Scottish Radio Holdings

Scottish Radio Holdings plc
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryMedia
Founded
  • 3 February 1971 (1971-02-03) (as Radio Clyde)
  • 9 February 1994 (1994-02-09) (as Scottish Radio Holdings)
Defunct21 June 2005 (2005-06-21)
FateBought by EMAP Radio, newspaper division bought by Johnston Press
HeadquartersGlasgow, Scotland
ParentBauer Media Audio UK

Scottish Radio Holdings plc[1] (SRH), previously Radio Clyde Holdings plc, was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

History

SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the third licence for a commercial station in the UK. As a result, in 1973 Radio Clyde began broadcasting. Unlike the two existing commercial stations (both in London), Radio Clyde was an immediate success. This was helped in part by strong financial backers that included Sean Connery and Jackie Stewart.

In 1991 laws controlling the ownership of commercial stations were relaxed. Clyde then merged with Radio Forth and immediately floated on the London Stock Exchange.

The company changed its name from Radio Clyde Holdings to Scottish Radio Holdings on 9 February 1994.[2]

In October 1995 SRH acquired Morton Newspapers – which owned around 20 newspapers in Northern Ireland – for £11.2 million. Morton's operations became part of SRH's Score Press subsidiary, which had been founded earlier that year.[3][4] Since then SRH expanded operations by acquiring further publications in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.[5]

In 1998,[6] SRH established another subsidiary called Score Digital to operate DAB multiplexes. On 3 September 1999,[7] it was granted the licence to broadcast in Glasgow.[8] The multiplex aired on 31 May 2000[9] and was officially opened by Sharleen Spiteri on 7 June 2000.[10][11] Score Digital was the sole applicant for the licence to broadcast a DAB ensemble in Edinburgh,[12] which it received on 10 March 2000,[13][14] before the multiplex started broadcasting on 31 October 2000.[9][15] It also submitted the only bid for the Northern Ireland licence on 25 July 2000,[16] which was awarded in October 2000,[17][18] and the ensemble started broadcasting on 24 September 2001.[9][19] It was successful in its application to operate a multiplex in Dundee and Perth, with the licence awarded on 6 September 2001[20] over a competing bid by Switchdigital.[21][22] Score Digital was granted a licence to broadcast in Inverness in December 2001[23] and the multiplex aired on 22 August 2003.[9] It also operated a multiplex in Ayr.[24]

Purchase by Emap

SRH had a network of 22 stations when it was acquired by rival media group Emap on 21 June 2005.[25] The newspaper titles published by SRH, collectively known as Score Press, was sold to Johnston Press for £155 million.[26] The group's newspaper interests were sold off as were the firm's radio operations in the Republic of Ireland. SRH's UK radio operations were integrated into those of Emap with the two SRH-owned Vibe FM stations becoming Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108. The group's FM stations in Scotland formed a local version of the Big City Network which Emap were already operating in England. Emap also took on SRH's AM stations in Scotland, Wave 105 on England's south coast, and two stations in Northern Ireland from SRH.

In December 2007, Emap announced that their consumer media interests including radio stations would be sold to Hamburg based Bauer Media Group.[27]

References

  1. ^ "SCOTTISH RADIO HOLDINGS LIMITED". Find and update company information.
  2. ^ "Scottish radio booming". The Scotsman. 10 February 1994. p. 15. Retrieved 9 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ Croft, Martin (19 October 1995). "Scottish Radio buys into newspapers". The Scotsman. p. 19. Retrieved 9 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Tuning into papers". Shropshire Star. 19 October 1995. p. 36. Retrieved 9 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Radio group in takeover talks". BBC News. 20 December 2000.
  6. ^ O'Kane, Paul; Gardner, Darran (24 November 2002). "SRH is looking for UK growth". Sunday Tribune. p. 30. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Clyde parent group scores with digital radio licence". The Herald. Glasgow. 4 September 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  8. ^ Leach, Andrew (4 September 1999). "Capital-EMAP group wins radio licence". The Scotsman. p. 24. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ a b c d Commercial Radio Pocket Book 2007 (PDF). Radiocentre. p. 144. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2009.
  10. ^ Stokes, Rob (4 June 2000). "Slow but sure revolution of the airwaves gathers pace". Scotland on Sunday. p. 42. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Digital radio lift-off in west". The Scotsman. 8 June 2000. p. 23. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ Johnston, Ian (26 January 2000). "Score set for digital radio goal". Edinburgh Evening News. p. 7. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ Montgomery, David (11 March 2000). "Era of digital radio closer as more stations given go-ahead". The Scotsman. p. 4. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "City tunes in to eight digital radio stations". Edinburgh Evening News. 13 March 2000. p. 12. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "North-east digital bid". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. 14 February 2001. p. 10. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Parent company bids for digital radio licence". Ballymena Times and Ballymena Observer. 26 July 2000. p. 3. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Radio first for the Province". Coleraine Times. 11 October 2000. p. 27. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ "Time to get tuned in". The Belfast Telegraph. 10 October 2000. p. 37. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ^ "Digital radio launched in Northern Ireland". The Lurgan Mail. 15 November 2001. p. 7. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. ^ "Digital radio licence handed out for Tayside". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. 7 September 2001. p. 3. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ Watson, Norman (25 May 2001). "The radio revolution". The Courier & Advertiser. p. 16. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ Arthur Macdonald (19 May 2001). "Consortium launches digital bid for Dundee and Perth". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. p. 21. Retrieved 30 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. ^ "Digital boost". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. 15 December 2001. p. 21. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Emap must divest multiplex". Radio Today. 8 August 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  25. ^ Laing, Allan; Archer, Helen; West, Karl (22 June 2005). "Will Clyde flow on after takeover? Concern over future of city station after pounds-391m buyout". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  26. ^ Brook, Stephen (21 June 2005). "Emap snaps up Scottish Radio Holdings". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  27. ^ Farey-Jones, Daniel (7 December 2007). "Emap sells magazines and radio divisions to Bauer for £1.14bn". Campaign. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
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