RA Receives One Application For South Yorkshire Digital Licence

The Radio Authority has received one application for the local digital multiplex service licence for the South Yorkshire area, which was advertised in March (see Newsline). Emap Digital Radio was the only group to submit a bid by the closing date yesterday.

The broadcaster has proposed to run a total of eight services on a round-the-clock basis, and plans to commence the service in October 2000. The licence will deliver digital programming and services to an area with an adult population of 1.25 million and will initially run for a period of twelve years.

Emap Digital is bidding for the licence on its own – previous digital licence bids by Emap have been as part of CE Digital, the digital radio consortium formed with Capital Radio. CE Digital has already been awarded the local digital radio licences for Birmingham and Manchester by the Radio Authority (see Newsline).

The Radio Authority hopes to announce the decision by early autumn.

Radio Authority: 0171 430 2724 Emap Radio: 0171 504 6000