NEWS: OFCOM STAFF MEET LOCAL COMMERCIAL RADIO LICENCE APPLICANTS "TO DISPEL SOME OF THE MYTHS" by GRANT

GODDARD

www.grantgoddard.co.uk March 2006

Ofcom held a private two-hour meeting at its London headquarters last week with almost one hundred invited representatives of companies that have made applications for local radio licences. The purpose of the seminar, according to Ofcom director of radio Peter Davies, was to dispel some of the myths which surround the process. It was made clear to those attending that Ofcom would not be giving feedback during this session on any commercial radio licence applications previously submitted. Members of Ofcoms radio team made presentations on various aspects of the application process and answered questions from the invited audience. A PowerPoint document was distributed that summarised the information given by Ofcom staff. The presentations went to great lengths to convince those present that, according to Ofcom, each licence award is made on a case-by-case basis, that there is no hidden agenda and that Ofcom is not pre-disposed towards any particular company or type of company. The radio team insisted: we read each page of each application. Advice was offered to applicants that they should maintain consistency throughout the document, be concise and relevant, include no fancy formatting, to make sure you are using the correct application template and to focus on the Format. Applicants were told to pitch their application to be complementary to the written Formats of existing local commercial services, rather than the monitored output of those stations. Whilst this pronouncement acknowledges that there often exists a 'reality gap' between the prescribed Format and what a station is really doing on-air, Ofcom offered no explanation as to how or whether it intends to remove such discrepancies. Those involved in the radio licence application process privately point to perceived bias within the system towards existing industry players. To date, The Local Radio Company plc has been awarded five new licences, while CN Group Limited and Tindle Radio Limited have each been awarded three (some jointly). Out of the seventeen local licences (serving 800,000 adults or less) awarded by Ofcom to date, all but one has been offered to an applicant with existing ownership of radio stations, TV stations or newspapers in a neighbouring or adjacent area. Critics argue that these decisions are merely helping to create regional groupings of local media outlets, rather than individual, locally focused standalone radio stations. Ofcoms own market research has demonstrated the huge consumer demand for genuinely local radio, whereas critics say its licence awards system has contributed towards the consolidation of homogenous regional groups of stations that can lack local identity and subsequently risk losing the loyalty of their listeners.

[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Ofcom Meets Licence Applicants', #726, 8 March 2006] News: Ofcom Staff Meet Local Commercial Radio Licence Applicants "To Dispel Some Of The Myths" 2006 Grant Goddard Page 2

Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk

News: Ofcom Staff Meet Local Commercial Radio Licence Applicants "To Dispel Some Of The Myths" 2006 Grant Goddard

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