The station submitted a request for a format change back in March, explaining to the regulator that the economic crisis had "reduced interest from advertisers in experimenting with this new on-air opportunity.”

This request was sanctioned by Ofcom in a move that allowed City Talk to switch to a “mix of speech and soft pop-led music" in non-peak slots, while it must continue to maintain its 100% speech format at its busiest broadcasting times.

The impact of the ruling now appears to be causing ramifications beyond the format alone, as the following statement from Bauer evidences:

Team changes ahead at CT

The introduction of classic pop music, though, will give the station added appeal, and means we can approach commercial partners with a new compelling package.
 
However, these changes to the City Talk format mean we have to look at reshaping the teams at City Talk and, reluctantly, we have had to enter consultation with a number of staff. There will no further comment until this consultation process has concluded.
 
Our ambition for City Talk remains the same: to be the best talk-focused station possible to represent the interests of Liverpool, and a commercially viable one too."

It is currently unclear how many staff will be affected by the consultation process at City Talk's Liverpool base.

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