MEDIA WATCH

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Nov 2, 2008

WHO in their right mind would want to buy it?

That's the question on the lips of many in the radio industry this week as the Northern Irish broadcaster UTV announced plans to sell Edinburgh station Talk107.

According to the latest Rajars, the station only reaches 4per cent of its potential audience in any given week proving, for some, that local talk radio simply won't work in Edinburgh.

If UTV - which runs the more successful speech station TALKsport in London - can't make the station turn a penny, then who can? A UTV spokesman cheerily talked up the fact there had been 14 bidders for the original licence, so it should find it easy enough to offload. However, he wouldn't confirm if there had been any interest since the media group put up the for sale sign early last week.

One industry figure suggested UTV may be forced to hand the licence back to regulator Ofcom, adding: "I wouldn't give them a pound for it - it's losing far too much money."

MEDIAWATCH tips its hat to the crystal balls of the Newsnicht team this week. In the television guide section of Thursday's Scotsman, the paper flagged up that evening's Newsnight Scotland special on the results of the Glenrothes by-election - a full week before the election is due to take place. That's what we call reading the political runes.

AND while we're on the subject of elections, The Times reported on Friday that "nationalist supporters" have been busy emailing "arty activists" urging them to bet on an SNP win to bump up the party's odds.

Talk about cultural elitism - what about those poor tartan- hearted souls who can't tell their Vettrianos from their Raeburns?

Or could it all be down to a sticky "p" key in The Times's Scottish headquarters, MW ponders?

TENSIONS are rising in the Big Issue in Scotland offi ce this week after it was revealed the magazine's only two full-time writers, Laura Kelly and Adam Forrest, have both been nominated in the same feature writer category in the Scottish Magazine Awards. MW is sure the announcement will lead to interesting coffee breaks as the big night approaches later this month.