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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">That opens up a whole bundle of worm cans - again.<br>
Why pray has " a run up to a (presumably digital) radio switchover" reared its ugly head again?<br>
Where/what is this<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;"> "<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif;">huge
administrative burden" imposed by licence renewal that impacts on " on stations that</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are already underfunded and diverts resources away from delivering </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the business of the station"?<br>
And what exactly do our dear friends at Radiocentre mean by ".....</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> community radio stations are </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">required
to provide social gain and are compliant with the regulatory </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">framework and key commitments they are obliged to deliver......”</span>.<br>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Are they alledging that we don't?</span></div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> cma-l-bounces@mailman.commedia.org.uk <cma-l-bounces@mailman.commedia.org.uk> on behalf of CMA-L <cma-l@commedia.org.uk><br>
<b>Sent:</b> 19 December 2017 18:15<br>
<b>To:</b> cma-l@commedia.org.uk<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [cma-l] DCMS Consultation on the Deregulation of Commercial Radio</font>
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<div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The DCMS response has now been published:</span></div>
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<div><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/commercial-radio-deregulation-consultation" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">https://www.gov.uk/government/<wbr>consultations/commercial-<wbr>radio-deregulation-<wbr>consultation</a><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">.</span><br>
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<div><b>Community Radio</b></div>
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<div>Q20. We would welcome views on whether the same arrangements for extending</div>
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<div>the duration of analogue commercial radio licences (see Q13) in the run up to a</div>
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<div>future radio switchover should also apply to community radio.</div>
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</blockquote>
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<div><b><br>
</b></div>
<div><b>Summary of consultation responses</b></div>
<div>109. The majority of respondents agreed that a flexible period should be introduced</div>
<div>for analogue licences leading up to switchover and this includes extending</div>
<div>licence durations. A small number of respondents did not agree with this</div>
<div>proposal, and a further small number of respondents offered additional</div>
<div>recommendations. Of those who supported the proposal, the respondents</div>
<div>consisted of service providers and organisations. Respondents said that</div>
<div>community radio should be treated equally and that these services should</div>
<div>also be given certainty leading up to a digital switchover.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>110. The Community Media Association, the representative body for the</div>
<div>community radio industry, welcomed the proposals to extend licences and</div>
<div>also argued for a longer fixed period in order to preserve resources:</div>
<div>“Licence renewal places a huge administrative burden on stations that</div>
<div>are already underfunded and diverts resources away from delivering</div>
<div>the business of the station. It is therefore only reasonable that the</div>
<div>length of community radio licences is extended to at least 8 years and</div>
<div>possibly up to the full 12 years permitted for local commercial analogue</div>
<div>radio stations.” [The Community Media Association]</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>111. However, some respondents disagreed with this proposal and said that the</div>
<div>current licensing system based on five year terms should remain for</div>
<div>community radio. The respondents included service providers and members</div>
<div>of the public. One respondent, citing the differences between commercial and</div>
<div>community radio, explained that licence extensions would not be appropriate</div>
<div>for community radio due to funding arrangements and their reliance on</div>
<div>volunteers. Some respondents also said that there should be a clear</div>
<div>distinction between commercial and community radio and therefore the<br>
</div>
<div>licensing system should not change.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>112. A further number of respondents suggested additional recommendations,</div>
<div>such as: community radio should be able to take up DAB carriage on the</div>
<div>relevant local multiplex, community radio licences should be synchronised by</div>
<div>area so that they expire at the same time, and community stations should be</div>
<div>free to be licensed as commercial services.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>113. While Radiocentre did not oppose further licence renewals for community</div>
<div>services, they did warn that:</div>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px; border:none; padding:0px">
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<div>“this should be on the requirement that community radio stations are</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>required to provide social gain and are compliant with the regulatory</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>framework and key commitments they are obliged to deliver”.</div>
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</blockquote>
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<div><br>
</div>
<div><b>Government response</b></div>
<div>114. The government will support all service providers leading up to a digital<br>
</div>
<div>switchover, and respondents have demonstrated that a flexible period in the</div>
<div>transition up to a switchover will be a welcome measure to the radio industry.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>115. Community radio has a different objective to commercial radio and offers a</div>
<div>meaningful contribution to the communities that they serve. While community</div>
<div>services are currently able to take up DAB carriage if they wish, the</div>
<div>introduction of small scale DAB will increase accessibility to the platform for</div>
<div>these services.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>116. We therefore believe it would be useful for Ofcom to be able to set flexible</div>
<div>periods for all analogue licences in the run up to a future switchover (subject</div>
<div>to the two-year notice period in s97A of the Broadcasting Act 1990), and</div>
<div>intend to introduce powers to be able to extend similar arrangements for</div>
<div>community radio services services in order to be able to smooth the process</div>
<div>of licenses expiring in the run up to a future radio switchover.</div>
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<div>Community Media Association</div>
<div>-- <br>
<a href="http://www.commedia.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.commedia.org.uk/</a><br>
<a href="http://twitter.com/community_media" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/community_media</a><br>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation</a><br>
<br>
Canstream Internet Radio & Video<br>
<a href="http://www.canstream.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.canstream.co.uk/</a><br>
<a href="https://twitter.com/canstream" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/canstream</a></div>
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