GWR Chief Calls For Relaxation Of Radio Regulation

Chief executive of the GWR group, Ralph Bernard, has warned that the current radio ownership regulations are impinging on the growth of commercial radio in the UK and has called on the Government to relax them before the next election.

At the all-party Parliamentary Media Group he called for the points system currently in operation to come to an end. This system does not include the BBC, but as the BBC accounts for 50% of radio listening, commercial operators can effectively own only a 7.5% slice of the total radio market. Bernard called for a new ownership system based on share of voice which would give operators a new 20% limit.

“Throughout our history, the industry has been constrained by ownership regulations that have failed to keep up with the pace of development. The 1990 Broadcasting Act laid the basic ground rules and here we are, 10 years later, struggling with that legacy. ITV is also trying to break free of its barriers, but they have effectively twice as much leeway as we do in radio”.

He said that commercial radio cannot hope to compete in a digital, global marketplace when such limitations exist. The anomalies of the system mean that Classic FM and Jazz FM have the same points rating in the current system although the former takes 13% of the audience while the latter takes only 1.2%.

Relaxed rules will create diversity he argued, citing the US situation as an example. The average US city now supports 15 types of station compared to 11 since it changed its regulation in 1996.

GWR Group: 020 7284 3000