The Arrow - Ofcom Licensing

current and recurrent), 29% from the 1990s and 32% from the 80s. Again, there are
almost no songs over 25 years old.
• The other regional station, Smooth FM, provides a musically-focused mix based on
soul, blues, r’n’b and jazz. Emphasis is on tracks from the 70s and 80s, that made up
nearly 70% of output, together with younger and older titles from the 90s and 60s and
a complement (10%) from the current decade.
• The localised stations naturally show the broad spread of music, consistent with their
aim of appealing to a wide age range in a specifically local area. The pattern is
similar throughout, in keeping with other small-scale stations all around the country.
Current and recurrent hits account for between a quarter and a third of music
played; together with hits from the last five years (current decade) this accounts for
some 40-50% of output. The balance is mostly songs from the 80s and 90s, with few
tracks over 25 years old. (Revolution conforms with the pattern, but emphasises a
slightly younger music profile than Imagine or Tower.)
ILR MANCHESTER – MUSIC OUTPUT BY ERA
Century Smooth Key Magic Galaxy Gold XFM Imagine Revolution Tower
2005 + 17% 7% 43% - 79% 3% 70% 26% 33% 24%
2000-4 14% 3% 28% 1% 11% 2% 12% 12% 17% 18%
90s 29% 17% 17% 2% 10% 3% 13% 20% 28% 24%
80s 32% 30% 11% 10% - 19% 3% 35% 7% 29%
70s 7% 29% 1% 43% - 36% 1% 7% 9% 4%
60s 1% 13% * 44% - 37% * - 5% 1%
Arrow from Intelligent Media, 24-25 July 2006.
In contrast, The Arrow plays a mix of music concentrated on its adult target (70% from
the 70s and 80s). The station’s listeners are not followers of new releases, but do not want
to be left in a ‘golden’ time-warp either. Whilst The Arrow on digital includes a spread of
current and recurrent tracks (10%) and songs from the previous 15 years (around 15%),
in Manchester it is proposed that no tracks will appear that are less than five years old,
thereby securing even less overlap than the minimal level recorded here with Xfm.
This provides a unique balance that is not available from any other station,
independently from the further focus of The Arrow exclusively on rock music. The only
station that shows a similar prevalence of tracks from the 70s and 80s is Smooth FM; and
Smooth plays wholly different styles of music as its format states and our detailed title
analysis confirmed.
THE ARROW – MUSIC OUTPUT BY ERA
Total 2005+ 2000-4 90’s 80’s 70’s 60’s
Titles : 301 4% 4% 9% 29% 40% 14%
Airplays :
351
9% 4% 9% 27% 38% 13%
Arrow from Intelligent Media, 24-25 July 2006.
Although not included above, we have also examined the comparable output of BBC
Radio Manchester (92 songs played during the 19 hours of local output monitored). In
terms of the era of music output, this shows that BBC Manchester more closely resembles
the spread of music played by The Arrow, with similar emphasis on the 70s and 80s
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