The Radio Authority has today issued details of its plans for the next phase of Independent Local Radio development. These include more “regional” licences, as well as new local smaller scale licences.
New Regional Licences
The Radio Authority will not offer any further regional licences in the areas which have just been awarded such licences, until these services are well established: (ie: North West, Central Scotland, North East, West Midlands and the Severn Estuary.) It has announced plans for four new regional licences:
YORKSHIRE – Which would cover most parts of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside, covering around 3 million adults
EAST ANGLIA – Covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge, covering 1.25m adults.
EAST MIDLANDS – Covering Leicester, Nottingham and Derby (Over 1.25m adults)
SOLENT – Covering Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth (Over 1m adults)
Other Local Licences
In addition the Radio Authority intends to advertise local licences for the follwing areas, which will be more localised in coverage than existing ILR licences:
Basingstoke Oban
Caernarfon Oxford
Cambridge Peterhead
Dundee South-East Staffs (Burton-on-Trent)
Fife Statford-on-Avon
Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft Tameside (Ashton-Under-Lyne)
Hinckley Western Isles (Stornoway)
Huddersfield Wigan
Medway Towns Wolverhampton
North East Gloucestershire Yorkshire Dales
The Authority also intends to introduce a new policy of advertising a new small-scale licence that may be awarded for any locality within a specified wider area. It would be up to applicants to decide which locality they wished to broadcast to.
These areas are:
Cheshire (eg Crewe or Macclesfield)
East London (eg Barking, Havering, Newham or Redbridge)
East Sussex (eg Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings or Rye)
Kent Coast (eg Dover, Folkestone or Thanet)
Merseyside (eg Kirkby, Prescot or Southport)
Mid-Essex (eg Basildon, Braintree or Brentwood)
South East London (eg Bromley or Lewisham)
South West London (eg Kingston-upon-Thames or Sutton)
Many of these licences will use the 105-108 MHz frequencies, which will come into use from the end of 1995. The Authority expects to begin advertising licences in Spring/Summer of 1995.
Radio Authority 071 430 2724
