Experimental children's radio service launches in Leicester as part of Access Radio Pilot Scheme

37/02

23 March 2002

Experimental children's radio service launches in Leicester as part of Access Radio Pilot Scheme

Takeover Radio, a new experimental analogue radio service for children, will launch on to the airwaves in Leicester on Saturday 23 March. The fifth Access Radio Pilot station to launch in the UK, it will broadcast on 103.2 MHz.

The station has a licence to broadcast for one year as part of this experiment which aims to explore how Access Radio - a new tier of not-for-profit radio which will have social and educational benefits - might work in practice. Details of the station are as follows:

TAKEOVER RADIO, LEICESTER, 103.2 FM

A children's radio station incorporating contributions from 8-14 year olds. It is owned and operated by the registered charity, Takeover Radio Children's Media Trust. (contact: tel, 0116 299 9600, web site: www.takeoverradio.com).

The other four services already on-air taking part in the experiment are: Angel Community Radio, Havant, Hampshire; Bradford Community Broadcasting, Bradford inner city; Cross Rhythms City Radio, Stoke-on-Trent, and Northern Visions Radio, Belfast.

The Radio Authority selected fifteen groups from a field of two hundred groups that submitted letters of intent. The remaining projects will be on-air within the next two months, with the exception of Shine FM in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, which will broadcast for just a few months from the autumn. The aim of the experiment is to provide guidance on how Access Radio could be introduced following new legislation.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The fifteen groups invited to apply to take part in the project reflect all four of the home nations, rural and urban areas, including links with urban regeneration projects, services for ethnic minorities in the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities, a wide range of age groups from children to older people, Christian based stations, and a range of financial models.

Access Radio was initially suggested to Government by the Authority (Radio Regulation for the 21^st Century Submission to DCMS/DTI, June 2000) (available at www.radioauthority.org.uk) as an initiative to provide opportunities for a new tier of radio services to be used in innovative, creative and socially and educationally constructive ways. This project aims to evaluate different approaches to the concept and to inform the future radio regulator how Access Radio, should it be introduced in the future, might be licensed, regulated, funded, promoted and organised.

The Radio Authority's specific recommendations to Government regarding Access Radio are available at www.radioauthority.org.uk (Communications bill) along with further information about the project.

The Radio Authority is responsible for licensing and regulating Independent Radio in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996. It plans frequencies, awards licences, regulates programming and advertising, and plays an active role in the discussion and formulation of policies which affect the Independent Radio industry and its listeners.

Contact:
Press enquiries:
Tel: 020 7887 4290 / 020 7887 4294
Out of hours tel: 07770 375283
Public enquiries:
Tel: 020 7887 4357

Revised: May 15, 2002