AIBU to be pissed off at XFM's axing and even more so at the Men Focused Rebranding?

[RedToothBrush]

Global Radio are axing XFM - both London and its Manchester sister shows.

Instead they are replacing it with a rebrand radio station called Radio X fronted by Chris Moyles on its Breakfast Show.

Their pitch is that 'Its target audience will be men aged between 25- to 44-years-old, and will play rock and guitar-based music'.

Not only am I distraught that Manchester is loosing a place which championed and promoted local music and musician, but I'm also incredibly peeved at this rebranding being pitched at men only.

Global's own description of XFM's current listenership and target audience is as follows:
XFM listeners are engaged, eclectic and influential.

As a community, they’re loyal and enthusiastic. As music fans, they’re passionate and supportive. And as an audience, they’re exactly what advertisers crave. They go to gigs, live events and club nights, they have taste when it comes to music culture, cinema, video, gaming and exhibition, and they’re the kind of people who help form opinions across the world of music and entertainment. Put simply, they’re huge consumers and tastemakers. And that means XFM offers huge opportunities.

And its listenership is 'Slightly favoured by men at 63% compared to women at 37%'. And now women are apparently being erased in this rebranding. With '79% of those who listen to XFM across the UK are aged between 15-44.'

So effectively the difference really seems to be that women are being axed from the target demographic.

It doesn't even make commercial sense for male listeners. A hell of a lot of XFM listeners listen to XFM because they never could stand Moyles and the axing of the Manchester radio station is going to destroy its huge percentage of the radio listenership up here.

Its a sad decision for music lovers. Moyles, Vernon Kay, Johnny Vaughan and Ricky Wilson are Blandsville Extreme.

AIBU in thinking that the whole pitch is both a travesty for music and really has a sexist vibe to it, that women don't like guitar bands and rock music?

What music and radio should I be listening to instead according to Global's bollocks logic?

(And BBC PLEASE don't axe 6Music now).

There is a petition on change.org against the sexist rebranding, just google it.

msrisotto

I'll have you know that I have two and I pay them good money

1. Commercial radio stations invariably target either men (Talksport, Absolute, Planet Rock) or women (Heart, Heat, Magic, Capital, Kiss) because advertisers want a defined audience to sell to. As someone said earlier in the thread, it's analagous to the magazine market. There's no ban on anyone outside that demographic listening, though.

2. Xfm has always been aimed at men. The target audience for Xfm Manchester as stated in its application for the licence was "men aged 15-34 in the Manchester area."

3. Xfm is not a commercially successful station. It gets 892,000 listeners nationally, compared to BBC 6Music's 2,000,000 listeners, even though 6Music is digital-only and XFM is on FM in London and Manchester. In fact, the birth of 6Music is considered to have stifled the commercial potential of XFM - the BBC station has a far bigger budget and has siphoned off a lot f the potential XFM listeners.

4. Again, as pointed out above, young people are listening to radio less and less. They can get music anywhere. It's very hard for radio to make compelling content based just on music today. One way to guarantee something unique is to broadcast distinctive personalities. Whatever you think of Chris Moyles or Johnny Vaughn (you probably think much the same of them as I do), they will create content you can only hear on the new Radio X. Moyles is hoping to double the audience of the station. That's not impossible and, for a commercial concern, is the aim

1. Commercial radio stations invariably target either men (Talksport, Absolute, Planet Rock) or women (Heart, Heat, Magic, Capital, Kiss) because advertisers want a defined audience to sell to. As someone said earlier in the thread, it's analagous to the magazine market. There's no ban on anyone outside that demographic listening, though.

2. Xfm has always been aimed at men. The target audience for Xfm Manchester as stated in its application for the licence was "men aged 15-34 in the Manchester area."

3. Xfm is not a commercially successful station. It gets 892,000 listeners nationally, compared to BBC 6Music's 2,000,000 listeners, even though 6Music is digital-only and XFM is on FM in London and Manchester. In fact, the birth of 6Music is considered to have stifled the commercial potential of XFM - the BBC station has a far bigger budget and has siphoned off a lot f the potential XFM listeners.

4. Again, as pointed out above, young people are listening to radio less and less. They can get music anywhere. It's very hard for radio to make compelling content based just on music today. One way to guarantee something unique is to broadcast distinctive personalities. Whatever you think of Chris Moyles or Johnny Vaughn (you probably think much the same of them as I do), they will create content you can only hear on the new Radio X. Moyles is hoping to double the audience of the station. That's not impossible and, for a commercial concern, is the aim.

1. Commercial radio stations invariably target either men (Talksport, Absolute, Planet Rock) or women (Heart, Heat, Magic, Capital, Kiss) because advertisers want a defined audience to sell to. As someone said earlier in the thread, it's analagous to the magazine market. There's no ban on anyone outside that demographic listening, though.

2. Xfm has always been aimed at men. The target audience for Xfm Manchester as stated in its application for the licence was "men aged 15-34 in the Manchester area."

3. Xfm is not a commercially successful station. It gets 892,000 listeners nationally, compared to BBC 6Music's 2,000,000 listeners, even though 6Music is digital-only and XFM is on FM in London and Manchester. In fact, the birth of 6Music is considered to have stifled the commercial potential of XFM - the BBC station has a far bigger budget and has siphoned off a lot f the potential XFM listeners.

4. Again, as pointed out above, young people are listening to radio less and less. They can get music anywhere. It's very hard for radio to make compelling content based just on music today. One way to guarantee something unique is to broadcast distinctive personalities. Whatever you think of Chris Moyles or Johnny Vaughn (you probably think much the same of them as I do), they will create content you can only hear on the new Radio X. Moyles is hoping to double the audience of the station. That's not impossible and, for a commercial concern, is the aim.

Butbutbut Chris MOYLES?? As a rep of good ROCK? I once timed him on Radio 1 bantzing for 15 min with his co hosts. I don't want inane chatter, I want music! Frank Skinner on Absolute was also clearly hired for the chat, but plays enough music that I don't mind so much. Love the idea of Bluetooth and Spotify, but if it's not radio or tape, my.car won't play it. Can you get 6Music on analog?

And I hate Heart. It was on all through my first labour, and they have a very short playlist.

I think at one point in this hopeless rebranding exercise they considered having a no female dj policy. Thankfully they rethought and now have a few (in the graveyard slots) so as not to upset those few pesky 'ladies' who insist on listening to the station even though it's not for them.

Doubtless Moyles will attract those who have felt nothing but emptiness since he left Radio One and it makes commercial sense etc, but lots of things that make money are not nice things eg.Jeremy Clarkson.

I'm a Manchester listener, I love Clint Boon's show real XS plays some decent music but the DJs are dire.

I was hoping there'd be a Manchester element remaining but I'm guessing that's not the case from reading this. It's going to leave me with Steve Wright on the drive home, isn't it?

Not hugely relevant, but just musing that in the rock world, female-fronted bands are being taken more seriously/have been more successful, than they were back in my youth.... (Halestorm/Pretty Reckless/Tonight Alive/PVRIS/Rolo Tomassi, compared to Vixen/Lita Ford/Doro Pesch). I think. Certainly I feel they're appreciated in more of a 'listen to their music' rather than 'look at their tits' way.

I listen to Kerrang on the app, you've just got to leave a cable dangling out of your radio/stereo's Aux socket and then you can play your phone/tablet through it when you're at home. TBF this is not a good solution for the car.

For the car I do like our local station, Jack FM, despite its lack of much rock - it has no DJ (after drivetime) and plays no requests. So just decent, if slightly random, music, plus local ads.

Im confused i thought xfm was new and it used to be real rock radio (which i preferred).

Xfm london has been around for years. Not sure which year it launched in Manchester (I think they did a few short runs first to test the water?)

Xfm Manchester launched in 2006. Xfm launched in London on the day Diana died.

Rock Radio in Manchester became Real XS and is still on air.

I had to check when posting on the other thread as the year was all wrong for what I remembered (I was a teen).

""The station's roots are in pirate radio. In 1992, Xfm launched RSLs in the Camden area of north London. In 1996, Xfm was awarded the final London wide FM licence, beating Capital Gold."

In case anyone else is wondering if their memory is totally cockeyed! It was very exciting at the time, I was in 6th form and a fully paid up alternative type person as were my friends, we felt it was something "for us" and all tuned in religiously

Shame they've now told me that they are no longer interested in people like me tuning in. So from "this is for you" to "fuck off" ah well. I'll be retuning the radios in our various cars and work vans.

Chris fucking Moyle's?! Oh no.

Xfm is the only station I have on, I love it (they play loads of libertines :) )

I'd heard the adverts on the station about the change, but didn't realise any of this.

I hope it doesn't change too much, but I won't be able to listen to that gobby twat first thing in the morning.

Love the idea of Bluetooth and Spotify, but if it's not radio or tape, my.car won't play it.

People driving around in elderly cars with cassette decks are exactly the audience of affluent consumers that advertisers will pay to reach, of course.

it's analagous to the magazine market.

There are a handful of magazines whose appeal is such that advertisers will kill to place copy. The New Yorker and Hello have readerships of 1m, plus or minus, but the page advertising rates on the rate card are about six times higher for The New Yorker than Hello, because the former's readership is affluent and influential (look at www.condenast.com/brands/new-yorker/media-kit/print and see all the many, many ways it isn't Hello). If you could get a demographic like The New Yorker for your radio station (equal split for sex, reasonable spread of age, high household income, more than 50% graduate, massive proportion of influential managers to you can advertise high-end database products as well as cars) then you wouldn't be scuffling around employing semi-literage thugs to bantz all morning.

There are one or two radio stations like that: Radio 4 and 6 Music. Their existence and excellence make it impossible for commercial radio to enter that space.

(In fact, XFM has always had a much higher proportion of AB listeners than usual commercial demographics, but the growth of 6Music has stifled their growth in that market.)

There are one or two radio stations like that: Radio 4 and 6 Music.

Precisely. I would be amazed if there is anyone in the UK who is (a) reads The New Yorker and (b) doesn't have all their radios tuned to Radio 4.

Such is the national religion of the BBC that the consequences of having a government-funded (for practical purposes) broadcaster dominating all the ecological niches media organisations can live in is ignored. People talk about News International's market dominance, but they're only playing at it by comparison with the BBC.

DS (age 6) is going to be gutted. He loves Manchester music as this is his 'roots'. I always talk about the indie/rock bands on the breakfast show or Clint Boon drive time. Jim and Tim had me in tears this morning

So are Manchester going to get Radio X

How the fuck am I going to educate DS on cool music now?

Just joining the chorus of the gutted & fecked off about the 'rebranding'. I've loved having Xfm on in the mornings, Fraser Thomson's breakfast show is fab & even my 10 yr old DD is gutted. I've had my love of music reignited over the past year or so since I found it back on the Scottish airways & discovered new music too. DD is even a bit of a smiths/morrisey fan as a result of fraser's own love of all things smiths related. Never thought I'd see the day my DD would even entertain The Smiths.

It's shit. Both for the end of what's been a great wee station, and for the utterly infuriating bollocks about the so-called demographic

utterly infuriating bollocks about the so-called demographic

What do you mean, "so-called"? It's a commercial station. It has to at least wash its face commercially. In 2015 with record sales in the toilet you might think that record companies would be pleased with the advertising (people who listen to linear radio still buy music, and XFM is probably one of the refuges of David Hepworth's fifty quid bloke.

But they're charging radio stations per play, so a DJ blathering on is saving money.

Whatever you might think of the value of the audience, the advertising buyers are reality, and if the advertising income doesn't balance the costs (and if a station is handing back the asset of a broadcast channel then that must be the case) that's the end of it. Moaning about demographics ignores the reality of running radio stations.

I don't see how it is defendable! Cutting out 50% of the population is never going to be more profitable than including them! They're already selecting their listeners by playing a particular genre of music, why not try appealing to everyone who likes that genre?

I love xfm and strangely only started listening to it after radio 1 sacked Chris moyies as I loved his morning slots

I think that was quite 'blokey' and I enjoyed it. I hoping that the new djs (who I really like) will still play the same music as xfm currently does