Mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.

Radio broadcast update April 2022

23 Mai 2022

A round-up of radio broadcast licensing activity in April 2022.

Digital radio

Local/national DAB multiplex variations

The following multiplex variations were agreed during this period:

ChangeMultiplex
Addition of Fix Radio - A music, entertainment and information service aimed at builders and tradespeople throughout the UK.

Sound Digital (National 2)

Removal of Unity DAB - A radio station playing all forms of dance music. Surrey

Addition of Gateway - Gateway is for residents of Basildon and the surrounding area. It provides a service to reach and involve the communities of Basildon and East Thurrock and enhance community cohesion. (Service to air for one month, commencing on May 30).

 Essex
Removal of Mearns FM - A music and speech service for the South Aberdeenshire community. Aberdeen

Digital sound programme service (DSP) and digital additional sound (DAS) licences issued during this period

Licensee Service name
East Devon Radio Ltd East Devon Radio
Fix Radio Ltd Fix Radio
Riviera FM Ltd Riviera FM
Select Radio Limited Select Radio

Community digital sound programme service (C-DSP) applications received during this period

Licensee Service name
Spice Project Limited Spice Radio
Seerah Academy Radio Seerah
WWL Radio WWL Radio

Community digital sound programme service (C-DSP) licences issued during this period

Licensee Service name
Celtic Music Radio Ltd Celtic Music Radio
Cambridge 105 FM Radio Ltd Cambridge 105 Radio
Panj Pani Radio Ltd Panj Pani Radio

Analogue community radio

Licences issued in this period

Service nameLicenseeLocation
Dover FM Dover Community Radio Community Interest Company Dover
Wallingford Radio Wallingford Radio Ltd Wallingford

Licence extensions granted in this period

A five year extension has been granted to the following:

Service nameLicenseeLocation New expiry date
Frome FM Frome Community Productions Community Interest Company From 15 June 2027
Nova Radio North Earth 102.5FM Community Broadcast Initiative Tyneside Ltd Newcastle upon Tyne 7 June 2027
Colne Radio Colne Radio Community Interest Company Wivenhoe 7 April 2027

Analogue community radio licence award offers which have been declined by the applicant

Service nameAwardeeLocation
Cheshire FM Cheshire Radio Limited Cheshire

Key Commitments changes

Coverage extensions agreed:

See the guidance notes (PDF, 259.6 KB) for the range of factors we take into account when considering these requests (in particular, paragraphs 2.46-2.49).

Station Great Driffield Radio
Current licence area Great Driffield
Extended licence area Great Driffield and surrounding villages
Reasons for agreeing the extension

An extension via a relay at Eddsfield Airfield was AGREED

The increase in the size of the adult population served was not deemed to be significant.

Exceptional circumstances: Ofcom did not need to consider whether there were ‘exceptional circumstances’ to justify an increase in this case.

Other considerations:

  • The extended area, although part of the original licence application, could not be served by existing transmission parameters or a power increase to the existing site due to the local topography. The addition of this relay is therefore the only viable solution to meet the expectations of listeners in the proposed extended area who are currently unable to receive the service.
  • The licensee noted the villages in the proposed extended area are dispersed with small populations. Further, these rural villages are not currently served by local or community radio services. The extension will therefore enable the target population in the extended areas to receive a relevant radio service.
  • The applicant asserted that the villages in the proposed extended area all have direct contact links with the town of Great Driffield. This is indicative of the relationship and affinity between the areas.
  • The licensee demonstrated that there has been demand and support for additional coverage in the proposed extended area since the service originally launched who are not currently able to listen to the output of the service.
  • The licensee indicated that the service has been providing relevant content to meet the needs of listeners from the proposed extended area since the service launched in 2018. This demonstrated to Ofcom that the licensee will be able to deliver content which would be relevant to the proposed extended area.

Please note:

The success of an application is, amongst other things, dependent on frequency availability and whether there may be an increase in harmful outgoing interference to other stations. In every case we need to take account of other services (community, commercial and BBC) on the same frequency or an adjacent one to yours (or to a frequency that we may be considering for a relay). Please see the guidance document (PDF, 259.6 KB) for further information.