Ofcom has today invited declarations of intent to apply for the following FM local commercial radio licence. Please click on the ‘area’ in the first column for further detail on the pre-advertisements:
Area/current licensee (station) | Current expiry | Proposed expiry date following re-award | Closing date for declarations of intent |
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Weymouth and Dorchester/Wessex Broadcasting Limited (Wessex FM) (PDF, 167.3 KB) | 3 September 2020 | 3 September 2032 | 19 July 2019 |
Ofcom has announced that it has re-awarded the following local FM commercial radio licence to the current licensee. The licence has been re-awarded under Ofcom’s ‘fast-track’ process, as set out in published guidelines, and will be for a period of 12 years from the current expiry date:
Area (station) | Current licensee | Current expiry date |
---|---|---|
Hertford (Heart) | Shadow Radio Holdings Limited | 2 March 2020 |
Kintyre, Islay and Jura (Argyll FM) | Argyll FM Ltd | 9 July 2019 |
A five-year renewal has been granted to the following:
Area (station) | Current licensee |
---|---|
Greater London (Heart) | Global Radio London Limited |
Each station has as part of its licence, a ‘Format’ which outlines what the essential nature of the service is and details any specific expectations of that service.
Any changes to a format can only be made by following the correct procedure and with the appropriate permission from Ofcom.
Bob FM (Hertford) (PDF, 218.3 KB)
Published 28|06|19
Heart (St Albans and Watford) (PDF, 283.9 KB)
Published 28|06|19
Licensee |
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Noods Radio Ltd |
The following multiplex variations were agreed during this period:
Change | Multiplex |
---|---|
Addition of Gold UK – A classic pop hits station, targeted primarily at 35-54 year-olds. Addition of Heart Dance – A dance music station playing the biggest club classics. | Digital One (national) |
Addition of Like Radio – A popular music service aimed at 15-30 year-olds. | Somerset |
Addition of Hope FM – A Christian radio station involved in promoting the Gospel. | Hereford and Worcester, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, North East Wales and West Cheshire |
The awarding Panel met on 25 June 2019 to consider the applications for Round One, 2019-20. Issues of note arising from the Panel meeting and a summary of the grants awarded are available to see in the statement, Awards of grants 2019-20 Round One.
The next round of funding will be Round Two 2019-20, which is due to open for applications from eligible stations in October 2019. The awarding Panel will meet in January 2020 to consider the applications.
Grants can only be made to community radio licensees in the UK, who are broadcasting under a community radio licence. Applications from eligible licence-holders may be submitted in Welsh. Any application submitted in Welsh will be treated no less favourably than an application submitted in English.
For further information, please contact: communityradiofund@ofcom.org.uk
A five-year extension has been granted to the following:
Service name | Licensee | Location | New expiry date |
---|---|---|---|
Community Voice FM | Community Voice FM Ltd | Middlesbrough | 9 August 2024 |
Gateway 97.8 | Gateway Community Media Community Interest Company | Basildon, Essex | 24 September 2025 |
Ofcom has approved the transfer of the following community radio licence.
Service name | Location | New licensee |
---|---|---|
Radio Cardiff | Cardiff | Safer Wales |
During 2018, Ofcom invited community radio stations to submit requests for coverage improvements and extensions if they wished. During the last month the services listed below have had their requests provisionally agreed, subject to the new technical arrangements going through our usual formal clearance process (this includes Ofcom liaising with a number of outside agencies before changes can be implemented).
Coverage improvements agreed:
Service name | Location |
---|---|
Ambur Radio | Walsall, West Midlands |
Coverage extensions agreed:
See the invitation to apply (PDF, 325.1 KB) for the range of factors we take into account when considering these requests (in particular, paragraphs 2.46-2.49).
Station | Eden FM |
---|---|
Current licence area | Penrith town and key villages in the rural areas around |
Extended licence area | Penrith, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen and the surrounding rural area |
Reasons for agreeing to the extension | Significant increase in the licensed area: An extension via a relay to add Appleby and Kirkby Stephen to the licence was AGREED. Ofcom considered that the change would amount to a large increase in the licensed area, but not a significant increase. We considered that there were clear relationships and affinities between the locations, which are all in the Eden Valley. Exceptional circumstances: Ofcom did not need to consider whether there were ‘exceptional circumstances’ to justify an increase in this case. Other considerations:
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Station | Endeavour Radio |
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Current licence area | Boston and the surrounding area |
Extended licence area | Boston and the surrounding area |
Reasons for agreeing to the extension | Significant increase in the licensed area: a power increase was AGREED because the impact was considered not to result in a significant increase in the licensed area. The increase in the adult population figures served by the services is relatively small, so the increase in the licensed area is therefore deemed not 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:
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Station | Lincoln City Radio |
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Current licence area | Lincoln |
Extended licence area | Lincoln and surrounding villages |
Reasons for agreeing to the extension | Significant increase in the licensed area: An extension via a power increase was AGREED. While predictions show that the power increase does not necessarily equate to all the villages highlighted by the licensee receiving the signal, the increase does mean that villages within a 5km radius of the transmission site can be served. Exceptional circumstances: Ofcom did not need to consider whether there were ‘exceptional circumstances’ to justify an increase in this case. Other considerations:
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Please note:
Ofcom received over 130 requests in total for an improvement or an extension from existing community radio stations. It is taking us some time to complete all the work required to assess each one; we have dealt first with requests for improvements before we turned our attention to extension requests.
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, 325.1 KB) for further information.