adio Authority Publishes Assessment of Local Digital Multiplex Licence Award for Plymouth/Cornwall

119/03

20 November 2003

Radio Authority Publishes Assessment of Local Digital Multiplex Licence Award for Plymouth/Cornwall

The Radio Authority has today (20 November) published the details of its assessment of the local digital multiplex licence award for Plymouth/Cornwall. The Authority awarded the licence to South West Digital Radio Ltd. on 6 November 2003.

A copy of the full assessment is attached.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. 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.

2. Towards the end of this year, the Radio Authority will cease to exist, and its responsibilities for licensing and regulating independent radio will pass to Ofcom, the new converged regulator for the communications sector. See the Ofcom transitional website at www.ofcom.org.uk for more details.

LOCAL DIGITAL RADIO MULTIPLEX SERVICE:

PLYMOUTH/CORNWALL

ASSESSMENT OF LICENCE AWARD

The local digital radio multiplex service licence for the city of Plymouth and covering most parts of Cornwall was awarded to South West Digital Radio Ltd. on 6 November 2003, to run for twelve years from the date the service commences broadcasting.

Applications were invited on 30 May 2003. By the closing date of 16 September 2003, one application was received, from South West Digital Radio Ltd (SWDR)., a newly-formed company whose shareholders are Now Digital Ltd. and UKRD Group Ltd.

Consideration of the application
1. Coverage area and timetable

SWDR proposes to launch the multiplex no later than October 2004, subject to frequency clearance. The group intends to use three transmission sites, at Redruth, Caradon Hill and Plympton, which it estimates will initially provide noise-limited 'outdoor coverage' of 72.6% of the adult population of the 'primary protected area' (PPA). Members noted that the current international constraints affecting the power levels available for transmission from the Plympton transmitter were due to be relaxed at the end of 2005, which will facilitate an improvement in coverage in the area in 2006.

2. Ability to establish and maintain the service

SWDR is a joint venture between Now Digital Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GWR Group plc, the owner of the Plymouth ILR station, Plymouth Sound, and UKRD, the radio group which owns Pirate FM, the analogue licensee for Cornwall. GWR, the majority (67%) shareholder in SWDR, has made a particularly strong commitment to the digital radio medium and now has considerable experience in operating local digital multiplexes. The applicant's business plan was viable, and Members considered that although a proportion of the total capacity of the multiplex still remained to be allocated to service providers, the group could be confident about the reliability of income from those providers which had been recruited.

3. Catering for tastes and interests of people in the area

Because the Plymouth and Cornwall parts of the multiplex will use different frequencies, it will be technically possible to provide separate programme services for Plymouth and Cornwall. SWDR proposes, at least at the outset, to carry all services across both areas, apart from the BBC local radio services (BBC Radios Devon and Cornwall, respectively). The commercial programme services which are confirmed for carriage from the launch of the multiplex are as follows:

Contemporary hit radio Plymouth Sound (provider: GWR Group plc)

Contemporary hit radio Pirate FM (provider: UKRD Group Ltd.)

Gold Classic Gold (provider: Classic Gold Digital Ltd.)

Dance Kiss (provider: EG Digital Ltd.)

Modern rock The Storm (provider: GWR Group plc)

'Access'; a variety of programme

strands including:

a service for students (19.00 - 00.00) SBN (provider: SBN Ltd.)

SWDR’s proposed programming bouquet includes a simulcast of the local FM station in Cornwall, Pirate FM, which broadcasts a service containing a minimum of 15% speech and a music mix that reflects both old and new hits, and the AM station in Plymouth, Classic Gold 1152, a classic pop hits led radio station targeted primarily at the over-35s. The local FM station for Plymouth, Plymouth Sound, will also be simulcast, apart from four hours on Sundays when the digital service will carry a networked digital-only strand called Sunday Music Café Extra. As digital penetration increases, Plymouth Sound will look at opportunities to provide specific local programming on the Cornwall frequency. Digital-only stations, The Storm, a modern rock service, and Kiss, a youth-orientated dance station, will extend the choice available to listeners. Local content will primarily be provided by simulcasts of the existing ILR stations, although local programming will be developed for The Storm as digital penetration increases. The 'Access' channel potentially provides capacity for community broadcasters in the Plymouth and/or Cornwall areas. It is currently offering student programming provided by SBN, which hopes to include some output sourced from local student radio stations. Members expressed the hope that the Access channel would be utilised by a wider range of specialised and localised services in the future. Members recognised the difficulties of attracting programme providers to digital multiplexes in areas with limited population coverage, and considered that a good start had been made with the provision of a variety of services.

4. Broadening the range of local digital programme services

This is currently, and will for the foreseeable future remain, the only local multiplex available to listeners in the Cornwall and Plymouth area. Therefore this statutory criterion is effectively satisfied by default.

5. Local support

A reasonable degree of support was demonstrated by the applicant. The group also commissioned an audience research survey to gauge the support of local listeners for particular formats; however, its ability to act upon the research findings was constrained by the limited availability of willing programme providers.

6. Fair and effective competition

The Authority has been given no reason to believe that the applicant did not act in a manner calculated to ensure fair and effective competition when contracting or offering to contract with potential or proposed service providers. In accordance with the licence conditions pursuant to the Broadcasting Act 1996, the Authority will keep matters of fair and effective competition and undue discrimination under regular review.

BACKGROUND

Copies of the non-confidential section of the application were made available for public inspection in the Local Studies Library in Plymouth and the Cornwall Reference and Information Library in Truro, and at the Authority’s offices in London. A notice was issued on 16 September 2003 inviting public comments on the application.

Under the terms of section 51(2) of the Broadcasting Act 1996, when considering whether, or to whom, to award a local digital radio multiplex licence, the Authority must have regard to the following specific matters:

the extent of the coverage area as proposed by the applicant;
the timetable relating to achievement of the proposed coverage area and the start of broadcast services;
the ability of the applicant to establish the proposed service and to maintain it throughout the period for which the licence will be in force;
the extent to which the digital programme services proposed to be included in the service would cater for the tastes and interests of persons living in the area and, where it is proposed to cater for particular tastes and interests, the extent to which those services would in fact cater for those tastes and interests;
the extent to which any proposed digital sound programme services would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local digital programme services in that area and, in particular, the extent to which they would cater for tastes and interests different from those already catered for by local digital programme services already provided in that area;
the extent to which the application is supported by persons living in the area; and
whether, in contracting or offering to contract with persons providing digital programme services or digital additional services, the applicant has acted in a manner calculated to ensure fair and effective competition in the provision of such services.

The Authority is also required to take account of any representations made in respect of the application.

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