A UK first as Jack FM is launched by Double Art
Bristol based creative ideas agency Double Art have claimed a UK first as they launched a new radio station with a US style ‘format flip’ which saw a controversial local journalist hijack the breakfast show on Original Bristol FM, an action which led to the demise of that brand and the birth of Jack FM.
Richard Johnson, Managing Director of Tomahawk Radio, owners of Original Bristol explained "All radio stations have to be regulated as to what they can play. We applied to Ofcom to change the format on Original Bristol. This has been in the planning stages for about five months. With the Jack format we have a lot more freedom about what we play.
Traditionally in the UK, we launch a radio station by telling people about it but in the US they have something known as flipping the format.
"You can be listening to Smooth FM one night and when you wake up its heavy metal. Today, when people wake up they will hear Jack FM. We think it's the first time this has been done in the UK."
So the brief to Double Art was to take the 'flip' and create some form of stunt that would see the demise of Original, and the launch of Jack. The radio market being what it is, the budget was not enormous - so we also had to make sure that Jack got as much bang for their buck as possible. Director of Double Art, Peter Blackman commented:
"The Jack franchise is huge in the States and is deliberately irreverent and off the wall. We thought a hijack was a good, logical idea which seemed to fit the feel of the new station.
All we had to do then was to think about who was well known locally, and just about opinionated and unhinged enough to try to hijack a radio station. Which meant local ‘shock’ journo Mike Ford. We pitched the idea to Mike, plus his editor and the management of Bristol News & Media (owners of the Bristol Evening Post newspaper and the all important thisisbristol website), and having got their approval went back with the idea to Richard at Original, who loved it."
We got our friends from Constellation Media to handle the video shoot, while Tomahawk handled the social media launch strategy with Matt Deegan.
Blackman went on:
"Due to the secrecy of the project, we had to shoot the film on the Saturday prior to launch with Mike Ford and Jed Pitman improvising from a script structure we had prepared in advance. The film was then edited and supplied by the Monday, so that it would be ready to ‘stream’ live on the Tuesday morning. At the same time, groundwork was being done online to prepare the social media networks for the stunt.”
The appearance of Mike Ford was trailed both online and on air in the days running up to broadcast. The appearance of the ‘Bedminster Bigmouth’ at just after 8.00am on Tuesday 1st December led to a surge in listeners to Original, and to record numbers of people logging on to thisisbristol.co.uk to view the of the interview.
Viewers and listeners were then left wondering what was happening as a furious disagreement between the two broke out, based on Ford's claims that obscene songs sung by Bristol Rovers fans about Pitman were true. He also insulted Original listeners, calling them "idiots". Pitman then challenged Ford to present the show in his place. He said: "I've done this before with people who say they can be football commentators. It turns out they can't. "If you think you can do it with your stupid, daft, idiotic opinions, you take over. You have a go sunshine, and I'll have an early finish to the day."
A scuffle broke out between the two on Jed Pitman's way out of the studio, which Ford later claimed was an "assault". Jed Pitman later confirmed he had quit as breakfast presenter on Original. He said: "That's me finished, done. So I've quit this morning. Let him get on with it. It upset me quite a lot and I'm finished." Ford then continued to broadcast on Original, claiming "a monkey" could be a radio presenter.
As the message boards on thisisbristol began to fill up with comments, so Mike Ford was taken off air, and a holding message from Original FM was broadcast, asking people to bear with the management, as they attempted to regain control of their radio station. Even though off air, Mike Ford continued to dominate the message boards of thisisbristol, and he also continued to post on social media networks such as twitter and facebook – as ever being by turns funny, outrageous and at times, downright rude.
At 6.00am on Wednesday 2nd December, Jack FM went live on the old Original FM 106.5 frequency and the whole episode was revealed to be a launch stunt for the new radio station.
The reaction to the stunt has exceeded everyone’s expectation. It has already become one of the most viewed videos ever posted on thisisbristol, and the related story attracted a record number of comments on launch day. As of now - a day after launch, the story is still the most viewed on thisisbristol.co.uk.
Blackman concluded:
“The objective was to get the demise of Original and the launch of Jack FM noticed – which we’re pleased to say seems to have happened. “
Watch a video of the interview.
