Graham Bryce, Managing director of XFM and Choice FM replies to Merrick Hart @ PurehArt Heritage Education Services

Thank you for your note, which I was to reply to in full.
I can fully understand some of the concerns expressed by listeners and people
in the community to Capital's acquisition of Choice FM. People are wondering
what Capital's plans are for the station and will it mean that the station
will represent the black community less? Will we play and represent black
music less? First of all i would like to reassure you that these fears are totally
unfounded. Capital has been involved with Choice FM for over two years as a
minority shareholder, and over that period we have advised the business and
seen its listenership grow as a result. We believe that our experience,
expertise and investment has and will continue to deliver a product that is of
more appeal to current and future listeners not less - the results to date
reflect this as Choices's listenership has swelled to record levels over the
past twelve months.

I very much hope that people can see beyond the race issue, for us at Capital
our involvement in the station and our plans for its development are not race
related. Just because Capital Radio does not have a station , before our
involvement in Choice, that specifically targets the black community does not
mean we cannot understand that community and embrace it into the group.
Our plans for Choice are the same as the founders of the station, most of whom
still have an ongoing involvement in the station. Any changes we make the station are about improving the station's output to make it of more appeal to the community not less, and has nothing to do with race. Our decision to launch a new breakfast show has nothing to do with the
colour of the presenters or their views, its about delivering a more
compelling, interesting and entertaining show. The new lady presenter is black
and started her career at Choice FM, surely that's a success story for Choice
and the black community - a successful young black presenter coming back to
where she got her first break.

The station will continue to represent the issues affecting the black
community and provide opportunities for discussion, debate and views to be
aired.

I hope by the end of today we will be able to announce a very high profile new
presenter for the Saturday morning show ( a major figure in the black
community) that we believe will provide a higher level of debate and
discussion on issues affecting the community - the decision to have a new
presenter does not mean that the show and topics will not continue - they
absolutely will.

Any decision to move shows such as the reggae show are commercial decisions
designed to ensure the long term success of the business. The unfortunate fact
is that there is not a big enough audience for reggae during the day to
deliver a big enough audience to make the station commercially viable. However
our commitment to these genres remains absolutely intact. We fully intend to
continue with shows representing gospel, reggae, soca, african music and so
on. It is important that the station reflects all aspects of music of black
origin - its just not possible for them all to be aired at prime time, due to
the relatively niche appeal of some of this music. None of these changes
should be seen as a "humiliation of reggae music and/or the black community".
They are made for commercial reasons to ensure the long term success of the
station.

In order to ensure this long term success we need to attract more listeners,
which we intend to do by investing in the product, investing in marketing and
using our extensive expertise and experience to create a radio station that is
of more appeal to the current audience and can be inclusive of the wider
audience. That does not mean that we will lessen our commitment to the black
community, black music and representing issues affecting the community.
Absolutely the opposite in fact. We want to build Choice into a major radio station that will enable these issues and music of black origin to be listened to and talked about by a wider
audience, thereby raising the awareness and profile of black artists and
issues.

Only by making the station bigger can we ensure that these genres of music can
still find a prominent place on the london airwaves.
Both on-air and off-air Choice's commitment to the community is undiminished -
we will be launching Peace on the Streets again in the next few weeks, Choice
Action is continuing with Martin Jay going into schools and colleges
discussing the issues affecting young people, just last night we had a live OB
from Jamaica discussing issues affecting black youth in Jamaica. That is just
the tip of the iceberg.

At the end of the day Choice is a commercial business and it needs to make
money - it has never made a profit in its 14 year history and it needs the
backing of a major company, such as Capital Radio to enable it to exist.
Without the backing of Capital the business would fold and there would be no
voice at all for the community. I urge you to judge us by how the station sounds and what we do in the
community over the next few years and not by the scaremongering of a few
people who want to sensationalise Capital's involvement in Choice into a race
issue - which it is not.

I hope this allays some of your concerns and I would be delighted to hear any
further views you may have.
With best wishes
Graham Bryce


Graham Bryce
Managing Director
Xfm and Choice FM
30 Leicester Square
London WC2H 7LA