ASSESSMENT OF WINNING APPLICANT

Applications were invited on 8 July 1998. By the closing date of 13 October 1998, five applications were received, as follows:

On 4 March 1999 a small-scale alternative location local licence ("sallie") was awarded to Lite FM and an assessment of their application was published on 23 March 1999. A conditional licence offer was made to X-Cel FM, who were not then in a position to decide whether or not to accept that offer. X-Cel has since confirmed it will accept the licence with the transmission limitations notified to it by the Authority and an assessment of its application can now be published.

When licensing independent radio services, it is the duty of the Authority under the Broadcasting Act 1990 ("the Act") to do all that it can to secure the provision within the UK of a range and diversity of local services (section 85(2)(b) of the Act). Furthermore, the Authority must discharge its functions in the manner which it considers is best calculated to :

1. facilitate the provision of licensed services which (taken as a whole) are of high quality and offer a wide range of programmes calculated to appeal to a variety of tastes and interests; and
2. ensure fair and effective competition in the provision of such services and services connected with them (section 85(3) of the Act).

Under section 105 of the Act, the matters to which the Authority shall have regard when determining whether, or to whom, to grant a local licence are :

1. the ability of each applicant to maintain the proposed service throughout the licence period;
2. the extent to which the 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 so cater;
3. the extent to which the proposed service would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local services to persons living in the relevant area or locality, and, in particular, the extent to which the service would cater for tastes and interests which are different from those already catered for by existing local services in the area or locality; and
4. the extent to which any application is supported by persons living in that area or locality.

While the requirements of sections 85 and 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 will invariably form the basis of all awards, each licence award will be made on an individual basis, with regard to the factors which, in the view of the Authority, are particularly relevant to that case.

"Sallies" were introduced in 1996. The availability of one or more frequencies for a service (or services) for any locality within a wider area is advertised, without specifying which particular locality the licence must serve. It is up to applicants to decide which locality they wish to serve. The Authority will award the licence(s) to what is, in its view, the strongest individual application(s) put forward. This approach was designed to increase the opportunities for prospective operators of small-scale services to submit licence applications.

When it advertised the availability of one or more small-scale service licences within the Cambridgeshire area, the Authority invited public comment on the local radio needs of listeners in this area, and the type of programme service required. Copies of the non-confidential sections of the licence applications received were made available for public inspection at the Authority’s office in London and at public libraries in Peterborough, Huntingdon and Wisbech. A notice was issued on 13 October 1998 inviting public comments on the applications. All replies were taken into account by the Authority when reaching its decision.

All five applications have been considered carefully by the Authority in accordance with the Act, and the Authority’s Notes of Guidance for Local Licence Applicants and the coverage brief for these licences, issued at the date of the licence advertisement. The applicants were invited to respond to written questions on programming, finance, audience and support. Telephone interviews were conducted on the composition and history of the applicant groups.

Existing commercial radio provision

Vibe FM, the East of England regional licensee owned by Essex Radio Group plc, covers most of the area with a dance format aimed at 15-34 year olds. The local stations are all owned by GWR: Hereward FM in Peterborough, Q103 FM in Cambridge and B97 in Bedford. All conform to GWR’s "better music mix from the 80’s, 90’s, and today", and target the 15-44 age range. On AM, Classic Gold is available in Peterborough and Bedford with a format designed to appeal primarily to 35-54 year olds.

Members regarded Fenland as an area particularly deserving of a licence. Most of X-Cel’s target coverage area is technically unserved by ILR at present, and those services which can be received in parts of the area provide only peripheral editorial coverage. Fenland is an area with a strong sense of its own identity, and its insularity makes it likely that an authentically local radio service would strike a real chord with residents. In X-Cel, there is an applicant which is wholly indigenous, as regards its ownership, to this local area.

The founder (and a major shareholder) of X-Cel, Tony Buckingham, has long campaigned for a local radio station for this area. The group has operated two RSLs in the area from which, together with its ongoing promotional activities, it managed to raise an exceptional level of local support. Community interest and involvement is expressed through ownership in the group, representing some 100 different small local investors, and through the use of, and commitment to on-going training of, local volunteers.

The programming proposals are somewhat unusual for a small-scale station, but are reinforced by the group’s audience research and the demonstrable support generated by previous RSLs. Musically, there would be an emphasis on rock music, with a selection of specialist slots in the evenings and weekends. There would be less extensive news coverage than is usual on ILR, with material for bulletins supplied by a local newspaper group. The station’s local identity would be reflected more through its locally involved presenters and community input than through the formal news and informational elements of the schedule. As had been shown in other tight-knit localities elsewhere in the UK, Members were satisfied that this unconventional mix was likely to generate continuing support from a substantial audience, given the nature of the Fenland area and the close ties between the group and the community.