Ofcom Lifts Lid On Manchester Radio Bids
The final bidders for the last remaining FM licence in Manchester have been revealed by industry regulator, Ofcom, with competition set to be fierce amongst the 19 companies vying for the broadcast rights.
Amongst those bidding for the much sought after spectrum space are Scottish Media Group, Emap and Capital Radio, each proposing alternative and rock focused music stations, built around their core brands of Virgin Classic Rock, Kerrang! and Xfm respectively.
The race to be awarded the FM licence suffered its first casualty last week, as the Guardian Media Group pulled its bid from the running at the last minute on the grounds that it was not commercially viable.
The broadcaster had originally proposed the creation of a 24-hour speech and news station for the region, dubbed Channel M Radio, in October last year, with the company hoping to pool the resources of its Manchester Evening News and Channel M Television operations, already based in the city, with the new radio venture (see GMG Pulls Out Of Manchester Radio Race).
GMG’s withdrawal from the rave leaves the remaining bidders, which include Saga Radio, Time FM and The Wireless Group, with an increased chance of success. TWG’s bid, chaired by TV presenter and former Manchester Police boss, John Stalker, proposes a talk-based local radio station dubbed allTALK FM, designed to build on the company’s experience running national speech radio station talkSPORT (see Wireless Group To Bid For Manchester Radio Licence).
The successful applicant for the Manchester FM licence will gain access to a potential audience of around 1.3 million adults in and around the city. Meanwhile, Ofcom has also revealed the list of bidders for the FM licence in Banbury, revealing three applications from Banbury Local Radio, The Bear and Banbury FM.
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk
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