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The FM local commercial radio licence for the town of Blackburn and the surrounding area was awarded to Blackburn Broadcasting Company Ltd. (The Bee) on 16 December 2004. The membership of Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) for this licence award was as follows:

Ian Hargreaves, Ofcom Board member (Chair)
Kip Meek, Senior Partner, Competition & Content (Co-chair)
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Martin Campbell, Head of Content & Standards Radio Team
Peter Davies, Head of Market Intelligence
Pam Giddy, Content Board member
Matthew MacIver, Content Board member
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing

Statutory requirements relating to radio licensing

In carrying out all of its functions, Ofcom is required to have regard to the general duties set out in section 3 of the Communications Act 2003. In addition, under section 85(2)(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it is the duty of Ofcom to do all that it can to secure the provision within the UK of a range and diversity of local radio services.

'Localness'

In carrying out its functions in relation to local commercial radio services specifically, Ofcom is required (under section 314 of the Communications Act 2003) to act in the manner that it considers is best calculated to secure:

• that programmes consisting of or including local material are included in such services but, in the case of each such service, only if and to the extent (if any) that Ofcom considers appropriate in that case; and
• that, where such programmes are included in such a service, what appears to Ofcom to be a suitable proportion of them consists of locally-made programmes.

For the purposes of the licensing process, Ofcom does not consider it appropriate to prescribe an amount of local material or a proportion of locally-made programming that new services should contain, as such matters may well vary greatly between different types of service. Rather, it is for applicants to set out in their application the amount of local material and the proportion of locally-made programming they propose to provide, supported, as appropriate, by evidence of demand or support for such proposals. Ofcom will then consider on the basis of the application whether the amount of local material included is appropriate, and whether the proportion of locally-made programming is suitable, for that particular service proposal.

Specific local licence award criteria

In considering the applications it receives for local commercial radio licences, Ofcom is required to have regard to each of the statutory criteria set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990. These are as follows:

1. the ability of each of the applicants for the licence to maintain, throughout the period for which the licence would be in force, the service which he proposes to provide;
2. the extent to which any such proposed service would cater for the tastes and interests of persons living in the area or locality for which the service would be provided, and, where it is proposed to cater for any particular tastes and interests of such persons, the extent to which the service would cater for those tastes and interests;
3. the extent to which any such proposed service would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local services to persons living in the area or locality for which it would be provided, and, in particular, the extent to which the service would cater for tastes and interests different from those already catered for by local services provided for that area or locality; and
4. the extent to which there is evidence that, amongst persons living in that area or locality, there is a demand for, or support for, the provision of the proposed service.

The legislation does not rate these requirements in order of priority, but it may be that Ofcom will regard one or more of the criteria as being particularly important in view of the characteristics of the licence to be awarded and the applications for it.

Process for assessment of applications

The Blackburn licence was advertised on 24 June 2004. By the closing-date of 23 September 2004, four applications were received, as follows:

• Blackburn Broadcasting Company Ltd. (The Bee)
• Blackburn 2Day FM Ltd. (2Day FM)
• Bold FM Ltd. (Bold FM)
• The Burn FM Ltd. (Burn FM)

All four applications proposed a mainstream music-led programme service aimed at a broad adult target audience, with varying amounts and types of speech content.

The applications were circulated among all members of the RLC as well as among relevant Ofcom colleagues. Copies of the non-confidential sections of the applications were made available for public scrutiny on the Ofcom website, and public comment on the local radio needs of listeners in the area, and the type of programme service required, was invited both at the time of the licence advertisement and on the day after the applications were received. The Radio Licensing Committee took all replies into account when reaching its decision.

Ofcom noted that one of the applications ran to well over 100 pages, not including appendices, and included a large number of pictures and/or illustrations. This is contrary to the published guidance for the submission of applications, which states that applications should be clear, concise and simple in layout and style, and structured in accordance with the outline provided. Although this was not a factor in the licence award decision, Ofcom would like to re-emphasise that applications should comprise only responses to the specific questions asked, and should be in accordance with the published guidance as regards their format.

The Radio Licensing Committee had an initial discussion of the applications at its meeting on 21 October 2004. This comprised an initial presentation by a member of Ofcom's Radio Planning & Licensing team, summarising the proposals put forward by each applicant as they relate to the statutory criteria, followed by an opportunity for the RLC members to highlight any questions of clarification and/or amplification they wished to be put to the applicants.

Shortly after this meeting, each applicant was invited to respond, within a two-week period, to written questions of clarification and/or amplification on aspects of their proposals. The non-confidential questions and responses were made available for public scrutiny on the Ofcom website.

In line with Ofcom's published procedures, each application was awarded a score (of between 0 and 10) for each of the four statutory criteria contained in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990. These scores provided an indicative picture of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of each application, and were used for guidance only. A summary of the scores was presented to the RLC at its 16 December meeting, as part of a paper which summarised the issues of relevance for each application under each of the statutory criteria. The information included in this paper was drawn both from the applications and the subsequent responses to questions.

Key factors in licence award decision

When the Blackburn licence was advertised, it was stated that, given the relatively small population coverage afforded by the licence, criterion (a) – the ability of each applicant to maintain, throughout the period for which the licence would be in force, the service which it proposes to provide – was likely to be considered of particular importance. It was also stated that, as a 'smaller' licence serving a locality which is not the sole focus (in editorial terms) of any existing service, criterion (c) – the extent to which a proposed service would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local (commercial) radio services in the area, and would cater for tastes and interests different from those already catered for – was likely to be considered more important in relation to an applicant's proposals for speech content than in relation to its music proposals, and less significant overall than criterion (b) – the extent to which an applicant's proposed service would cater for local tastes and interests (general or particular). Finally, in respect of criterion (d) – the extent to which there is evidence of local demand or support for a proposed service – it was stated that non research-based evidence of local support would be likely to be considered of equal importance to evidence of demand, as Ofcom appreciated that applicants might have wished to provide such evidence. However, applicants were advised that a limited number of carefully-selected expressions of support were likely to be considered more meaningful than volumes of repetitious letters or petitions.

The RLC had a comprehensive discussion before reaching its decision for this licence award

As was suggested in the guidance published at the time of the licence advertisement, the RLC considered it appropriate to place particular importance on section 105(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 when considering the applications for this licence. The RLC considered that The Bee would benefit from the involvement of Two Boroughs Radio Ltd., the holder of the licence for the neighbouring Burnley area, which would be able to provide opportunities for resource-sharing that could prove valuable in such a relatively small licence area.

Having regard to criterion 105(b), the RLC took the view that The Bee's proposed Format offered a realistic commitment to local news and other speech content which would cater for local tastes and interests while remaining deliverable within the resources available. Investor Two Boroughs Radio Ltd. has demonstrated its ability to provide such a service, to some financial success, in the neighbouring licence area. The level of detail offered in the proposed Format was considered to be appropriate to secure the character of the service, as outlined in the applicant's stated programming philosophy.

Having regard to section 105(c), it was considered that the amount and type of speech content proposed by The Bee would broaden choice in relation to the existing local commercial radio services available in the area, as would the proposed adult contemporary music mix with tracks taken from each of the last four decades. The RLC also felt that The Bee had made an appropriate degree of commitment to output designed specifically to appeal to the area's relatively large Asian population.

Having regard to section 105(d), it was considered that the research undertaken by The Bee demonstrated some evidence of a demand for the service proposed. In addition, The Bee was able to demonstrate evidence of support for its proposals among potential listeners and advertisers; as had been requested in the notice of advertisement, a limited number of carefully-selected expressions of support were submitted with the application.

Having regard to section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, the RLC considered that the amount of local material and proportion of locally-made programming proposed by The Bee was appropriate for the type of service, and reflected the demand shown in its research.

This licence award was made based on the particular characteristics of the Blackburn market and the applications which were submitted. Although criterion 105(a) was accorded significant weight on this occasion, each licence award will be made on an individual basis, with regard to the factors which, in the view of Ofcom, are particularly relevant to that case. Where possible, the likely weight accorded to each of the statutory criteria will be signalled as part of each licence advertisement.

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