Scottish XFM dances away

XFM in Scotland - which originally won its place on the FM airwaves as Beat 106, promising Scottish alt-rock - is to be turned into a Galaxy branded dance station after the completion of the GCap-Global merger:

In an email to staff Darren Henley, the managing director of the music brands Classic FM, Xfm and Choice FM, said the process would "take a month or two".

"In the meantime we will still be broadcasting as Xfm Scotland but inevitably our focus will move towards the launch of the new station as the weeks go by," said Henley.

"I know that there has been a lot of uncertainty and change over the past few months for everyone in Glasgow - and I really do appreciate the very professional way in which you have all carried on working so hard and your willingness to embrace change."

Although, presumably, the staff who present indie shows are now going to have to embrace the change of not actually having a job any more.

Global, of course, is thrilled at what it sees as a chance to sell more advertising - sorry, bring an experience of some sort... new... what is it, again?

The Global Radio executive director, Richard Park, said: "Central Scotland can prepare itself to receive Britain's fastest-growing radio station aimed at young people and the prospect of the output from the Glasgow studios is an exciting one."

The people in Central Scotland who already enjoy XFM, presumably, aren't important and won't be able to stand in the way of this "fast-growing station aimed at the young peoples".

Local talent: It's the future

Last week, Richard Park was talking about the need to nurture radio talent in the regions:

"All I was ever reading from people in publications like yours [MediaGuardian] was that there is no one out there, nothing doing, we can't find any talent. Well excuse me, you're not looking." He accepts the talent production line has stuttered to a halt but insists it can be restarted. "There are people broadcasting right now in Newcastle, in Scotland, in Manchester, in Birmingham that could be very good."

Allied to that, he recommends a less cavalier, more celebratory approach to the key talent commercial radio does have.

So, we can look forward to the new Global-GCap merged stations taking an approach where grassroots talent is nurtured, given space to grow and treated like they're special?

Not quite: GCap is kicking twenty djs out the morning slot to make way for a show networked from London.

Does anyone have a kind word?

Richard Park is going round slagging off Fame Academy - and he's bloody in it. However much it improves, if the central figure on the make-a-star show is saying it was only worth 15 out of a hundred, is there anything salvagable there?