Our own member Graham Blincow gave us a fascinating insight into the world of radio – from Guglielmo Marconi’s patent of 1896 to the present time – but it was the period of Graham’s own involvement and the introduction of local radio in the 1960s and 1970s which prompted the talk’s title. BBC Radio Sheffield was the second of the Beeb’s local stations in November 1967, so Radio Hallam had some catching up to do when it was launched as the city’s commercial counterpart in October 1974.
Graham, a chartered secretary by profession, was a founding member of the Radio Hallam management when this and other commercial stations around the country (Hallam was the eighth such station) were given the go-ahead by the government of the day. The term ‘Independent Local Radio’ was carefully chosen. The intention was that local areas would have their own identity, broadcasting solely to their allotted area, and enhancing their listeners’ experience by being entirely about that locality, reporting in depth on local news and sport without having to worry too much about national issues.
During 1973, a number of well-known Sheffield businesses were approached to gauge interest in subscribing to the embryonic company, which would then apply to the Independent Broadcasting Authority for a licence.
It was believed that such an enterprise would become a good, local, profitable business, and a prospectus was circulated with a business plan which would provide a profit from the third year of operation. The company was to be headed by Gerard Young, of the Tempered Spring Company, as chairman, and other local businesses to become involved included Sheffield Newspapers, Brightside and Carbrook Co-op, Footprint Tools, Yorkshire Television and Sheffield University.
By 1978, Radio Hallam had overtaken the listening figures of BBC Radio Sheffield, and had become an integral part of its designated broadcast area. Equally importantly for its long-term future, advertising revenue was buoyant. This was indeed the time of the ‘radio explosion,’ but in some ways Radio Hallam and dozens of other commercial stations around the country became victims of their own success as bigger national and international companies saw the chance of making a profit through mergers and takeovers. In January 2024, new owners Bauer Media announced that Hallam FM would be rebranded as Hits Radio South Yorkshire as part of a network-wide relaunch involving no fewer than 17 local radio stations in England and Wales. The announcement signalled the end of the Radio Hallam brand, already part of the Yorlshire Radio Network, after nearly 50 years of broadcasting. Yorkshire Radio Network had been taken over by Metro Radio Group before being bought by EMAP (East Midlands Allied Press) in 1996.
EMAP themselves were then bought out by Bauer Media Group, a German multi-media conglomerate which owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 internet-based offerings and 50 radio and TV stations. Graham can be proud to have played a part in lighting the blue touch paper of the radio explosion, but we are now – despite Hits Radio South Yorkshire still boasting a weekly audience of more than 300,000 according to the last available figures – left with a very watered-down version of the original concept of local stations offering local output to local listeners.