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The FM local commercial radio licence for Manchester was awarded on 9 June 2005 to Xfm Manchester Limited.

Manchester licence award decision

When the Manchester licence was advertised last November, we stated that, given the number and type of services already available in the area to be served by this licence, Ofcom would be likely to place particular importance on criterion (c) – the extent to which a proposed service would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local (commercial) services in the area, and would cater for tastes and interests different from those already catered for – when it came to consider the applications for this licence.

We also said that, in respect of criterion (d) – the extent to which there is evidence of local demand or support for a proposed service, Ofcom would be likely to attach greater weight to robust and meaningful evidence of demand as demonstrated by findings from research undertaken in the licence area and, if appropriate, detailed analysis of the existing market, than to evidence of local support as demonstrated by letters from potential listeners and/or advertisers.

We also noted that this guidance is subject to discretion, and that Ofcom will always consider each of the four statutory criteria when making a licence award.

This was a particularly difficult decision for the Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) in light of the very large number of applications, proposing a wide variety of formats, which were submitted for this licence. The Committee also recognised that the Formats of the existing local commercial radio services available throughout the Manchester area, when taken as a whole, are designed to appeal to listeners of all ages, and that the share of listening obtained by these services is greater than the share of listening obtained by local commercial radio as a whole throughout the UK.

This apparent lack of a definitive market gap in terms of age-group was reflected in the range of target audiences proposed by the applicants for this licence, and led the Committee to conclude that listener choice would best be broadened in this licence area by the provision of a new format to an audience among whom a clear demand for such output could be demonstrated.

In the Committee’s view, the application from Xfm offered a clearly-defined and innovative proposition with a distinctive Manchester flavour which significantly would broaden the range of programmes available in the area by way of local commercial radio. More specifically, having regard to section 105(d), the application demonstrated convincingly that there was a clear demand among Xfm’s target audience for its proposed ‘alternative’ music format, and the company was also able to show that it had strong support among representatives from the local music industry. In relation to section 105(b), the Committee particularly noted the inclusion in the Format of commitments to broadcast specialist comedy shows and comedy elements within general programming, output which the research conducted by the group showed would cater for the tastes and interests of the audience. It was also considered that the proposal to broadcast a wide range of specialist music programmes (45 hours per week) together with commitments to live sessions and exposure for unsigned artists would enhance the extent to which Xfm would broaden choice.

In relation to section 105(a), the Committee considered that the business plan put forward in support of the Xfm format proposal clearly indicated the ability of the applicant company (Capital Radio plc, now part of GCap Media plc) to maintain its proposed service, but in view of the financial strength and radio experience of many of the applicants for this licence, section 105(a) was less of a determining factor than the other criteria in respect of this particular licence award.

Finally, the RLC considered that, in relation to Section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, Xfm demonstrated evidence of demand for the amount of local material and proportion of locally-made programming it proposed in its application. The station's proposed Format includes commitments to local news throughout daytime as well as other speech of local relevance, while Manchester artists will feature throughout its music output. At least 20 hours of each day’s programming will be produced and presented in Manchester.

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 Manchester licence, can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/car/ifmapps/

The full document is available below

• Local Commercial Radio Licence Award: Manchester [pdf]
  Full Print Version

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