Captain Capital

FOR the second time in six months, Capital Radio, whose audiences are increasingly being squeezed by rivals, has recruited a BBC high flyer to help it out of a tight spot. On Monday, Andria Vidler joins the battling station as its new managing director. The move is a clear signal that the Capital Group intends to put more muscle behind its two mainstream London stations, Capital FM and Capital Gold.

One of her most important colleagues will be Jeff Smith, the outfit's new programme controller, formerly of Radio 1. He has already introduced a more fashionable feel to the evening schedules by bringing in new DJs such as Craig David and the Artful Dodger, as well as adding more dance music to the weekend.

"Yes, BBC radio is on a roll, but that doesn't mean the competition can't fight back," reckons Vidler, a 34-year-old mother of two and ex-BBC marketer, who successfully helped to put Radio 5 Live on people's listening menus.

In the past 18 months, Capital has cemented its position as Britain's biggest radio group, embarking on a series of acquisitions, including Border Television's radio assets and the Beat 106 station in Scotland. Additionally, considerable sums have been invested in digital and internet activities.

In November, Capital bucked the trend by reporting bumper profits, but many commentators felt that these gains and the company's aggressive programme of expansion had been made at the expense of the London stations.

For the latest radio audience figures contained some alarming news for the company. November's Rajar figures revealed that while Capital FM remained London's most popular station, Kiss FM had, for the first time, overtaken the station in the key 16-24 age group.

Vidler shrugs off the setback but acknowledges that more work needs to be done. "I don't think Capital is in a critical situation," she says. "But in future Capital will have to be clear about what it stands for and what it means to Londoners.

"It has held an incredibly dominant position for a long time. Capital's listeners span a huge age range. No other radio station matches that breadth.

This is an enormous achievement.

"But I am aware that Capital's brand has diminished enormously. The Capital Group probably used it as cash cow a little bit too much. They weren't investing in it. The logo was looking tarnished. They're already on top of that. The logo has been redone.

"There's new marketing out there. Suddenly, in the past three or four months, it's a brand you're seeing on the streets and hearing about again. I appreciate the comments about share, but I think the brand was suffering more than the share figures.

"People weren't paying attention to it. I've been brought in to champion the London station because the directors have got bigger things to do now."

SO is Vidler up to the job? Her six years as a key member of the BBC's highly regarded marketing team will have done her no harm. Nor will the MBA she gained courtesy of a BBC-sponsored course at Bradford University.

"When you've worked on as many relaunches of different broadcasting propositions within a highly competitive environment as I have, you learn a lot," she insists.

"Hopefully, I can bring some of that experience to influence what Capital does in the future. Capital is still a strong proposition. When I worked in BBC News, Panorama was struggling. Before Radio 5 was relaunched, it was in a dreadful situation."

But commercial radio is a much less forgiving world than the BBC. At least Vidler, who lives in Fulham with her husband, a management consultant, has experience of the private sector.

Raised in Tunbridge Wells and educated at Cambridge Poly, her first job was a graduate recruitment scheme run by the fashion retailer Jaeger. This may account for her immaculate, if understated, sense of corporate chic.

"When you have to persuade 30-year-old or 40-year-old women to stop chattering and get out there and sell, you learn a lot about motivating people."

Her father made TV commercials and, before joining the BBC, Vidler was employed as an account director at advertising agency Still Price Lintas, where she pitched for the Radio 5 Live account. "It's the obvious career path, isn't it? You go from retail management to advertising and then to broadcasting."

And if things work out at Capital? She's not saying. But with Jenny Abramsky running BBC Radio and Helen Boaden in charge of Radio 4, will it be too long before a woman ends up leading Radio 2 or Radio 5 Live?

Copyright 2001
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