Capital, Heart and Smooth cull local radio shows - BBC News
More than 100 jobs are thought to be at risk with the changes to breakfast and drivetime programming.
Vick Hope and Roman Kemp present Capital breakfast in London, while until recently Jamie Theakston co-hosted Heart breakfast with Emma Bunton

Global media has announced it will launch UK-wide national breakfast shows on Capital, Heart and Smooth radio.

Global say they will be creating the three largest commercial radio breakfast shows in the UK, with 4.8m, 3.7m and 2.7m listeners respectively each week.

But it means a reduction in locally produced programmes, with more than 100 jobs at risk due to the changes.

Ofcom has approved the move following a change in guidelines for local radio.

Capital will launch their network breakfast show first in April, with Heart and Smooth following later in the year.

Global says local news and travel information "will continue to air on a local licence level as per legislation requirements".

But it said its news teams would see "refreshed structures" along with engineering and marketing.

Analysis by Radio Today said that 95 local radio presenters could lose their jobs as a result of the changes.

The changes will also mean the closure of broadcast facilities. The sites earmarked for closure are Brighton, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Exeter, Gloucester, Kendal, Kent, Lancaster, Norwich and Swindon.

Global's revamp is likely to be replicated at its biggest commercial rival, Bauer, which owns stations like Kiss, Absolute and Magic.

The companies have been given the go-ahead by broadcasting regulator Ofcom, which relaxed its rules on how and where stations make their programmes last October.

Stations still need to apply to change their formats, and Ofcom has published a number of approved format changes for Global Radio stations across the UK.

Ashley Tabor, Global's founder, told staff the news at a meeting on Tuesday and said it "would mean change".

Yet he also said "the ability to lead the commercial radio sector's next huge step, and to properly compete with BBC Radio 1 and 2 at breakfast time" was "a huge opportunity".

Meanwhile, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson - who is also the shadow culture secretary - said the announcement was a "terrible blow".

He added: "The loss of more than 100 local radio jobs across the country is a travesty and particularly damaging at a time when local news is already under extreme pressure.

"Replacing local voices with London-based presenters will be a terrible loss to communities across the country."

Many big-name stars have yet to comment on the news, but some station staff have given their reaction.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Tom This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

BBC Berkshire presenter Paul Coia tweeted his support for his fellow radio professionals.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 2 by Paul Coia This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.