The boss of music and radio group Chrysalis is understood to be considering a management buyout of the firm’s radio business.
Chrysalis chief executive Richard Huntingford is believed to have
mooted the idea of a management buyout for the radio station arm, which owns London-based talk radio LBC.
The group announced two weeks ago that it was considering its future ownership of the radio division.
Chrysalis said on announcing the review that it was the right time to look at its options for the radio
business “in the light of continued consolidation” in the sector – a
move which also followed a more upbeat trading update on the radio market and strong listening figures.
The radio sector has come under increasing pressure to consolidate amid a climate of falling advertising revenues. But Chrysalis recently gave a trading update suggesting that the radio advertising market may be on the verge of a recovery, with revenues rising by 5 per cent in the four months to the end of January.
In the latest set of Rajar listening figures, released earlier this month, Chrysalis-owned LBC picked up more than
90,000 extra listeners year on year – an increase of more than 16 per cent since this time
last year.
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