Notes 11th Meeting 9 May 05

THE OFCOM RADIO LICENSING COMMITTEE HELD AT RIVERSIDE HOUSE, 2a SOUTHWARK BRIDGE ROAD, LONDON

Chairman’s Introduction

1. The Chairman welcomed Members to the 11th meeting of the Radio Licensing Committee. All members were present, with the exception of Martin Campbell who had sent his apologies. Gwen Morgan (Legal Advisor) and Glenis Rylance (Assistant Secretary to the Corporation) were present throughout. The following colleagues attended for part of the meeting: Lawrie Hallett (Senior Associate, Radio Licensing), Jon Heasman, (Senior Associate, Radio Licensing), Francesco Lammano, (Legal Advisor), Rosemary Kelly, (Content Board Member for Northern Ireland), Judith Ross (Senior Associate, Radio Licensing), Soo Williams (Senior Associate, Radio Licensing).

Minutes of the previous Meeting

2. The minutes of the Radio Licensing Meeting held on 7 April 2005 were agreed.

Matters Arising

3. There were no matters arising which were not covered elsewhere on the Agenda.

Local Commercial Radio Licence Award: Banbury

4. After a full and careful discussion of each licence application and having regard in particular to the factors set out in sections 85 and 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 and section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, the Committee awarded the licence to The Bear (The New 102 Limited), a wholly owned subsidiary of the CN Group. The announcement regarding the winning licence application would be made on the same day and a statement explaining the factors which led to its decision was scheduled to be published in due course.

Community Radio licence awards: East Midlands

5. The Committee discussed the eleven applications in the East Midlands area. After a full and careful discussion, the Committee agreed that any licence award decisions would await the outcome of discussions around frequency availability.

Community Radio licence awards: Glasgow

6. The Committee discussed the nine applications in the Glasgow Area. After a full and careful discussion, the Committee agreed that any licence award decisions would await the outcome of discussions around frequency availability.

Applications for Ballymena local commercial radio licence

7. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the four applications received for the Ballymena licence. The Committee was scheduled to make its final decision at the 9th June 2005 meeting.

Any other business

8. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the current progress of the Radio Review.

Date of next meeting

9. To be held on Thursday 9 June 2005 in London.

May 2005