Chairman’s Report 30th September 1988
This has been a formidable year in the history of DevonAir. It has been our first full financial year as part of the Capital Radio group and the company is beginning to show that the benefits of being part of a larger organisation with considerable resources.
I’m delighted to report that DevonAir has returned to the profit levels that the company enjoyed in its early years.
Our pre-tax profit for the year of £70,061 compares most favourably with the £13,953 of last year. The turnover is at £219,584 to £1,094,814, an increase of 25%. This increase in turnover is not only due to the increased sales, but also to the considerable range of supportive activities with which the company has become involved in the year.
Our national sales revenue has shown positive growth in 1987-88. The total sales of £307,191 represents an increase of 18.5% of year-on-year.
Local sales were disappointing in the first six months of the year. However, when David Smith, our newly appointed Sales and Marketing Director, assumed a full control in April, local sales revenue showed a positive increase. In the last six months of the yet local sales were up by 16.3% year-on-year and the forward sales into 1988-89 showed every sign of the continuation of this new level of achievement.
Our programme schedule continues to develop. We introduced new programmes like ‘Strawberry Fields’, the nostalgia show on Saturday mornings presented by Glenn Richards. ‘The Great Outdoors’ was a great success on Sunday mornings drawing attention to the myriad of attractions available, both to visitors to our transmission area and those of us fortunate enough to live here.
Our education programming has won considerable praise. Tim Arnold, our Education Liaison Officer with Devon County Council, has pioneered education programming on the network. He has produced a series on reading at home for parents and children, series on TVEI, options for young people at 16, as well as perennial favourites like the Devon Schools Quiz and the Schools Prom.
Jim Gibbons has won wide praise for his programme ‘A Postcard from Strasbourg’. Jim visits each plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg reporting on the decisions which increasingly affect us all. The programme was supported by the information service of the European Parliament.
DevonAir has developed a close relationship with T. S. W. by pioneering the sharing of newsroom facilitates. T. S. W. now bases two journalists in DevonAir has Exeter Studios. We have recruited at further journalist to our own team to boost our coverage of local news and sports stories.
In June we trebled the output and our Torbay transmitter to improve reception in the south of our area. We also had our application for an infill transmitter for East Devon approved by the Home Office. This will come into service in the summer of 1989.
Some £2,802 of our turnover has been generated by the diverse range of activities that DevonAir has undertaken. St David’s Promotions, a subsidiary marketing unit, was responsible for promoting the first Devon Motor Show, which attracted an attendance in excess of 13,000 over three days in June and at Powderham Castle. Stirling Moss was the special guest and many dealers are already confirming bookings for next year’s show.
Exeter Air ‘88 was another of our major successes, attracting over 35,000 visitors. St. David’s Promotions and marketed the trade stands, controlled the publicity for the show and produced a souvenir programme. The appearance of the Red Arrows at the show, followed following the tragic disaster Ramsden Air Show in Germany the day before, was skilfully handled by our public relations team.
St. David’s Promotions worked in promoting with the English Riviera Centre to promote Torquay’s first property fair in June and was appointed by the Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Trade to market the trade stands at the ‘Heart of Devon Business Exhibition’ in September.
Once again we worked with local agents, Tappers Travel, to promote the independent radio listeners cruise, now in its 5th year, with 20 radio stations participating. We also worked with Tappers Travel to coordinate the simultaneous appearance in Torbay of Concorde and the QE2. 120 DevonAir listeners stood proudly on the decks of QE2 in the day watching fellow listeners flyover in Concorde, which was about to land at Exeter airport as the star attraction of the Bank Holiday weekend air show. DevonAir was broadcasting simultaneously from the bridge of QE2 and from the flight path of Exeter Air 88; no mean technical achievement!
DevonAir’s other outside broadcasts this year have featured major attractions such as the Devon County Show as well as traditional events like the Newton Abbot Cheese and Onion Fair, Christmas Carols with the Salvation Army from the Guildhall shopping centre, and the final event of the season, The Denbury Country Fair.
In this year we promoted the first in DevonAir music festival featuring international acts such as Dave Brubeck, Englebert Humperdinck, Rick Wakeman and including supporting attractions like Robert Freemans exhibition of photographs of the Beatles and a week of rock films at the Northcott Theatre. During the year DevonAir also promoted our annual Country Music Festival featuring the top British talent, and various concerts by acts like Gerry and the Pacemakers and Gary Numan. We also promoted our own pantomime at the Plaza with John Pierce playing the custard pie role.
Throughout the year we have worked hard to maintain DevonAir’s position as a driving force in the community. There is no better demonstration of our impact than the success of the DevonAir Wheels Appeal which raised £37,000, through the generosity of our listeners, from our on-air auction of goods and services kindly donated by our customers and various other events like the Family Fun Run.
In summary, 1987- 88 has been a year of great achievement and I thank everyone concerned for the enormous amount of effort and commitment that has been shown. The reward is our confidence and security in the future; the prospects for DevonAir have never looked better.
Ian Amory