Ofcom invites bids for regional radio licence

by Maisie McCabe, mediaweek.co.uk 03-Jul-09, 16:15

LONDON - Ofcom has invited declarations of intent to apply for the local commercial radio licence for Fife in Scotland. The broadcasting regulator has also awarded the South East Staffordshire licence and is finalising two further regions.

The current FM licence in Fife, held by Kingdom Radio, is due to expire in October 2010. Ofcom intends to grant an FM licence from then until the end of December 2015.

When deadlines closed earlier this week for the local commercial radio licences in Warrington and Cheltenham, Ofcom had received only one declaration per licence, both coming from the incumbents, Wire FM and Storm Radio Ltd respectively.

As a result, Ofcom said it had invited both Wire FM and Storm Radio to apply for the licence under the fast-track procedure as set out in its guidelines.

The regulator has awarded the licence for South East Staffordshire to the current licensee Centre Broadcasting, under its fast-track process, and the new licence will run from its current expiry date to 31 December 2015.

Ealier this week, Ofcom came under fire for its licensing process at the annual Radio Festival.

Former GMG Radio boss John Myers said the regulator had awarded too many licences over the past two decades, while increases in audiences and revenues had not matched the surge in broadcasters.

Myers, who completed a review of local radio for the Digital Britain report, said too many licences had been awarded to "gold diggers" who profited from "wheeling and dealing in licences".

Myers said there was "significant" tension between Ofcom and radio stations and the radio industry was frustrated with the number of Ofcom reviews that had taken place and the "petty regulation" which was "holding the industry back".

Ofcom declined to comment on Myers remarks.