Glenn Wheatley makes his comeback with mobile radio venture
Monday, 14 July 2008
James Thomson
Music industry veteran and media entrepreneur Glenn Wheatley has launched his comeback with an investment in a company called Stripe, which will launch 30 radio stations through the Optus 3G network on 29 July.
According to a report in The Australian Financial Review, Wheatley’s company TalentWorks has a 12% stake in the venture, alongside an interesting group of investors that includes former Allco Finance Group chief David Coe, Sydney radio king Alan Jones and eBay Australia vice president Simon Smith.
Wheatley still has three months of home detention to serve after being convicted of tax fraud last year, but says he is fit and focused ahead of the completion of his sentence on 19 October.
According to Stripe’s program guide, it has 31 stations. Most are dedicated to a specific style of music, such as classic rock, 1980’s pop, dance and country. There are also plans to launch stations devoted to sports.
The company is run by Iain Bartram, the former Australian director of British company Virtue Broadcasting and former chief financial officer of listed technology company ConnXion. He told the AFR that Stripe would break even if 1% of Australians, or 210,000 people, subscribed to the service. It is aiming to sign about one million subscribers within five years.
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