Think the unthinkable and save LBC

Any day now, LBC will be in new hands. London News Radio, which owns LBC on 1152AM and ITN News Direct on 97.3FM, is currently considering offers for the stations, and a decision is expected soon. But how can a new owner save them?

Since LBC launched in October 1973 as the UK's first independent station, it has had a chequered history. For most of the Eighties, it was a critical and commercial success, with up to 2.4 million listeners. But when the ownership changed and the service was split into separate AM and FM frequencies, things went downhill fast. They have never really recovered. The challenge to any new owner is to revive the successful brand of the Eighties.

However much you spend on buying the franchise (an asking price of £20 million is mentioned), it will be only the start. Speech radio is more expensive and more complex to produce than music radio. And just in case you are hoping to change the formats to country music or modern jazz, check with the Radio Authority first. That is not an option.

The current owners - led by ITN, the main shareholder - say they have been given permission to swap the services. This would mean putting LBC on FM and the rolling ITN news service on AM. Do London a favour by putting your energy and cash into LBC. Selling off the AM frequency would let you concentrate on the more attractive LBC brand.

And forget about simply going back to the successful format of the 1980s. You need to reinvent that formula of news, debate, sport, entertainment and information, though it is largely a matter of style. Create a news and talk format which changes as the day goes on, bright and chatty in the early morning with short, sharp, easily assimilated items. Make the mid-morning more discursive and opinionated: not just listeners phoning in, but studio debates using experts and London's elected representatives.

Later in the day, schedule a columnist who explores issues of the moment followed by a phone debate. It is amazing what a change of style can do. Think the unthinkable.

Appoint a station controller with a clear vision and a knowledge of what makes London tick. When you settle on a format, stick with it. I worked as an LBC presenter under four managements, some of whom were obsessed with relaunches. Under one of them, I often arrived to find that my show's format had been changed overnight. That caused instability, which led to resignations and confusion among listeners and advertisers.

Don't be intimidated by the success of BBC Radio Five Live: your USP is that you can focus on London. Five Live has to talk to the whole of the UK, so provide for the capital in a way that no other commercial radio station can.

A presence on London's streets will sharpen the identity. Send reporters to report live from events. Be at major conferences, company AGMs, West End theatre opening nights. Broadcast the breakfast show from rail termini, high streets and department stores (especially during the sales) and the parks in the summer. The sight of LBC broadcasting from the streets of London should be as normal as red buses and traffic jams. The marketing budget and sponsorship can pay.

Your main presenters should be opinionated but fair, and easily identified as the "voices of London". That doesn't mean Cockney or mockney accents, but that they should know how Greater London works, from traffic and public transport, to the financial centre, retailing and the arts. Many on LBC at the moment could convert to an updated version of the station, such as Clive Bull, Nick Ferrari and Wendy Lloyd. Others could be drafted in from elsewhere: BBC London's Henry Bonsu and Robert Elms come to mind. Or you could borrow an idea from Five Live: grab a few sharp, grown-up DJs from music stations and upgrade them. These voices must be backed by experienced producers who can handle the panic that hits newsrooms when a big story breaks and turn it into exciting, unmissable radio. Workexperience kids are not up to it.

London can support a speech radio station that is the pulse of the city; New York supports several. But your financial backer will need deep pockets. In the past, managements seemed to see their role as cost-cutters and downsizers. If you don't invest, you will become another of the villains who litter the history of a once great radio station.

Brian Hayes, the former LBC talk-show host, presents a show on BBC 5 Live.