Commercial radio has been in upheaval for 18 months, with GCap, Chrysalis, Emap and Virgin Radio all changing hands. So much boardroom activity has inflicted further damage on a struggling sector, already 13 percentage points behind the BBC. What it needs, desperately, is a period of stability so that it can rebuild its audience.

Radio 1 can report that it has not lost a presenter to the commercial sector in recent years and, although commercial rivals like to complain about the BBC's ability to pay top dollar for talent, the BBC has a point when, in the words of one senior executive: “Why would you go over to commercial when you don't know if the people who hired you are going to be there in a year's time because they've lost out in a takeover?”

Another huge problem for the commercial stations is that advertising - essentially the entire revenue stream - is expected to be down by 10 per cent this year, far greater than the 3 per cent annual cash savings required by the BBC from its stations.

That comes at a time when the way ahead for digital is unclear.

Channel 4 and Global Radio are in talks to merge their national digital stations on to one block of digital radio spectrum, leaving the second block mothballed. Ofcom, the regulator, is yet to approve, but it is hardly keen for commercial digital radio to collapse, and a decision is due in the coming weeks.

Nevertheless, as the talks continue, Channel 4, under pressure financially, is limiting its commitment to launch new stations, promising only to produce the E4 contemporary station next year.

However, a concern is that the discussions may amount to a sideshow. Tim Davie, the new controller of radio at the BBC, said that “it is easy to get distracted by worrying about distribution” and ignoring the need to focus on content.

The new owners' advantage is that they are private and do not have the immediate pressure of defending a share price. However, there is still the chronic problem of excessive competition in London, with five mainstream music stations and Global refusing to close Heart in favour of Capital 95.8.

In the face of recession, all have paid a high price for their new assets, which have fallen in value by about half in the past year, if the performance of ITV's shares in that time is a proxy. It will also be hard to extract cost savings. Many local presenters can earn as little as £20,000 a year, and the introduction of more nationally networked programming may not save much cash.

Global's plan is to use its network of stations, the largest that has existed, to create national brands around the female-oriented Heart, the indie music station Xfm and, perhaps, Galaxy, its dance station, and the black music brand Choice. It wants to swap stations with rivals to create a more even national spread in the hope that that will make the network attractive to national and local advertisers.

Yet there are signs that it is possible to make progress with a content-led approach, too.

Despite long-held concerns among commercial operators about the difficulty of launching speech stations, UTV's talkSPORT is the best-performing station in the sector, with revenues up by 18 per cent in the first half of the year, making progress with hirings that include George Galloway.

Ashley MacKenzie, who ran the station under the previous ownership, said: “UTV have done well by leaving alone. The advantage talkSPORT has over music-led stations is that they own their own content - it's speech. It's easier to differentiate.”

Bauer's Magic, in particular, can also point to progress. There has been management continuity from the old Emap days, with Dee Ford remaining at the helm of the radio operation and Neil Fox leading breakfast listening in London ahead of the perennially struggling Johnny Vaughan at Capital, who appears unable to hold the No1 slot.

However, the climate remains incredibly tough for a sector that has yet to prove that it has a long-term future with the present number of stations.

Times Recommends

• Equitable Life halts £7bn sale on market turmoil
• Potential buyers emerge to save Woolworths staff
• Terrorist attacks close Bombay Stock Exchange