Capital and Capitalism gone rotten.

I grew up listening to Capital Radio. It was a much freer, more independent alternative to Radio 1. Capital was the soundtrack to growing up in London in the 70s and 80s. Across the UK, there was similar love for independent, individual stations. But gradually, practically all of them fell victim to a huge and greedy conglomerate called Global, who began a grim corporate takeover of a once vibrant industry, Global re-branded each station as either Capital, Heart or Smooth. All originality and spontaneity was crushed in a relentless obsession with the bottom line. Yesterday, in a brutally mean and cynical exercise, Global announced that all those local stations would now have just one breakfast and drivetime show apiece, meaning the closure of half their UK studios and countless enforced redundancies. It also means that opportunities for aspirant producers and presenters have been decimated. Video didn’t kill the radio star, radio did.