Xfm to launch outdoor music event in London

Capital Radio’s “alternative” station, Xfm, is to develop a festival or outdoor event for next year. The move is designed to broaden the station’s appeal.

The station, which already runs a series of club nights, is working on plans to develop large-scale live music events. It is not known how many events it will stage or over how many days. The events are expected to be held in and around London.

Xfm plans its own festival because existing events are already associated with brands: the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals are associated with Radio 1, and the V Festival is tied up with Virgin. Xfm was a co-sponsor of the V Festival in 1999.

Xfm is also diversifying into lifestyle products. It relaunched its free quarterly magazine, X-Ray, as a consumer magazine last month (MW August 29). The magazine will become a monthly from next February. The station also announced two sponsorship deals in September: tequila brand Cuervo Gold signed a ten-month deal to sponsor its dance output, and car brand MG has signed a deal to sponsor Zoë Ball’s drive-time show.

The most recent Rajar figures show that the station has increased its weekly listener share in London to 2.1 per cent.