
Boom Radio

Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first radio station in the UK to specifically target this age demographic. Launched on 14 February 2021, Boom Radio broadcasts nationally on the Sound Digital DAB multiplex, and is also available online. 
The station was developed and launched by Phil Riley and David Lloyd, two commercial radio executives who felt older listeners were being overlooked by stations such as BBC Radio 2 in favour of a younger audience, and Boom plans to compete with Radio 2. Boom's content features a mixture of music, conversation and radio personality, with presenters including many who have previously made their name in national and commercial radio, such as Graham Dene, David Hamilton and Diana Luke. The programming for Boom Radio is recorded and presented remotely by its presenters from their own homes, rather than being done in a traditional in-house studio setting. Boom's launch against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced its decision to operate without a central studio, and it is believed to be the first national UK station without such a facility.
History.
The idea for Boom Radio was conceived and developed by Phil Riley and David Lloyd, two radio executives with lengthy careers in commercial radio, who felt there was a gap in the market for a station aimed at the baby boomer generation, which they felt was being overlooked by other stations. Riley's background in radio includes his role as Chief Executive of Chrysalis Radio, where he oversaw the launch of Heart, and the network's eventual sale to Global Radio, while Lloyd has worked both in presenting and executive roles at stations such as LBC and Virgin.
Plans for the launch of Boom Radio were announced on 23 November 2020, when Riley and Lloyd confirmed the station would launch on DAB early the following year. Named for the generation it planned to cater for, Boom Radio would initially be available in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Portsmouth and Glasgow, as well as broadcasting online, and offer a mix of music, conversation and presenter personality. Speaking about Boom Radio, Riley said, "Our own research has found radio is still the most popular medium for the Boomer generation, yet the majority feel that the industry is geared more towards younger people. We see Boom Radio filling that gap". 
On 2 December the station announced a round of executive appointments to its commercial team, drawing on people with experience at large media companies such as Global and Sky. Dawn Le Men, former Head of Media Partners at Sky, was appointed as Boom's Head of Sales, while Ali Page, former Director of Client and Category Development for Global, was appointed to be Client Development Adviser. It was also announced that Don Thomson, a former Chief Operations Officer at Global, and who had also worked in roles for Yorkshire Television and Chrysalis Radio, would join the board of Boom Radio as a Non-Executive Director. 
On 11 January 2021 the station unveiled its inaugural schedule and list of presenters, with Graham Dene (formerly of Smooth Radio and Capital Radio) presenting the weekday breakfast show. Other weekday presenters would include David Hamilton, Nicky Horne and Diana Luke, while Greg Edwards would present a soul programme and Anna Raeburn would relaunch her "Talk to Anna" programme. Other programmes planned for Boom Radio include a show with Esther Rantzen and her daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, "Still Busy Living", described as the station's own version of "Desert Island Discs", and programming covering topics such as gardening and book reviews. On 14 January "Travel Weekly" reported that Silver Travel Advisor, a mature travel information hub, had signed an exclusive deal to provide travel content for Boom Radio. As part of this deal, it was announced that a weekly Silver Travel Show would air on Sunday evenings, as well as a monthly podcast presented by Jennie Carr, Silver Travel Advisor's creative director. Also in January, Boom Radio confirmed it had signed a deal with online dating platform provider White Label Dating to launch Boom Singles, a dating website for its target audience.
Boom Radio was officially launched at 10.00am on 14 February 2021, with Graham Dene being the first presenter to be heard on the station. The first song to be played was "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles. The station also dedicated its own poem, "An Ode to Boomers", to its audience. 
Following the initial launch the station planned to expand to DAB in other parts of the UK throughout 2021. But on 11 March it was confirmed the station would launch nationally on the Sound Digital multiplex from the following day. The announcement was made on air by presenter David Hamilton and on social media with a letter to its listeners: "The response has been so strong that we’ve brought forward all our plans to grow. You told us you wanted us on DAB across the UK and from Friday – we will be!" The "Nottingham Post" subsequently reported that positive audience figures from the station's first two weeks on air, as well as feedback from listeners, had prompted Boom's investors to finance the national launch.
Broadcasting.
Boom Radio went on air against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and opted to follow a model whereby its presenters were presenting their shows remotely from home-based studios. Riley has described this approach as "taking advantage of what’s been happening in lockdown to completely rethink how you run a radio station”. Kevin Hilton of the International Broadcasting Convention writes that Boom Radio is believed to be the first national UK radio station not to have a central studio building.
In order to put together the technology needed to establish a radio station with this model of broadcasting, Riley and Lloyd employed the services of Quentin Howard, an executive with experience in launching in excess of 30 stations. Following research, Boom Radio chose RCS Sound Software to host its content. Some of the presenters already had home studios, but for those who didn't, a package including a laptop, microphones and acoustic foam was provided to them.
Once the station's infrastructure was established, it was then possible for content to be assembled using scheduling software that enables presenters to record spoken content to correspond with scheduled tracks. Commercials, and breaks for news and weather updates are then inserted by an automated system as the shows are broadcast. A live two-minute news bulletin from IRN is broadcast on the hour, followed by a national weather forecast from Radio News Hub. Although Boom Radio's content is automated in this way, many of the presenters record their spoken content shortly before it is aired to enable them to respond to real-time information, such as listener requests, and to provide reviews of the day's newspaper headlines.
Audience and music content.
Upon its launch Boom Radio described itself as "a new radio station for an adventurous generation" and one that is "run by baby boomers for baby boomers". With an estimated baby boomer population of 14 million at the time of the station's launch, Boom Radio aims to attract half a million listeners within its first two to three years on air.
The launch of Boom Radio came at a time when BBC Radio 2, a station favoured by the boomer generation, began to cut down on the number of older songs it was playing in an attempt to attract a younger audience, and in particular a demographic it described as "Mood Mums", women in their 30s and 40s with busy lives and children. On the topic of its BBC rival, Riley has said Boom Radio wants "to step on the toes of Radio 2", adding "Our view is that Radio 2 is almost relentlessly being dragged younger, so that they can appeal to people over the age of 30".
In a statement issued prior to going on air, Boom Radio said that its music output would feature music "from across the decades, peppered with selected contemporary hits". "City A.M." describes Boom Radio's music output as including groups and artists such as The Beatles, Tom Jones and ABBA "as well as favourites from contemporary artists" such as Adele and George Ezra.
Presenters.
Presenters on Boom Radio include: