Leith scoops new regional Scottish radio station task

Beat 106, the new Scottish commercial radio station which is backed by EMAP Radio, TV presenter Carol Smillie and Scottish football star Ally McCoist, has appointed the Leith Agency to its advertising account.

The Radio Authority awarded Beat 106 an independent regional radio licence for central Scotland – covering the area between Edinburgh and Glasgow – in February following a hotly contested bidding process. The other 12 applicants included the Capital Radio Group and Planet 24.

Scot FM, the only other regional station in Scotland, won its licence in 1994.

Beat 106, which will start broadcasting in mid-November, is targeting 15- to 34-year-olds with a “mix of new rock, dance and information”.

The Leith Agency was hired by the newly appointed Beat 106 management team, managing director Bobby Hain and sales and marketing director Mike Marley, to create a TV, radio and press campaign.

Hain was previously programme director at Virgin Radio; Marley was Radio Clyde’s marketing development manager.

Beat 106 chairman Ron McCulloch’s company Big Beat has a 25 per cent stake in the station. Big Beat owns a string of nightclubs, including the new London super- club Home, which has a branch in Sydney, and one planned for New York.

EMAP Radio holds a ten per cent stake in the venture, as does publisher Athol Media and Scottish listings magazine The List. Leisure company Caledonian Heritable holds 20 per cent; Smillie and McCoist each hold a five per cent stake.

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