A locally based group leading the campaign for a new radio station in Aberdeen have backed rival group GMG Radio to win the recently advertised licence.
Aberdeen City Radio, who launched the licence campaign in 2003, have decided to ditch their bid after failed negotiations with prospective backers from within the Radio Industry.
Project Manager Richard Garvie said of the decision: “When we first launched the campaign for a new licence in Aberdeen, we made a promise to the people of the City that we would do our best to provide the best possible service to them. In the light of our inability to find a suitable partner to fulfill the sustainability section of the licence application, it is only right that we fulfill that promise to the people by picking the most suitable group to provide that service. GMG have already shown that they have a passion for providing high quality, entertainment led radio; and have also recently shown their dedication to applying that sort of quality to smaller sized stations with the aquisition of Paisley’s Q96.”
With over ?150,000 worth of business already pledged to ACR if their application had been successful, Mr Garvie has already called for that local support to back GMG Radio also: “The local people and business community have been fantastic to us. From day one, we have had people ring up offering there support and also businesses pledging to sponsor certain shows and features if we were successful. GMG will be applying with a similar format to what we would have done, but they obviously have huge financial backing and a pool of fantastic broadcasting talent. The best thing that could happen for the people of Aberdeen now is that they throw their weight behind the GMG application so that they can deliver a first rate service for Scotlands finest City.”