Sir – Further to my earlier letter complaining about the narrowing down of our local TV viewing options, I fear that, to some extent, the same is happening with radio. Until recently there were numerous independent local radio stations dotted around the country, with colourful and descriptive names such as Chiltern, GWR and Fox (the ‘-ox’ standing for Oxford), each with its own distinctive logo.
Further afield there was Heart FM, operating in London (the nation’s administrative heart) and Birmingham (the country’s geographical heart).
But a few weeks ago, these stations, along with Horizon (Milton Keynes) and others, have all become ‘Heart’, in a kind of bland, homogenizing process that has stripped them of any local identity they once had. I recently revisited my native West Country, and discovered that Somerset’s appropriately named Orchard FM and the ingeniously titled Plymouth Sound have both become — guess what? — Heart!
At least we can be thankful for local stations Jack FM and 107.9FM (although any of the latter's former names, Oxygen/Fusion/Passion, would be preferable). And the BBC’s stations (generally my listening preference) retain their local identities, though Radio Oxford causes confusion by unnecessarily rebranding itself BBC Oxford, a term also encompassing television. Is this progress, dumbing down, or what?
Rick Taylor, Cumnor
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