Hi. It's largely out of Globals hands. Basically the issue is with competition in the radio market- Global may not be allowed to keep all the stations they have brought.
For example here in the East Midlands, there are four commercial services on FM- namely Capital, Smooth, Classic FM and GEM. Global currently own Capital and Classic FM and are trying to buy Smooth. That would give them three out of four
In the north East (around Newcastle on Tyne) there are five commercial services on FM- Capital, Metro, Smooth, Classic FM and Real. If Global were to buy Smooth and Real, they would own four out of five
Similarly they would own three out of four main stations in Yorkshire, three out of four in South Wales and six out of seven in Manchester.
The Competition Commission doesn't like this, and the whole deal is currently subject to an appeal- we should get the result soon.
If they do get to keep the Real stations, they will most likely be re-branded Heart FM. What will happen to Smooth is anyones guess.
As for Smooth 70s, it has closed and the slot on DAB replaced by Capital Xtra, a new Urban music service....
