[cma-l] Chatham House Rules?

Sun Feb 20 09:19:53 GMT 2011

The meaning of that escapes me, but I've mailed my MP Richerd Benyon already asking for his support for this even though he doesn't have a CR Station or Applicant in his Constituency.
I expect that everyone else who reads these threads has done the same.

Whoosh!?????
Was that a pig?

Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:13:42 +0000
From: bobtyler at btinternet.com
To: cathy.aitchison at btinternet.com
CC: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off

Chatham House Rules I think

--- On Sat, 19/2/11, Cathy Aitchison <cathy.aitchison at btinternet.com> wrote:

From: Cathy Aitchison <cathy.aitchison at btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off
To: "ROBERT TYLER" <bobtyler at btinternet.com>
Cc: "F a r i" <dontzzzthroughit at yahoo.com>, cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Date: Saturday, 19 February, 2011, 12:30

I think this shows how difficult it will be to convince commercial radio companies to support any move to digital radio which makes them give up their places on the analogue spectrum to anyone else, including community radio. 

>From the article in Radio Today on 17 Feb (freshly written ans clearly not authored by DCMS) we can get the following:
~ Ed Vaizey had a meeting with almost 20 MPs from around the country
~ William Morris, Chief Exec of UKRD, was present and was delighted about the outcome of the meeting
~ at the meeting Ed Vaizey confirmed that the analogue spectrum would not be switched off [which we already knew]

I Googled and searched Twitter to find out:
1. MPs attending 
One of the MPs at the meeting was Elizabeth Truss, Conservative, MP for South West Norfolk. Her constituency includes a UKRD station (KL.FM radio in King's Lynn). She writes this in her February diary on her website:
"Digital Radio: Elizabeth, fellow MPs and representatives from UKRD Group (owner of KL.FM) met Ed Vaizey, Communications Minister, about the impact switching to digital radio will have on local radio stations like King’s Lynn’s KL.FM radio."
http://www.elizabethtruss.com/monthly-report/february-2011

I haven't found out who the other MPs were but if I were to search further, I might find this map useful:
http://www.ukrd.com/portfolio/

2. how Twitter spread the news:
The Radio Today article got some good publicity via Twitter: 
@MediaUKRadio 's tweet was sent out at 10.30 on 17th Feb:
" 
  Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off (Radio Today)http://muk.fm/141r #radionews #medianews "

@RadioToday 's own tweet was sent out at 10.37 same day and said: "  
  RadioToday.co.uk: Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off http://vry.gd/PQH "
Several people retweeted the latter almost immediately, including @thegriffo2011 who addressed it to more than twenty people/organisations over the next 20 hours. Nothing wrong with that, of course - it looks like very good news which should be shared widely....

But note the last tthree words in the intro of the article:
"Broadcast Minister Ed Vaizey has confirmed to a group of MP’s that the FM waveband will not be switched off and will remain as one of a number of multi platform transmission options for local commercial radio." [my emphasis]

----
So now what for community radio?
~ was your MP one of the almost 20 at the meeting? 
~ if you have a community radio station in a constituency which includes a commercial radio station belonging to a large and influential group, does your MP know all about YOU and what digital radio implementation would mean to you?
~ what does it take to get 20 MPs together with a Minister to present the community radio point of view and to get the meeting so widely publicised? 

No, I'm afraid this is not a case of sense trickling upwards, just some very clever spin to make it look like everyone is winning. 

Regardless of your views on other aspects of implementing digital radio, be very aware that if the implementation is delayed or scrapped as a result of strong campaigns like this, you can expect fewer not more opportunities for community radio on the dial. 

Cathy Aitchison
http://twitter.com/CathyAitchison

----------

ROBERT TYLER wrote: 

Be careful of this. This press release did not come from DCMS.

--- On Fri, 18/2/11, F a r i <dontzzzthroughit at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: F a r i <dontzzzthroughit at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off
To: "CMA-L" <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Date: Friday, 18 February, 2011, 13:23

Sense does trickle upwards, then.
Super news.

Fari sound

--- On Fri, 2/18/11, CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk> wrote:

From: CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Subject: [cma-l] Vaizey confirms no FM switch-off
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk, comradio-l at commedia.org.uk
Date: Friday, February 18, 2011, 8:39 AM

Source: http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.6750.5

Broadcast Minister Ed Vaizey has confirmed to a group of MP’s that the
FM waveband will not be switched off and will remain as one of a
number of multi platform transmission options for local commercial
radio.

He also confirmed that he was prepared to take a look at the recent
decision by Ofcom to limit licence renewal terms for local commercial
stations to just seven years.

He advised MP’s present that the 2015 switchover date will only
proceed if certain criteria are met and the listeners are clearly
behind the policy.

Almost twenty MP’s from across the UK met with the Minister, and the
Secretary of State who was also present, to express their concerns
about the implications of Government policy on local radio and
expressed strong support for their respective local stations and their
desire to see them prosper and flourish in the future.

The Minister confirmed that FM will remain as a broadcast platform for
years to come and also, in response to questioning from MP’s about the
recently imposed seven year licence term on commercial licence
renewals, agreed that he would review the matter and would welcome the
input of MP’s in reviewing this matter sometime in the next twelve
months or so.

William Rogers, Chief Executive of UKRD, said he was delighted with
the outcome of the meeting and expressed his thanks and appreciation
to all the MP’s who attended to press the case for “critically
important reviews” in key areas of policy.

“That the Minister has confirmed that FM will remain for years to
come, especially for those stations with no DAB future, is of course
welcome but what is also really helpful, and something we should all
welcome as an industry, was his open and constructive response to the
question raised by MP’s to review the length of licences for local
commercial stations which were in effect cut from 12 to 7 years in the
latest Ofcom review,” said Rogers.

“MP’s were encouraged to make representations on this matter and,
indeed, to even propose a policy position in this respect and we will
be working with them over the coming months to ensure that this issue
remains firmly on the Governments agenda of things that need to be
looked at again.”

“We need a dynamic and vibrant local radio sector with a bright and
genuinely multi-platform digital future. Of course DAB is one of many
such platforms but the prescriptive, poorly planned and inappropriate
imposition of this single platform simply gets in the way of what
consumer choice is all about.”

Source: http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.6750.5

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