Radio Broadcast Update February 2011

Published 01|03|11

• Commercial Radio
• Community Radio

Commercial Radio 

Amendment to localness guidelines

Ofcom has recently amended, for the purposes of clarification, the section of our published localness guidelines for analogue commercial radio which defines 'locally made' programming. The additional clarification that we have added is as follows:

"While it is acceptable during locally-made hours for news bulletins to be produced and/or delivered from outside the station's licensed or approved area as part of a 'news hub' arrangement, and it is also permissible for other individual elements of local content (such as travel news) to be sourced from outside the local area, it is our expectation  that the main presenter or host of any programme broadcast during a station's locally-made hours should be physically located within that station's licensed or approved area.  This guidance also applies to situations where the programme's main presenter is pre-recorded or voice-tracked (i.e. not broadcasting 'live')."

The complete set of localness guidelines can be found here.

Licences issued in this period

*Radio Licensable Content Service

Services which have ceased to be licensed (handed back or revoked) in this period

The following services are no longer licensed. The relevant licence is either:

• No longer required by the licensee so has been handed back, or;
• In the case of a licence covering multiple services, has been amended to remove the requirement to provide the specific service; or
• Revoked for breach of a licence condition

*Radio licensable content service licence

Licence re-advertisements

Declarations of intent

Ofcom has today invited declarations of intent to apply for the following FM local commercial radio licences. Please click on the 'area' in the first column for further detail on the pre-advertisements:

Invitations to apply under fast track

Ofcom has received one declaration for the following licences, in each case from the current licensee. We are therefore inviting the incumbent licensee to re-apply for the licence under the fast track procedure as set out in Ofcom's guidelines:

Re-awards

Ofcom has today announced that it has re-awarded the following local FM commercial radio licences to the current licensees.The licences have been re-awarded for a period of seven years under Ofcom's 'fast-track' process, as set out in published guidelines:

Licence renewals granted in this period

A twelve-year renewal has been granted to the following:

Analogue station Format Changes

Each station has as part of its licence a 'Format', which outlines the essential nature of the service and details any specific expectations of that service.
Any changes to a Format can only be made by following the correct procedure and with the appropriate permission from Ofcom.

Heartland FM
Published 21|02|11

Perth FM
Published 21|02|11

Nova Radio
Published 17|02|11

Fire Radio
Published 17|02|11

DAB station Format Changes

Ofcom reached the following decisions regarding requests for digital multiplex licence changes this month:

Change of Control Reviews

Whenever a local radio licence undergoes a 'change of control' (for example, when it is sold), Ofcom is required under section 355 of the Communications Act 2003 to undertake a review of its programme output.
Specifically, Ofcom must review the likely effect of the change of control on:

• the quality and range of programmes included in the service;
• the character of the service; and,
• the extent to which local material and locally-made programmes are included in the service.

When the review has been completed, Ofcom may amend the content requirements of the licence.

Radio Maldwyn
Published 22|02|11

Dune FM
Published 02|02|11

Local Radio Licence Transfers

Ofcom has approved the transfer of the following local commercial licences:

Community Radio  

Community Radio Fund Round 2, 2010-2011

The Community Radio Fund Panel met on Monday 24 January to consider the applications to the second round of funding for 2010/11.

The Panel made awards to 15 stations. For further details, please see the statement published here.

Licences issued in this period

Services which have ceased to be licensed (handed back or revoked) in this period

There were no licences revoked/handed back in this period.

Licence extensions granted in this period

A five year extension has been granted to the following: