Note Of The 34th Meeting On 8 May 2007

Chairman’s Introduction

1. The Chairman welcomed Members to the 34th meeting of the Radio Licensing Committee. All members were present and other Ofcom colleagues were also present throughout or attended for part of the meeting.

To note change of Chair

2. It was noted that a new Chair of the Radio Licensing Committee had been appointed with effect from 1 May 2007 .

Minutes of the previous Meeting

3. The minutes of the Radio Licensing Committee Meeting held on 8 March 2007 were agreed as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

4. The Committee was updated on the Future of Radio consultation, which had been published on 17 April 2007.

Community radio licence awards: Scotland and Northern Ireland (Batch 1)

5. After a full and careful discussion of each licence application in the respective areas, and having regard in particular to the factors set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (as modified by the Community Radio Order 2004), the Committee awarded a licence to each of the following six applicants:

Jubilee FM, North and South Queensferry ;
Bute FM, Isle of Bute ;
Ness FM, Inverness ;
Alive Radio, Dumfries ;
Star FM, Bangor , County Down ; and
Vibe FM, Enniskillen.

6. The Committee decided not to award a community radio licence to Highland Christian Radio ( Inverness ) and Radio North Isles (Orkney). It was noted that the announcement regarding the successful licence applications would be made on 11 May 2007.

Update to Community Radio Licensing Timetable

7. The Committee considered and approved the proposed timetable for inviting applications for community radio licences from the fifth region, North Wales and Northwest England.

National Radio Multiplex Licence: preliminary discussion

8. The Committee discussed the two applications received for the national radio multiplex licence. Following discussions, it was noted that the Radio Team would assemble a briefing paper summarising the assessment of each application against the statutory criteria. This briefing paper would be circulated to The Committee was scheduled to make its decision at the July 2007 meeting.

Local radio multiplex licences: the application process

9. The Committee was given an overview of the statutory licensing criteria that will apply to the award of local radio multiplex licences and the process and timetable.

Report from Chair of Community Radio Fund Panel

10. The Chair of the Community Radio Fund Panel updated the Committee on the recent awards to community radio licensees.

Local Commercial radio licence award: South Wales

11. 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 XFM South Wales Limited, which was owned by GCap Media (100%). 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.

List of approved format changes

12. The list of approved Format changes was noted.

New Purdah Lists: National Radio multiplex licence: Herts, Beds & Bucks and Derbyshire local radio multiplex licences

13. The Committee noted the Purdah lists in relation to the national radio multiplex licence and local radio multiplex licences for Herts, Beds & Bucks and Derbyshire.

Any other business

14. There was no other business to report.

Date of Next Meeting

15. To be held on Tuesday 12 June 2007 in London.

August 2007