Ofcom Rejects Call For Cut In Local Radio Content
Commercial radio stations will not be allowed to cut local programming, after Ofcom rejected pressure from the industry to be able to do so.
The watchdog has also announced new rules to preserve sound quality on DAB radio, with new guidelines published today as part of the media regulator’s long-running Future of Radio review.
As expected, FM local radio stations will be required to broadcast at least 10 hours of locally made programmes each weekday, including breakfast (see Commercial Radio Operators Must Broadcast At Least 10 Hours Of Local Content Daily).
This is substantially more than that requested by commercial radio groups who had asked for the minimum to be as little as three hours a day (see Radio Bosses Urge Ofcom To Consider Radio Overhaul).
The guidelines for local content on radio require local FM stations to broadcast at least 10 hours of locally made programmes each weekday, and at least four hours at weekends. For AM stations it falls to four hours every day of the week.
Stations with a potential audience of fewer than 250,000 adults will be able to apply for co-location and programme sharing with a neighbouring service.
Ofcom also said it would support a further relaxation and simplification of radio ownership rules.
“We accept that there is some force in the argument that further consolidation could be in the interests of listeners by increasing the ability of the industry to invest in programming,” added the regulator.
Ofcom also concluded that DAB stereo and mono broadcasting should be regulated to preserve sound quality for listeners, and said stations wishing to switch from stereo to mono must now get approval from the regulator.
Radio groups including GCap Media, Bauer Radio (formerly Emap) and national digital multiplex operator Digital One had resisted the new regulation..
Ofcom said in its guidelines today: “We do not accept that, left to itself, the market will necessarily reflect the interests of consumers. For example, the carriage of non-radio data services may prove more lucrative for multiplex operators than audio services, which may not be in the interests of listeners.”
In the foreword to today’s guidelines, the Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, and its chairman, David Currie, said today’s guidelines “all go in the direction of reducing regulation – some will say too fast, others not fast enough. But it is our view that this is the pace justified by the evidence, and by our overriding responsibility to listeners”.
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk