Ofcom Awards Two New Commercial Radio Licences
Government watchdog, Ofcom, has awarded two new twelve year FM local commercial radio licences, one in Southend-on-Sea, and the other covering the main Tyne & Wear and Teesside conurbation’s in North East England.
Southend Radio will provide listeners with “a locally relevant radio station for Southend with news, information, engaging chat and great music from the 60s to today.”
The licence will cover the town of Southend-on-Sea and the immediate surrounding area, which has an adult population.
Saga 97.5 FM will serve the Tyne & Wear and Teesside area, reaching an adult population of around 2,000,000. The station will provide “easy, melodic, popular music from the past six decades and today, with news, information and lifestyle oriented speech, primarily targeting listeners in the North East region aged 50 and over.”
Both licences will start broadcasting as soon as possible.
Earlier this month, Ofcom, invited applications for a third local FM commercial licence for Liverpool, enabling the successful applicant to broadcast for up to 12 years (see Ofcom Opens Bidding For Liverpool FM Licence).
According to Ofcom, between 1.4 million and 1.5 million adult listeners will be able to access the station covered by the licence.
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk