Note of the 30th Meeting on 7 December 2006

Chairman’s Introduction

1. The Chairman welcomed Members to the 30th meeting of the Radio Licensing Committee. All members were present with the exception of Pam Giddy and Tim Suter who had given their apologies. Other Ofcom colleagues were also present throughout or attended for part of the meeting:

Minutes of the previous Meeting

2. The minutes of the Radio Licensing Committee Meeting held on 9 th November 2006 were agreed as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

3. There were no matters arising that were not covered by items on the Agenda.

Local commercial radio licence award: Preston

4. After a full and careful discussion of each licence application, and having regard in particular to the factors set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 and section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, the Committee awarded the licence to Proud FM Limited wholly-owned by UTV Radio (GB) Limited . It was noted that the announcement regarding the winning licence application would be made on the same day and a statement explaining the factors which led the Committee to its decision was scheduled to be published in due course.

Applications for Manchester local commercial radio licence.

5. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the eleven applications received for the Manchester licence. The Committee was scheduled to make its final decision at the February 2007 meeting.

Format Change Request: Smooth FM

6. The Radio Licensing Committee approved a Format Change Request from the Greater London licensee 102.2 Smooth FM.

Update to community radio licensing timetable

7. The Radio Licensing Committee considered and approved the proposed timetable for inviting applications for community radio licences from the West and South Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK.

Output Regulation (Monitoring).

The Radio Licensing Committee was briefed on the monitoring process.

Fair and effective competition in relation to format changes.

9. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the statutory criterion in relation to fair and effective competition when considering format change requests.

Purdah list: Herefordshire/Monmouthshire

10. The Radio Licensing Committee noted the purdah list in relation to the advertised licence for Herefordshire/Monmouthshire.

AOB

11. The Radio Licensing Committee noted that the dates of the Radio Festival coincided with the July 2007 meeting. It was agreed to set another date for the July 2007 meeting.

Date of next meeting

12. To be held on Thursday 11 th January 2007 in London.

8 December 2006