Former chief executive of Chrysalis Radio Phil Riley has told a Sunday newspaper he has the backing to make a bid for Emap’s radio assets. If his offer is successful, he plans to become the chairman of the group, which will put him in charge of his former rival stations Magic and Kiss in London.
His proposed offer for Emap is not alone. Global, which took over his radio group is also expected to make a bid. The question of who will end up with Emap stations has been on the lips of many radio folk for many months.
GMG Radio is also looking at its options.
John Myers recently predicted the industry will have two super-groups that will own 80 percent of all UK commercial radio. Emap’s break up could be the beginning of this era.
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall said last month she would actively pursue acquisition opportunities and was keeping an "open mind" about which UK opportunities to target. "They have a lot of interesting assets," McCall said, adding that: "We would not buy the whole of Emap, but there are parts we will certainly be looking at."
Posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 11:36 am by RadioToday UK