Channel 4 looking to add radio station to portfolio

Channel 4 is drawing up plans to branch out of television by setting up a digital talk radio station.

Channel 4 is drawing up plans to branch out of television by setting up a digital talk radio station.

The channel has signed a development deal with radio company UBC Media to explore the potential for launching a new digital station using the platform currently occupied by the speech station Oneword.

Over a six-week consultation process, the two companies will draw up provisional plans for a Channel 4 radio station, as well as holding talks with media regulator Ofcom and independent radio producers.

They will develop ideas for programmes that might be broadcast on the new station - chat shows, news and phone-ins designed to appeal to the 18- to 34-year-old market at which Channel 4 aims.

"We recently took 100 per cent control of the Oneword national radio licence because we believed it is an important asset in the portfolio we have built up since going public four years ago," said UBC chief executive Simon Cole.

"It's importance is confirmed by this development deal which we hope will lead to the creation of the UK's first bi-media commercial channel," he added, saying he was "looking forward" to working with Channel 4.

But sources close to Channel 4 were circumspect about the deal, saying that a talk radio station is just one of a number of options the channel is currently considering.

The channel has been talking about setting up a joint venture with UBC, the country's largest independent radio producer and the owner of Classic Gold, the golden oldie digital station, since earlier this year.

At this stage, the talks with UBC about the Oneword platform are a formality, and neither party is bound to commit to an agreement.

Andy Duncan, who joined as chief executive of Channel 4 in July, has been investigating a range of opportunities to build on the channel's brand.

The former BBC marketing chief, who helped to launch the Freeview digital television platform, is also overseeing plans to change the structure of the government-owned channel, which would allow it to merge with rival broadcaster Channel Five.

Oneword broadcasts on Sky, Freeview and DAB digital radio, and has seen its audience figures steadily rise to 87,000 listeners a week. But the station has suffered at the hands of BBC7, which broadcasts a similar mix of classic drama, book serialisations and comedy, and, more importantly, from a lack of marketing spend.

The consultation is being headed up by Mr Cole and Michael Hodgson, the head of corporate development at Channel 4's commercial arm, 4Ventures.

During the consultation process, Channel 4 and UBC will also talk to Digital One, which owns the national digital radio network on which Oneword is broadcast.

It is likely that, if the deal goes ahead, Channel 4 will have at least a 50 per cent stake in the new station. If an agreement is reached, the very earliest the station would launch would be the second quarter of 2005.

There have been precedents, with Channel 4 already licensing extracts from its money-spinning reality television hit Big Brother to commercial radio stations.