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The FM local commercial radio licence for Plymouth was awarded on 9 March 2006 to Radio UK Holdings Limited (Diamond FM).

Plymouth licence award decision

When the Plymouth licence was advertised in September, Ofcom said that, given the characteristics of the area, it felt unable to indicate whether any one of the four statutory licensing criteria (see under ‘Specific local licence award criteria’ below) would be likely to be regarded as of particular significance. However, it was stated 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.

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

In considering the applications in relation to Section 105(a), Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) judged that the combination of commercial radio expertise and the 100% ownership of Radio UK Holdings Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Macquarie Bank) would place Diamond FM in a strong position to compete with existing stations and establish a secure financial base. While the committee acknowledged that Diamond’s financial forecasts are ambitious, it also noted that the group would have access to significant resources and had clearly set out its intention to invest in the marketing, sales and programming aspects of its proposed service in order to establish a place within the Plymouth market.

In light of the fact that this will be the fifth commercial service available in Plymouth, the RLC placed an emphasis on the section 105 (c) criterion in awarding this city-wide licence. It felt that Diamond’s mix of classic rock from the last five decades with relatively low speech, as well as its promise to play youth-focused alternative rock during evening output, would broaden choice more than any of the other proposals. In relation to 105 (b), the committee considered that the applicant offered a coherent and workable Format that would cater to the tastes and interests of an underserved audience.

With regard to Section 105(d), the RLC noted that the group had carried out a full range of research which showed that classic rock was regarded by the potential audience as a genre that would be both relatively popular and offer ‘something different’ in terms of local commercial radio provision. The committee also commented on the strong support for Diamond’s comprehensive local news proposals.

Finally, the RLC considered that, in relation to Section 314 of the Communications Act 2003, Diamond FM 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 promises locally-produced output 24 hours per day, and includes a commitment to airing local news bulletins throughout all daytime programming and until 2200 each weekday.

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 Plymouth 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 Plymouth licence was advertised on 8 September 2005. By the closing-date of 8 December 2005, five applications were received, as follows:

Armada FM Limited
Diamond FM (Radio UK Holdings Limited)
Drake FM Limited
Plymouth Live (Your Radio Limited)
Radio Plymouth Limited

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)
Pam Giddy, Content Board member
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Peter Davies, Director of Radio and Multimedia
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing
Martin Campbell, Head of Radio Content Team

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 5 January 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.

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 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. 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 9 March 2006 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 of clarification and/or amplification.

Points for future applicants

1. It was noted by the RLC that some applicants (both for this and other licences) are offering Formats that are characterised by the liberal use of adjectives that have no specific meaning and are therefore open to interpretation. Recent examples include: ‘meaningful speech’ and ‘credible music’. While we would not wish to hamper an applicant’s ability to describe its proposals, we would ask that if such terms are used within a draft Format they are either accompanied by a clear definition or quantified in a manner that would render them readily enforceable.
2. Applicants for licences in other areas should note that this licence award was made based on the particular characteristics of the Plymouth market 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. 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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