CRCA Welcomes Report Criticising Communications Bill
Research commissioned by the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) claims that the Government’s proposals for regulating the content of local commercial radio are largely unnecessary as the majority of listeners already feel well served by the medium.
The report claims that the proposals to limit the consolidation of commercial radio, put forward in the Communications Bill, reflect the viewpoint of an older BBC local radio audience.
According to the research, music content is the overriding factor in listeners’ choice of a local radio station, with local commercial radio providing a generally music-focused service to meet this demand.
The report also found that younger more media-savvy commercial radio listeners are accustomed to satisfying their appetite for news and information through a variety of sources, being 20% more likely than BBC listeners to have regular access to the internet. It also found that listeners are in no way concerned with the processes behind their local radio service, providing that they like what they hear.
Commenting on the report, Deanna Hallett, managing director of Hallett Arendt, the research company which undertook the study, said: “Local radio listening accounts for almost half of all time spent listening to the radio, with local commercial radio talking a 77% share of this local listening. Our research found that clear and significant differences exist between commercial and BBC local radio listeners. In contrast the Bill defends the preferences of an older, information-hungry BBC audience.”
According to the research, the Communications Bill fails to take into account the broader local media ecology in its assessment of local commercial radio. The research warns that it is imperative that the additional regulation threatened by the Communications Bill does not misinterpret listeners views with misplaced regulation.
Paul Brown, chief executive of the CRCA, commented: “Ofcom’s chairman has made it clear that the new regulator’s judgements and procedures should be evidence based. CRCA contends that the local radio content clause in the Communications Bill is based on subjective, muddled thinking.”
Earlier last year commercial radio groups welcomed the move to allow minimum of 2 radio operators, as well as the BBC, to operate in a specific local areas, but still believe the proposals are too restrictive (see Radio Groups Beam At Prospect Of Further Consolidation).
Brown adds: “Existing format restrictions, together with commercial radio operators’ desire to succeed mean that local commercial radio’s valuable news and information output is already adequately served and protected.”
CRCA: 020 7306 2603 www.crca.co.uk
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