20/03

Applications for a licence to serve the town of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, and as much of the metropolitan borough as proves technically feasible, were invited on 15 February 2002. By the closing date of 28 May 2002, six applications were received, from the following groups:

Dearne FM Ltd.

Locke FM (Radio Barnsley Ltd.)

Oakwell FM Ltd.

FM 102 The Point (Cottage Broadcasting Ltd.)

Select FM (Barnsley FM Ltd.)

Tyke FM Radio Ltd.

The licence was awarded to Dearne FM, to run for eight years from the date that the service commences broadcasting.

In awarding the local licence for Barnsley, Members were conscious that Barnsley was likely to prove a difficult marketplace in which to establish and maintain a new radio business. In addition to the challenges provided by local economic conditions, the area is comparatively well-served by commercial radio, with two local and two regional services already on-air, and has a strong local press. In this commercial environment, Members considered that the application from Dearne FM represented the most realistic proposition. The group's business plan contained sensible revenue and cost estimates which were consistent with a company which knows its business and the local constraints on the market. Dearne FM is wholly-owned by Lincs FM plc, a radio company with considerable experience of managing popular small-scale radio stations in this region, such as Ridings FM in Wakefield and Trax FM in Doncaster. As part of a large group with neighbouring stations, Dearne FM would have proven radio operational and managerial support close to hand, as well as access to national advertising revenue.

Members considered that the group's programming proposals were realistic and achievable. Dearne FM will broadcast a good mix of hits from the past four decades, with tracks from the 60s and 70s accounting for at least 20% of the output. The lack of a reliance on chart music and the amount of pre-1980s music differentiated the group's music proposals and increases the extent to which the service will broaden the range of programmes available in the area. A specialist country music programme will also form part of the music schedule. Speech will comprise a minimum of 15% of weekday daytime output and include standard items, such as travel information, local weather forecasts and what's on guides, which the group's research suggests would be popular. The news schedule proposed by Dearne FM would guarantee locally-produced news throughout daytime. The news staff would have the benefit of specialist support from Lincs FM's other nearby stations, as well as the group's central resources, which would allow the Barnsley-based journalists to concentrate on local stories.

Dearne FM has conducted three trial broadcasts in the area since 1999, and the principal source of the local support it received was from individual listeners to those short-term services who expressed enjoyment of what they heard. Many of the letters were genuinely supportive of Dearne, rather than simply generic expressions of support for a new Barnsley service.

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, under section 85(3) of the Act the Authority must discharge its functions in the manner which it considers is best calculated to:

(a) 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

(b) ensure fair and effective competition in the provision of such services and services connected with them.

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:

(a) the ability of each applicant to maintain the proposed service throughout the licence period;

(b) 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;

(c)   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; and

(d)   the extent to which any application is supported by persons living in that area.

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.

When it advertised the availability of a local licence for Barnsley, the Authority invited public comment on the local radio needs of listeners in these areas, and the type of programme service required. Copies of the non-confidential sections of the applications were made available for public scrutiny in the reference section of the Barnsley Central Library, and at the Authority’s offices in London. A notice was issued on 28 May 2002 inviting public comments on the applications. The Authority took all replies into account when reaching its decision.

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

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Revised: January 30, 2003