Our latest Small Talk speaker was Charlie Girling - long time show biz editor for Global Radio, the largest radio company in Europe, which owns brands including LBC, Capital, Heart and Smooth Radio. She came to us with an even bigger role and a new job title: Head of TV and Media Relations.
Charlie has worked in broadcast for over 20 years, 19 of them at Global. Her career started at commercial regional radio station Leicester Sound, where she read the news. That's now one of many small stations acquired by Global pre-pandemic.
Global claims to reach 90% of the UK population every week, through its radio stations and associated outdoor advertising and podcasts.
Charlie says she might have a fancier job title but in practise little has changed with her day-to-day job. In essence she leads the strategy for all Global's brands, across anything to do with movie and streaming partnerships.
She also covers stories related to theatre and publishing.
She's always looking ahead for her next big story, be it a film release or a launch. Anything that the audiences of LBC, Capital, Capital Dance, Capital XTRA, Classic FM, Gold Radio, Heart, Radio X and Smooth, or the award-winning podcasts “The News Agents” and “The Sport Agents”, might enjoy.
Her goal is for Global's brands to be the go-to place for anyone interested in show biz.
And key to her role is to explain the value, in PR terms, of partnering with Global.
How the Global system works Editorially Charlie is the gate keeper for potential guests. If the offering passes her scrutiny, she puts the guest's name on a system called Trello, for all the Global brands to see. Once the bids from the shows come in she will negotiate with the PR.
Global's different audiences Each brand has a different audience - a listener who tunes into Capital doesn' t necessarily put LBC on too - so not every guest will appear on every brand. Plus, Charlie has to ensure that there is a differentiation between the brands - therefore you wouldn' t get the same guest on both Capital and Heart breakfast shows. That's something that would be ironed out in the negations.
However, you can still expect the interview to result in multiple opportunities. Global is, as Charlie describes it, a 360-degree media company. That means as well as appearing on radio, the same guest interview will be streamed on all Global's social media platforms too.
Each brand has a different audience - a listener who tunes into Capital doesn' t necessarily put LBC on too - so not every guest will appear on every brand. Plus, Charlie has to ensure that there is a differentiation between the brands - therefore you wouldn' t get the same guest on both Capital and Heart breakfast shows. That's something that would be ironed out in the negations.
However, you can still expect the interview to result in multiple opportunities. Global is, as Charlie describes it, a 360-degree media company. That means as well as appearing on radio, the same guest interview will be streamed on all Global's social media platforms too.
Charities Global has now merged a number of charitable initiatives, such as Help A Capital Child and Have a Heart, into a multi brand effort called Global Make A Noise. Under this umbrella numerous small charities, rather than the bigger names, have benefitted. And this is where the radio-PR traffic can move two ways - Charlie may approach her PR contacts for auction gifts for example, to be used in Make Some Noise Day in October, or Make Some Noise Night in November.
On-air The second hat Charlie wears at Global is that of on-air entertainment correspondent. In fact, following our Small Talk Charlie was off to interview Christina Aguilera, who was in town for the opening of Burleque . As she put it though, she mainly covers celebrity deaths and court cases, with the odd junket thrown in.
She has, by her own admission, interviewed everyone who is anyone! Madonna is the guest she' d love to interview but never has.
Influencers can also be of interest. As Charlie says, this can be a common route to freelance presenting.
Brand mentions Charlie expects to give a brand mention as part of the deal - but it must sound as natural and as organic as possible. There are strict guidelines. The number of mentions of a brand needs to be agreed up front and they have to be mentioned by the interviewee, not the presenter. Charlie says it doesn' t happen often, but an interview can be dropped completely if there are too many plugs.
Stories need to be simple. If you have to explain them, then that's enough to alienate a Global audience. And if you can tailor them, specific to a particular programme or presenter, even better.
Logisitics Charlie takes part in a bi-weekly meeting with Global's commercial team to discuss any big upcoming stories. This might be the ilk of Netflix and Stranger Things, for example. The synergy between the editorial and commercial teams is also to ensure there's no conflict between guests and paid for sponsors or advertisers.
An in-person interview is 100% more preferable to a Zoom call, according to Charlie.
Fancy coming to other events like this one? We hold events, featuring interesting and high profile speakers from the world of broadcast, most months - a mixture of online and in person. Make sure you are on our mailing list so you know what's going on, by emailing hello@shoutcommunications.co.uk.
