John Myers is to relinquish his role of Chief Executive of GMG a month early to head up a government review of localness in commercial radio, both local and regional.
Part of his brief will be to determine what role should radio have in delivering local content in a predominantly digital media landscape and the most effective way to deliver local content in a digital age, he will be reporting directly to the government.
He begins working on the report at the end of this month and once it’s completed, he’s expected to return to GMG as a consultant sometime in April.
Myers said: “I regard it as an honour to be asked to undertake this task as it may very well shape the future of local radio in the coming years.”
Andrew Harrison, chief executive of RadioCentre, the industry body for Commercial Radio, added: “John is a perfect fit to carry out this review; he has great understanding of the sector, how it operates and the challenges it faces – we will work with the industry to ensure that we play our full part in this.”
John Myers is Chairman of the Radio Academy and also Chief Executive of Guardian Media Group’s radio division. He started his career nearly 30 years ago at BBC Radio Cumbria before launching Century, Real Radio, Rock and Smooth across the UK.
