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The FM local commercial radio licence for Bristol was awarded on 14 September 2006 to Original Bristol FM Ltd (Original 106fm).

Bristol licence award decision

In considering the applications in relation to section 105(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) felt that Original 106’s application demonstrated convincingly the group's ability to maintain its proposed service. More specifically, the RLC noted the high level of funding for the station provided by Original’s main shareholder CanWest MediaWorks UK, and a very substantial commitment to marketing the new service in what is already a highly competitive radio market.

In general, the RLC felt that Original’s application demonstrated a detailed understanding of the Bristol market, and in particular identified a notable gap in current local commercial radio provision (which is also reflected by the RAJAR figures for the existing stations in the market) for ABC1 and male listeners.

With regard to sections 105(b) and (c), the RLC felt that Original’s album-led ‘Adult Alternative’ format was a coherent one that would broaden choice in the Bristol market in a distinctive and well-considered manner. In particular, Original’s rock-based (but nevertheless eclectic) music policy would be likely to give exposure to a number of genres or styles that applicant monitoring showed are generally under-represented in the music output of existing Bristol commercial stations. It was noted that Original’s Format commitment to restrict the airplay of top 20 chart singles (past or present) to 45% of its music output would help deliver the station’s Character of Service, which mandates it to be “Adult Alternative Radio”, while members also acknowledged, in this respect, the Format commitment to low rotation levels.

In terms of section 105(d), it was felt by the Committee that Original had conducted a robust and wide-ranging programme of research, the results of which demonstrated support among the target audience for many of the specific aspects of its proposed Format, such as demand for a mixed (rather than single) genre music policy, a roughly even balance of hits and album tracks, and higher levels of news and speech at breakfast and afternoon drive. Original was also strong in migrating its top-testing speech specifics to its Format document, and excluding those that researched less well. Meanwhile, the group’s more detailed music research exercise, undertaken in a second quantitative study, showed that Original’s proposed music genres generally scored well among the target audience, and good levels of crossover appeal were demonstrated between its chosen music categories.

Finally, the RLC considered that, in relation to Section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, Original 106’s programme proposals contained a suitable proportion of locally-made programming and local material. Aside from the occasional network/syndicated programme, the station will be 100% locally produced and presented, and will feature a 24-hour local news service (including an extended 15-minute news bulletin each weekday afternoon).

The following pages set out the statutory requirements relating to radio licensing, and details of the licensing process. Further information about these, and detailed information relating to the applications for the Bristol licence, can be found at:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/car/

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 Bristol licence was advertised on 10 March 2006. By the closing-date of 9 June 2006, six applications were received, as follows:

B106.5 (Bristol FM Ltd)
Bristol’s 106.5 Rock Radio (Bristol Sound Ltd)
Chill Bristol (GWR (West) Ltd)
Diamond 106.5 FM (Radio UK Holdings Ltd)
Original 106fm (Original Bristol FM Ltd)
Wicked FM (UK Media and Radio Bristol Ltd)

The membership of Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) for this licence award was as follows:

Ian Hargreaves, Ofcom Board member (Chair)
Tim Suter, Partner, Content and Standards (Deputy Chair)
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Martin Campbell, Head of Radio Content Team
Peter Davies, Director of Radio and Multimedia
Pam Giddy, Content Board member
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing
Joyce Taylor, Content Board member for Scotland

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.

The Radio Licensing Committee had an initial discussion of the applications at its meeting on 6 July 2006. 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.

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 subsequently 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. The RLC was presented with a paper which summarised the issues of relevance for each application under each of the statutory criteria; this included a summary of the scores. The scores provided an indicative picture of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of each application, and were used for guidance only. The information included in the paper was drawn both from the applications and the subsequent responses to questions of clarification and/or amplification.

Points for future applicants

1. Applicants for licences in other areas should note that this licence award was made based on the particular characteristics of the Bristol licence area, and the applications which were submitted. 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.

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