
But while plans to 'maximise consumer engagement' may look good on the press release, competition is fierce. Clyde 1 has a weekly reach of more than 700,000 listeners, and there is also the challenge of Heart, nationally now the UK's biggest radio brand, with 13.4m listeners, overtaking BBC Radio 2, with has 13.1m. There is Smooth, which doubled its listening hours from 816,000 to 1,675,000 — a 105 percent increase and STV will also be up against music stations such as Greatest Hits Radio.
While Radio Scotland, with a reach of a little over 800,000 listeners is not a standard music station, much of its output does feature music geared at the demographic which overlaps with the listeners STV are hoping to capture. They will also have to contend with digital stations such as Boom, and Glasgow-based Go Radio, with personality presenters Grado and Zoe and countless niche radio stations to be factored into the mix, such as Absolute Country.
Meanwhile, Virgin Radio looks to be on the decline, but Capital in Scotland is on the increase. (It can't be exaggerated how promiscuous radio fans have become in the past two decades.)
However, the STV outfit will most certainly have to come up with is a definite identity, outside of the cosy comfy corporate logo. Broadcasters at Pacific Quay talk of creating a Scottish station, but what will that mean? Lots of Franz Ferdinand, Lewis Capaldi and Paolo Nutini tunes?
Graham Bryce says he is confident the new national station will 'offer something different and exciting.' But what? The days when personality presenters were encouraged into commercial radio are long gone. Radio all too often recruits from the known safe hands - but bland faces - of television, and as a result we are served up a homogenous lump of ordinariness.
Radio Scotland stalwart Billy Sloan (Image: Jamie Simpson) STV Radio may be offering an 'AI-supported hyper-targeted commercial package' but what of the human voices who will ultimately sell the product. Or not. What will it look for? The light comedic touch of Go Radio's Grado, the knowledge of Radio Scotland's Bryan Burnett or Billy Sloan. Or the cheeriness of Clyde1's Callum Gallacher?
Will STV tackle football in the evening? Will it pay the salaries required to land the best people? Has it factored in the fact that young people who love to play music don't look for a career in commercial radio these days. They look to the clubs.
But there are positives, from an STV perspective. BBC Radio 2 is still the UK's most listened-to station, but it lost 539,000 listeners this year, no doubt a result of the station's decision to lose the likes of radio legends Steve Wright and Simon Mayo. The main single competitor Radio Clyde has lost much of its character and identity over the years, sounding much more generic and network dependent. Oh, for the days Tiger Tim Stevens.
STV is dead right in arguing that some major radio players have moved away from producing 'bespoke' Scottish content. And that's the gap they intend to fill. But will the likes of Emeli Sande songs be enough?