Atlantic FM sold to Global to become Heart

19/03/2012 - 10:31 | 30 Replies More

Global Radio has bought Cornwall station Atlantic FM and will rebrand it as Heart over the next few months.

Breakfast and drivetime shows on the station will be shared with Heart Devon and will come from Exeter, with daytimes and off-peak programming being done from London as with the other Heart network stations.

Global says there will continue to be local news content and as with other Heart stations advertising will be sold locally, with Atlantic FM’s St Agnes offices retained for the sales team.

Global Group Founder and Executive President, Ashley Tabor said: “This is an exciting development for Heart. We’ve wanted to achieve this for some time and we warmly welcome Cornwall to the Heart family!”

Atlantic’s Deputy Chairman, Jeremy Scott said: “We are delighted to conclude the sale of Atlantic to Global Radio. Very few local stations get the invitation to join a network like Heart, where they care about the localness of their output and offer high quality network programming in a challenging new digital era. For listeners and advertisers right across the county, it’ll soon be time to upgrade – to the brand new Heart Cornwall.”

Atlantic FM launched in 2006 and was 47% owned by Tindle Radio. The only other commercial radio licence for Cornwall is held by UKRD’s Pirate FM which has been on the air since 1992.

Seven other groups applied for the Cornwall licence in 2004, which was won by Atlantic FM – CKFM, SouWest FM, Extreme Radio (part of Pirate FM), Itchy Fm, Kernow FM, St Piran FM and Time FM.


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Category: Industry News

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=550593383 Andrew Bantock on Facebook

    The people of Cornwall have my deepest sympathy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=616610588 Dave Smith on Facebook

    “Very few local stations get the invitation to join a network like Heart, where they care about the localness of their output ” Hmmmmm

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000083163747 Mark Napper on Facebook

    Sad news bad day for local radio

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1132452669 Dave Botha on Facebook

    Arggggghhhhhhhghhhh !

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=570371018 John B Sheffield on Facebook

    Another nail in the coffin for Local Radio!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000108252168 Geoff Gillett on Facebook

    I did not think Atlantic would go down this route but obviously money talks. A very sad day for the people of Cornwall. I am sure the team at Pirate FM are loving it, loads more listeners for them. Good luck though to all of the team at Atlantic and so hope they all find work when the P45s are issued.

  • DC

    Localness of output????? Are you kidding!!!  It comes from London!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=560048910 Nik Andrews on Facebook

    Agree with Jeff a load more radio professionals head to the benefits office. Where will this madness end?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=628522005 Rex Orr on Facebook

    What a disaster for listeners in Cornwall!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=682584417 Clive Roper on Facebook

    I see Global have already said it willmerge with Heart Devon and all programming will come from Exeter, nothing local for Cornwall.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585991144 Mary Sweeney on Facebook

    FFS. Terrible news. Heart is a bland, crap format & always has been. It depresses me every time I hear it. Poor Cornwall : (

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=750009634 Steve Perry on Facebook

    80′s ALL the time, I mean I like the 80′s but it’s a it OTT

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=537298476 Steve Gregson on Facebook

    Bugger

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002592902919 Len Groat on Facebook

    I’m sure those London-loving Cornish will be delighed they don’t have to tolerate local accents anymore, and enjoy making the trip to London regularly to give Heart djs Pasties and Cornish cream in thanks! This is the equivalent of running Palestine FM from Israel !!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=716390104 Ian Perry on Facebook

    The Heart bland, sorry, brand infects another of the few last bastions of genuine local radio. But don’t worry, the token gesture for now is the retention of a local office and local news. Just one set of CDs in between – a small one. Clubbed classics in Cornwall anyone?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000118935522 George Coombes on Facebook

    Great Stuff! :)

  • Radio Geordie

    Why should anyone be surprised anyway?  The big radio companies are only interested in how many licences they can get their hands on & don’t give a monkeys gonads about what the listeners want.
    Global have just played into the hands of Pirate FM & the BBC Cornwall as those services are where your listeners are going to go.  At least the bulk of their output is local.
    There were signs of this coming about 10 years ago as it had already happened in Amercia where the 1,000s of stations were in the hands of about 4 companies who could drop the format without any consultation whatsoever.
    No surprise that it’s now creeping in here as well.  It kinda brings into question as to what is the point of Ofcom?
    & In reply to DC
    You forgot that it would also come from Exeter at peak times.
    Exeter, as local to Cornwall as I am to Edinburgh – NOT!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=648719611 Michael Roche on Facebook

    Another bland repalcement for local radio.

  • Wibblekidney

    Oh, well! It’s back to Pirate when it changes for local stuff, this sale has got to be good news to them and to BBC radio Cornwall, but certainly not to all of us listeners in living in Cornwall. Why the hell anyone thinks people in Cornwall want to hear programming that is local to Exeter and the rest of Devon I don’t know. Even worse is the fact that the rest of the programming will come from London. What a disaster! I wonder if Londoners would accept Heart as being local if their programming moved to Birmingham for a lot of their daily output?

  • Nick.

    In 2003 approx OFCOM ran a consultation for proposed new licences for Devon and Cornwall.  Question – did we want new ILRs (we got Altantic, Radio Plymouth, Palm and Exeter FM) or a sub-regional like Real?  The response – new ILRs.  What we’ve now got is a sub-regional from Heart, worse it’s a part time sub-regional.  A bad day for radio choice in Cornwall, and another shot in the arm for UKRD.

  • http://www.facebook.com/len.groat Len Groat

    I was delighted to read Jeremy Scott’s words, ”Very few local stations get the invitation to join a network like Heart” as hopefully it will be a long time, if ever, before OfCom allows anything like this to happen again. Have you worked out how many miles it is from London to Cornwall? 270 miles!! LOCAL? I do not think so….

    Mr. Scott’s quote “for listeners and advertisers right across the county, it’ll soon be time to upgrade – to the brand new Heart Cornwall”, needed THIS adding at the end “broadcast from Devon and London”.

  • Rosalindsmsmith

    Well here’s one who won’t be listening.  Local means from Cornwall not Exeter or London!!!!!

    • Kieran

      I understand what you mean, but at least there’s still Pirate FM.

  • Kieran

    At least it’s Exeter, not Bristol.

  • Me

    Another one gone ! Don;t these people realise local radio should BE local radio !

  • Trevor Cooke

    Absolutely love(d) listening to Atlantic whilst have a few outside the tent in Perranporth or on the beach in St Agnes with a real local radio experience and true taste of Cornwall. Cornish scrumpy and pasties won’t ever taste the same without it. Thank you Atlantic FM. My on line dream listening at home in Lancashire will never be the same again either….However, keep up the good work Pirate FM. In the meantime it could be the penultimate week for us at Lancaster’s Diversity FM right now, any chance of a take over from Heart?!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=733915495 John Pip Eccleston on Facebook

    Pathetic radio group global are ….”ah we’ve brought a station heart or capital” *tosses coin “heart it is” I wish they would just go bust they have wrecked the industry

  • Smogboy

    The meaning of the word LOCAL
     LOCAL (adjective)The adjective LOCAL = of or belonging to or characteristic of a particular locality or neighborhood

    What part of local do these boffins not understand !!!!

    Rock on Cornwall !!!

  • SRH

    Pirate Fm total and utter rubbish, BBC Cornwall total and utter rubbish,  looks like its back to radio 2 and Chris Evans in the morning, rather than listen to pirates lifeless presenters, and the BBC utter drivel, most dissapointed will miss Atlantic Fm greatly 

  • Rob a

    The music will be be the same old rubbish, just presented by different presenters, with the same old appalling local adverts.

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