Capital FM's expansion to other areas of the UK will not only see the end of heritage stations and a strong dance music network, but could also interfere with the station's London centric output.
The answer is Smart Networking, as founder and Global Group CEO Ashley Tabor told RadioToday.co.uk.
In an interview shortly before the [link=https://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.6265]news[/link] was announced to staff, we asked Ashley "How will you keep Capital FM all about London?" His reply was "Smart Networking".
He explained: "When we were looking at taking this route with Capital FM, one of my main concerns was protecting the Capital FM output in London. We will have two studios for Capital FM – one with the live presenter, doing his/her show for London, and the other with a team of producers sending content to the rest of the network."
"Capital's sister brand Heart has had the facility to send any link to any area at anytime, in almost real time. Capital will use this technology to continue providing a live service for London whilst having the choice to send pre-recorded split links to any or all of the other stations."
So if there is a major incident in Newcastle at 8pm, the presenter in London can send one link to Capital FM North East, whilst the rest of the network continue to hear about Lady Gaga and Robbie Williams. Or vice-versa.
Ashley also insisted, although a "small handful" of people would lose their jobs because of the changes, that this was not a cost cutting exercise and lots of money has been invested in, and will be invested in producers, marketing, equipment and infrastructure.
Local breakfast and drivetime programmes will continue on all stations, although Trent FM, Ram FM and Leicester Sound will merge to form Galaxy East Midlands.