Radio Advertising Bureau hires King as chair

Former Capital Radio managing director Martina King has been appointed chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau, the body charged with drawing advertisers to commercial radio.

Former Capital Radio managing director Martina King has been appointed chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau, the body charged with drawing advertisers to commercial radio.

The bureau falls under the umbrella of the RadioCentre, the industry body for commercial radio, and is undergoing an overhaul in an attempt to increase advertising in the industry.

King's appointment is the first part of the plan to re-launch the bureau, which the centre said would re-energise investment through key advertiser and media agency relationships.

It anticipated advertising revenue increasing in the industry from around £595m last year to £750m by 2009.

In addition to her role as chairman, King will also take on a role as non executive director of RadioCentre.

Chief executive of the RadioCentre Andrew Harrison said: 'Martina is well known across the sector and has a track record of leading revenue and audience growth in radio.

'Her knowledge and experience from radio and new media sectors will be of huge value to the RadioCentre, the RAB and the commercial radio industry as a whole.'

King spent 6 years heading Capital Radio before becoming the first Managing Director of Yahoo! UK & Ireland in 1999 and later European Managing Director of Yahoo!

She said: 'Radio is flexible and ubiquitous, and has a fantastic future at the heart of digital convergence.'