Ofcom Advertises New Warwick FM Licence

Media regulator, Ofcom, has advertised a new local FM commercial radio licence to cover the towns of Warwick, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth and the immediately surrounding areas.

Ofcom estimates that the new licence could reach coverage of an area with a 15+ population of around 100,000, although the exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical characteristics.

The proposed frequency for the licence, 107.3 MHz is subject to international agreement on radio spectrum usage and will be issued for a twelve-year period.

The closing date for applications is 3.00pm on Thursday, 6 October 2005, with all interested parties paying a non-refundable fee of £5,000 for each application submitted.

In the meantime the regulator has continued to advertise new radio licences, most recently inviting bids for the Ipswich FM licence, serving an audience of between 200,000 and 250,000 adults (see Ofcom Opens Bidding On Ipswich FM Licence).

In May, Ofcom awarded the FM radio licence for Banbury to CN Radio, selecting the company’s bid from three applications received by the closing date in February. The watchdog’s licensing committee selected CN for approval following its application for “a locally focused, adult contemporary radio station with news information and features of particular interest to Banbury and the surrounding areas,” which best met the statutory criteria (see CN Radio Scoops Banbury FM Licence).

Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk