THE

RELUCTANT

ADULT

REPORTA.SIDE / Vol. 2

AbsOLUTE RADiO,ONE GOLDEN sqUARE,LONDON W1F 9DJTEL 020 7432 3311absoluteradio.co.ukb.SIDE / Vol. 2

We champion music from

new artists such as Florence

and the Machine and

Mumford and sons, as well

as the very best music from

the last 50 years.

The Beatles and Rolling

Stones, The Police and

Joy Division, Oasis and

Blur as well as the latest

releases from the likes of

Kings of Leon, The Killers

and Lily Allen.

25 – 44 year olds

61% male, 39% female

ABC1 bias

105.8FM,

National DAB and analogue

1215 AM Nationwide

Sky (0107),

Freeview (727),

Virgin Media (915),

Tiscali (620),

iPhone, Android, Nokia

and Blackberry phones

and the iPad

absoluteradio.co.uk

The best music from

the 80s.

Human League,

Frankie Goes to Hollywood,

Duran Duran, Prince, ABC,

Depeche Mode, Blondie

and Bon Jovi, as well as

party classics from

Bananarama, Culture Club,

Madonna and more.

30-54 year olds

50% male, 50% female

National DAB digital radio

Sky (0200),

Virgin Media (951),

Freesat (620)

iPhone, Android, Nokia

and Blackberry phones

and the iPad

absolute80s.com

New music, classic

alternative 90s and 00s

with user-controlled live

music between 7-10pm.

The best new music with

an alternative slant from

the likes of Delphic, Drums,

Stornoway, Pendulum,

Paramore and Arcade Fire

playing alongside alternative

classics such as

Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies,

Placebo and Radiohead.

15-34 year olds

DAB digital radio (London

7pm – 6am and from

Cardiff 24/7)

iPhone, Android, Nokia

and Blackberry phones

and the iPad

Classic Rock from the 60s

through to the 90s –

we are the home of the

Great british Guarantee.

Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix

and The Who play

alongside Queen, AC/DC,

Bon Jovi, Nirvana and

Pearl Jam.

30-54 year olds

55% male, 45% female

National DAB digital radio

Sky (0201),

Virgin Media (952),

Freesat (725)

iPhone, Android, Nokia

and Blackberry phones

and the iPad

absoluteclassicrock.co.uk

The best music from

the 90s.

Undisputed 90s classics,

stretching from Oasis

and Blur, to Primal Scream

and the Chemical Brothers.

25-44 year olds

This is new so we don’t

have figures yet

DAB digital radio (London

and Essex to Bristol)

Sky (0203)

iPhone, Android, Nokia

and Blackberry phones

and the iPad

absoluteradio90s.co.uk

What

does

itplay?

Whois itfor?

Where

can i

hear

it?

The Absolute Radio family of stations (or whatever the radio boffins call the ‘network’)

is made up of Absolute Radio, Absolute Classic Rock, Absolute 80s, Absolute Radio 90s,

dabbl and Absolute Radio Extra.

If Absolute Radio was a person, we’d have all of the latest, coolest gadgets in the living room.

We’re into music from the past, we love what’s happening now, and we’re always on the

lookout for the newest, cutting-edge stuff. Oh, and we love a good kick about with the lads.

We’re reluctant adults, and we welcome everyone who’s the same.

‘Act your shoesize, not your age’ that’s what we say. We’re pretty grown up when it comes to one

thing though – making Absolute Radio a music and entertainment brand with audio at its core.

Our fans and listeners are into Real Music, Live Music, Innovation, Comedy and Football.

And that’s what we keep delivering. We don’t do plastic pop pap – we do REAL guitars,

REAL drums and REAL singers. We keep things fresh with our No Repeat Guarantee,

so the same song’s never played twice between 10am and 5pm on weekdays.

Mumford & Sons performing in a

chapel for our Christmas sessions

Florence & the Machineperforming live at Abbey Road

Absolute Radio atIsle of Wight Festival

Christian O’Connellwith the Stereophonics Madness performing at our

first birthday on Regent Street

Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars)

performing in the Absolute Radio Studios

Lilly Allen performing at Absolute Radio

for Geoff Lloyd’s Hometime Show

Biffy Clyro

performing at the House of Commons

Keaneperforming at the Lyric Theatre

Paul Wellerperforming at Absolute Radio

Whether it’s up close and personal with a rockstar, or with one big street party,

Absolute Radio reaches over 1 million people each year with live music content.

Last summer (2009), over 600,000 people turned up at The Regent Street

Festival to see Madness perform live.

We’ve had over 200 Live Sessions in our building and at other famous venues like

Abbey Road and The House of Commons (we didn’t fiddle our expenses – honest).

The amazing line-ups included Chris Martin, Kasabian, Lily Allen, Paul Weller and

Florence and the Machine.

From rocking MPs to Rolling Stones - The Ronnie Wood Show is now on

Absolute Classic Rock and Absolute Radio, bringing listeners live music every week.

It’s not just on air that we do live music – this year we had over 1 million impressions

on Facebook and over 140,000 views of our Isle of Wight content on YouTube –

it even made the UK homepage of YouTube.

Chris Martinperforming at Absolute Radio

Paul McCartney on

Geoff Lloyd’s hometime show

The Ronnie Wood ShowOn Absolute Classic Rock & Absolute Radio

faces for radio

a tousled and bedraggled look :

often used to describe

Absolute Radio breakfast show

presenters.

Earlier this year we launched our

biggest ever marketing offensive

since our launch campaign in 2008.

It was designed to shout about our

breakfast shows across the week -

Christian O’Connell’s cheeky banter

on weekdays, to Frank Skinner’s laugh

out loud observations on Saturday

mornings, and Dave Gorman’s

whimsical humour on Sundays.

We took all 3 of them to the depths

of Shoreditch with strict instructions

to look as unshaven and bedraggled

as possible. We then asked them

to replicate (and exaggerate) their

morning beauty routine (ha ha).

Taking a good look at them together,

we realised what an ugly bunch they

seemed. And thus, ‘Faces for Radio’

was born.

Teaming up with acclaimed

photographer Gary Salter, who

specialises in capturing stark

contrasts (and has a great sense

of humour himself), we produced

a distinctive and funny campaign

which was plastered across London,

Birmingham and Manchester. It’s also

appeared across digital and print

(including some of the UK’s largest

magazines). Having three comedians

in one room together for 8 hours

gave rise to some hilarious moments.

And some handsome portraits,

which could even give Brad Pitt a

run for his money.

Here at Absolute Radio HQ, we’re like kids in a sweetshop. We’ve recently won the rights to broadcast Barclays

Premier League football commentary. As part of a three year deal, kicking off this season, we’ll be broadcasting

live from a 3pm Saturday game that week. We’ll be bringing listeners live action from Barclays Premier League

football matches every Saturday afternoon – including exclusive commentary of games ‘not available on TV.’

We realise (of course) that not all our listeners are football nuts (though most of them are probably still nuts).

So on Saturday afternoons they’ll have a choice of 2 shows - Barclays Premier League commentary, or

Rock’n’Roll Football, which is great music and goals. We’ll be splitting our frequency to put our listeners in

control. Barclays Premier League commentary will be on 1215AM and the new Absolute Radio Extra on DAB.

Rock’n’ Roll Football with Russ Williams will continue to be on 105.8FM. What a dilemma.

ThrEE lIonS on A ShIrT, TwEnTy poDcASTS To DownloAD

ThIrTy-Two gAmES, noT on TV, EAch AnD EVEry SEASon

IT’S comIng homE, IT’S comIng homE, IT’S comIng...

FooTbAll’S comIng To AbSoluTE rADIo.

Ok, so we’re not the greatest songwriters, but here at Absolute Radio we’re massive football fans. This summer,

as part of the FIFA World Cup 2010, we reunited David Baddiel and Frank Skinner for a series of exclusive podcasts

and live shows direct from South Africa. We also teamed up (geddit?) with Sony Ericsson, official mobile handset

of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to bring all the excitement and drama to the airwaves. Some industry bigwigs even said

that Absolute Radio ‘owned’ the World Cup with Baddiel and Skinner. We’re blushing to the tips of our footy boots.

oVEr onE mIllIon poDcAST DownloADS oF bADDIEl & SKInnEr’S

AbSoluTE rADIo poDcASTS

As well as the daily podcast series - which saw over ONE MILLION downloads and went to number one in the UK

iTunes podcast chart, the comedy duo also gave fans the chance to join in the banter during the pre-match build

up to their live shows. Our very own technical geeks even came up with The Baddiel & Skinner Football Kit mobile

application. It included stuff like a pub locator, score predictor game, and a guide on how to do those all-important

goal celebration moves.

Before the tournament we hosted the ‘South Africa Send Off Party’ at a West End Theatre. The musical backdrop came

from Keane and James - plus an exclusive performance of ‘Three Lions’ by the original line-up of David Baddiel, Frank

Skinner and Ian Broudie. It was a special moment which made even grown men weep! Baddiel & Skinner also performed

their infamous ‘Live and Unplanned’ format - it was an evening when comedy, football and music combined perfectly.

Bliss!

Caught in World Cup frenzy, we also hosted screenings of the England games for our listeners and friends at

Abbey Road and Alexandra Palace.

We’d rather not stick people in boxes. Not only does it make it very hard for them to reach the radio,

it’s also very restrictive. Having said that, it can be very useful at times like these. So we’ll call our audience

‘reluctant adults’. They’re people with grown-up responsibilities – jobs, mortgages, families – who like a

little escapist fun every now and then. They’re not irresponsible – just as responsible as they need to be

Perhaps the best way to describe them is with this quote: ‘Growing old is compulsory;

growing up is optional’. We like that.

Our audience are a passiona te and engaged bunch. When we ran an online competition called ‘Rock Off’,

we asked music communities to vote for their favourite artists. We promised to let the winning fan forum

programme one of our evening shows. Over 100,000 music fans competed against each other to ensure

their favourite bands won the top spot. So you can see that our fans are a very active part of our online

community. We recently sold £1 million pounds’ worth of Kings of Leon tickets on our website within the

first 6 hours of them going on sale! Now that’s passion for you.

rEcorD numbEr oF AwArDS For AbSoluTE rADIo

In ThE 2010 Sony AwArDS AnD 2010 ArQIVA AwArDS.

golD Sony AwArD In ThE lIVE EVEnT cATEgory, For our coVErAgE oF

blur In concErT’cATEgory, For our coVErAgE oF blur In concErT.

golD Sony AwArD For bEST compETITIon, For ‘who’S cAllIng chrISTIAn?’

commErcIAl rADIo prESEnTEr oF ThE yEAr – ArQIVA AwArDS 2010 – gEoFF lloyD.

commErcIAl rADIo progrAmmEr oF ThE yEAr – ArQIVA AwArDS 2010 – clIVE DIcKEnS.

bEST SpEcAlIST rADIo STATIon - FrEESAT AwArDS 2010 - AbSoluTE 80S

Silver Sony Award in the Best Entertainment Programme category for Frank Skinner on Absolute Radio

Bronze Sony Award for Christian O’Connell, Best Use Of Branded Content – ‘One Last Dream’ and Best Station Imaging

Best National On-Air Promotion for Benjamin Button at the P&M Awards

Best Use of Online for Marketing a Station or Network for ‘Rock Off’ at the P&M awards

Gold Award for Overall Excellence at the P&M Awards

and we’ve got a shedload of nominations in the Marketing Week Engage Awards, Music Week Awards,

Freesat Awards, Radio Academy Production Awards and The Media Guardian Innovation Awards

.

However, no interview is talked about

more than Christian’s now (in)famous

live interview with David Cameron who,

chatting about Twitter, said that ‘too many

tweets make a Tw*t’. He went onto become Prime

Minister. Christian O’Connell: kingmaker extraordinaire.

Beyond the studios, we’re supporting the Edinburgh

Festival, Comedy Tent at Latitude Festival,

Laughs in the Park and much more.

With us, you can wake up laughing seven days a week.

Monday to Friday, direct from the studio tree house, there’s the

Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show, The Frank Skinner Show

takes to the radio on Saturday mornings and Dave Gorman

is here on Sundays. We even reunited David Baddiel and

Frank Skinner this summer to be the voice of the 2010 FIFA

World Cup on Absolute Radio through a series of podcasts

and live shows from South Africa.

Geoff Lloyd takes to the airwaves for the Hometime Show with anecdotes,

musings and monologues on life’s minutiae, gigantiae, pop culture, current

affairs and his own neuroses and social awkwardness (the last two being

enough to fill a show in their own right).

And to end the day, Iain Lee fronts the UK’s most compelling and sometimes

weirdest late night radio phone-in show (a bit like Jeremy Paxman,

but with shiny hair).

Lee Mack and Al Murray can also be heard guest hosting on the station.

And on the subject of comedy greats, our DJs have interviewed among

others, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand.

COMPAREMYRADIO.COM

You can listen and interact with us in an ever-increasing number of ways that includes

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, smartphone applications on iPhone, Nokia, BlackBerry and

Android, optimisation for the Apple iPad, and podcasts and vodcasts through our very

own iTunes page. And absoluteradio.co.uk continues to evolve, with new artist and podcast

pages, and lifestreaming of the Breakfast Show and live events. Not being ones to blow our

own trumpets (real ones, of course), we’ll let someone do the blowing for us:

‘I’m proud to work with Absolute Radio in the UK. Since taking over Virgin Radio, the

team at Absolute Radio, led by COO Clive Dickens, has launched an incredible array

of digital initiatives which put to shame the efforts of most integrated, consolidated

radio operators around the world.’

(larry rosin, founder & president, Edison research)

A hothouse of digital, technical and marketing geniuses (some with mad hair),

One Golden Square Labs is where applications for the web and new,

emerging platforms are developed. Moments so far include:

DAbbL

The user-controlled digital radio station which broadcasts the songs you’ve voted to hear.

Browse songs by artist, track name and year, or just let the dabbliser choose a track for you.

The tracks with the most votes are played during the following hour. Dead simple

COMPARE My RADiO

Find out what UK radio stations are playing, and how often they play it. You can search

for artists or compare unique tracks between stations. It’s all about transparency across

the radio industry. You show us yours and we’ll show you ours – that sort of thing.

Find out more at comparemyradio.com.

iTUNEs

Absolute Radio was the first station to let you ‘tag’ the track you’re listening to on your iPod

Nano, so your device can remember it. And when you next plug it into your computer.

you’ll be able to see all your favourite songs and download them directly from iTunes.

1.8 mIllIon ADulT lISTEnErS pEr wEEK*

Our core is 25-44 year olds (that’s 55% of our total listeners)

Of the 14 million adult hours per week across the Absolute Radio Network,

49% of that listening is in London (6.9 million hours) and 48% via a digital device

Average of 7.7 listening hours a week per listener

Absolute 80s extended the network’s reach with 264,000 listeners reported

on its first survey , 77% of whom didn’t listen to the main station

oVEr 500,000 rEgISTErED VIpS, 5m pAgES oF conTEnT VIEwED EVEry

monTh, AnD oVEr 7.9m hourS oF lIVE rADIo STrEAmED onlInE.

Our community database has 559,000 registered VIP users

55% of Absolute Radio’s national listening is via digital platform vs the commercial

radio industry of average of 20.9%

We have over 7.9 million hours of live streamed audio each month across the network,

which is more than either Radio 1 or Radio 2 (5.5m and 4.7m respectively)**

mobIlE

our mobIlE ApplIcATIonS hAVE AchIEVED oVEr onE mIllIon DownloADS

We have released listen apps for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Symbian operating system to allow

quick, easy and elegant access to our stations. The applications have been well received by the handset

manufacturers, with Apple, BlackBerry and Nokia all promoting our applications online and on handsets.

Mobile is now responsible for quarter of a million streaming hours every month, which is 4% of our

overall internet streaming.

In addition to our core listen applications, we have also developed new paid and free applications

which build on other properties, including live events and fantasy football, creating new

direct revenue and sponsorship opportunities, alongside the release of a HTML5 compatible

Absolute Radio website specifically for the Apple iPad.

VIDEo /poDcASTS

In the first two quarters of 2010 we had 7 million audio and video podcast downloads, and 1.6m

views of our video content, coupled with 600,000 streams of audio-on-demand content.

Absolute Radio is the first UK media brand to have a fully-optimised HTML 5 compatible website – so all

on-demand video content is available to view on every possible device, including the new Apple iPad.

*According to RAJAR 2010,

Quarter 1

**Source: BBC Site Usage,

May 2010

onlInE

If you’re looking for a perfect partner, please get in touch:

chris goldson, commercial Director. Chris.Goldson@absoluteradio.co.uk

Donnach o’Driscoll, chief Executive officer. Donnach.O’Driscoll@absoluteradio.co.uk

clive Dickens, chief operating officer. Clive.Dickens@absoluteradio.co.uk

WE PROMisE yOU THREE THiNGs: CREATiViTy, EFFECTiVENEss AND

EXCEPTiONAL CLiENT sERViCE

crEATIVITy

When a 135 year old brewery decided to use radio for the first time in their marketing strategy, they came to us. We didn’t just

come up with a standard sponsorship or airtime package for them. Instead we created their own radio show - the ‘Absolute Radio

Pub Quiz World Championship’. The weekly on-air quiz saw teams from across the country travel to Absolute Radio HQ at One

Golden Square to compete for a grand prize of £10,000 live on the radio, all hosted by our evening show presenter Ben Jones.

The campaign, which had a ‘live from your local’ feel about it, raised national awareness of the Wadworth Brewery’s 250 pubs

as well as their popular 6X beer brand.

It generated real stand-out for the brewery, with anecdotally strong, innovative and unique branded content –

and plenty of empty pint glasses.

EFFEcTIVEnESS

We decided to put our money where our mouth is, and to research the effectiveness of Sponsorship and Promotions on radio.

Four identical pieces of audio were prepared for the research: one with no message and just a station “sweeper’’; one with a

single commercial; one with a pre-recorded trail featuring a station voice; and one with a live read from a DJ.

Brand recall was substantially higher for promotional trails than for spot airtime alone, with a notable upwards movement again

from a plain advertisement through to a DJ’s live read - as well as a clear upwards shift from airtime to live reads for brand recall.

The results show that live reads are almost as popular amongst listeners as straightforward music output. The brand is

therefore benefiting with input from our much loved on-air presenters – additionally, the research also shows that heavier

listeners show the most emotional connection.

The research shows greater benefits of sponsorship and promotions compared with straightforward airtime.

Strong levels of awareness and recall can be achieved, plus a very emotional connection with listeners

clIEnT SErVIcE

In 2009, the financial landscape for commercial radio changed dramatically, with clients understandably unwilling

to commit to long-term partnerships.

Through a pitch that was strong on creativity and enthusiasm, Absolute Radio bucked that trend as British Gas committed to

sponsor the breakfast show for an initial 6 month period, later extending by a further 12 months. All credit to our hard work at

welcoming our new sponsor into the heart of the show.

“We have all been really impressed with the creativity that’s gone into this campaign. Absolute Radio’s approach to winning

business and communicating key messages is completely different to any other radio station. They are always looking for new

ways of doing things and additional opportunities to get a message across. The warmth, humour and friendliness rubs off on

British Gas and makes for a better listening experience.’’ (Janet Dinger, Associate Director, Carat)

pg13

onE wEEK oF loVE, luST, hEArTbrEAK, hAppInESS – & prIZES.

To cElEbrATE ThE lAunch oF ThE FIlm ‘500 DAyS oF SummEr’, wE pArTnErED

wITh ShorTlIST AnD SpoTIFy To crEATE An InnoVATIVE on-AIr promoTIon

Inspired by the film’s soundtrack, we encouraged listeners to submit the soundtrack to their love lives via a branded

microsite on absoluteradio.co.uk. The prize was a summer of European festivals. Throughout the week our DJs also

broadcasted their own relationship playlists. Listeners were asked to identify whose they were for a chance to win

tickets to UK gigs. The promotion was supported by Shortlist magazine and trailers on Spotify.

chrISTIAn o’connEll’S SounDTrAcK

phil collins: Against All odds / guns n roses: november / chase and Dave: Ain’t no pleasing you

cArrIE – ThE wInnEr’S - SounDTrAcK

Depeche mode: Just can’t get enough / ladyhawke: Delirium / godley & creme: cry

ThE rESulTS

LISTENER ENGAGEMENT WAS AMAZING

It reached 2.1 million listeners

The microsite delivered a fantastic 18,800 impressions

258 detailed relationship playlists were submitted via spotify

‘’To be able to bring three leading media brands together in one campaign is such an exciting prospect,

and the first time that that we have worked this way promotionally for a film release. This integrated

campaign should ensure that interactions with our core audience will be more engaging than ever.’’

Jennifer Tang, Media Promotions Manager, 20th Century Fox

A unIQuE promoTIon For AVATAr

When a film as groundbreaking as ‘Avatar’, the promotion has got to be just as unique. We focused on the idea of control,

and let listeners control our playlist on the day the DVD was released. Our Breakfast and Hometime presenters also lost

control of their own shows – we swapped their support teams over. That way the presenters were ‘controlled’ by another

team. From 10am to 5pm the station was also ad-free. In place of the ads, we put specially recorded voxpops showcasing

people’s thoughts on the new DVD. Throughout the week of release, listeners to The Breakfast Show were asked to pitch

their idea of ‘Pandora’ on earth. Suggestions included everything from magical islands in Thailand to rock formations in

the Arizona Desert. Christian chose a daily winner, with prizes including trips to the Costa Rican rainforest, the Iguassu

Falls in Brazil, and the newly - named Hallelujah Mountains in China.

ThE rESulTS wErE...mAgIc

Reached over 2 million listeners

Produced 12,400 page impression and 4,500 quality online competition entrants

‘’Absolute Radio provided Fox with an opportunity to really engage listeners using an innovative and fun mechanic that

went much further than any campaign we have ever done before with radio. It really made consumers think about what

they loved about the film, and by asking them what their Pandora would be like here on planet earth, it provided unique

listener interaction with our product which you couldn’t achieve with a traditional direct sell style of messaging.’’

Amber Palumbo, Product Manager, 20th Century Fox