Más contenido relacionado Más de Grant Goddard (20) 'News: Ofcom Explains Award Of Local Commercial FM Radio Licences In Northallerton And Swansea' by Grant Goddard1. NEWS: OFCOM EXPLAINS
AWARD OF LOCAL
COMMERCIAL FM RADIO
LICENCES IN NORTHALLERTON
AND SWANSEA
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
November 2005
2. News: Ofcom Explains Award Of Local Commercial FM Radio Licences In Northallerton And Swansea Page 2
©2005 Grant Goddard
Ofcom has explained its decisions to award The Local Radio Company plc
[TLRC] and Town & Country Broadcasting Limited [TCB] the new local
commercial radio licences in Northallerton and Swansea respectively.
For the Northallerton licence, the regulator considered that TLRC had “a strong
degree of financial stability” and “extensive experience of operating smaller
stations in similar markets”, while the proposed eight hours per weekday of
local programming would benefit from sharing resources with the group’s
neighbouring stations. It was noted that TLRC already uses this model of a
local opt-out for its 'Yorkshire Coast Radio' licence in Bridlington that also
produces eight hours per weekday of local programming. The Northallerton
station will thus become an opt-out of York-based 'Minster FM', which is
already available in the south of the service area through a Thirsk-based FM
relay.
For Swansea, Ofcom recognised that the TCB application would enable the
company “to form a new local cluster” with its neighbouring South Wales
stations that would “benefit from synergies in terms of both programming and
sales”. The regulator said that it “welcomed the fact that this group showed a
clear understanding of the local marketplace and has previous experience of
competing against the existing local commercial and BBC services.” The new
Swansea station will become a news “hub” intended to service TCB’s existing
stations – 'Radio Pembrokeshire', 'Radio Carmarthenshire' and 'Scarlet FM' –
and 'Bridge FM' that is presently owned by Tindle Radio.
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Northallerton And Swansea Decisions', #711, 23 November 2005]
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