[comradio-l] New round of Community Radio licensing

[Bill Best]

Ian

Many thanks for your feedback.

As a number of Ofcom representatives are subscribed to this mailing
list, your recommendations will have been conveyed to them.

Bear in mind that over the next four years to 2014/15, Ofcom has had
to reduce its total budget by 28.2 per cent in real terms. In a drive
to reshape and refocus the organisation, the majority of the cuts are
going to be made in year one:

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2011/03/ofcom-announces-budget-reduction-and-savings/

One noticeable effect of the budget restrictions on the community
radio licensing process is that there will be no regional community
radio workshops in this round.

Some other points to bear in mind about the Third Round:

· To be conducted on a region-by-region basis; regions are slightly
different to last round (e.g. Scotland and NI are separate this time).

· The first region is south-west England and Wales (16 weeks until the
closing date; the usual deadline will be 12 weeks after announcement).

· The list of areas where Ofcom cannot accept FM applications is
fairly extensive, and will or may be added to as applications are
invited from each region.

· The application form has been extensively revised with fewer
questions overall.

· Ofcom will ask applicants to draft their own ‘key commitments’ which
will form the basis of their licence should they be successful.

· Some sections of the application form will have word limits.

Hope that helps.  Keep in touch with news about the Third Round of
community radio licensing via this mailing list, the CMA website and
our social media presence.

Best regards

Bill Best
-- 
Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk/
http://twitter.com/community_media
http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation

Canstream Internet Radio & Video
http://www.canstream.co.uk/

On 1 April 2011 13:17, Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> This is a certainly a welcome announcement but in my view would trigger
> several points where action is required of existing and prospective
> licence-holders and hence of the CMA:
>
> 1 - This programme is far too lengthy and must be drastically shortened by
> the employment by Ofcom of more staff to cope with the clear and obvious
> demand for licences. Applicants in SE England - where demand is very high -
> have to wait for a totally impractical 3 years before they know if they even
> have a chance.
> 2 - We should strongly contest Ofcom's assertion about there being no
> available FM frequencies in a large number of areas. Those of us on the
> ground that deal with this problem contuinually know that it is simply not
> true and is indicative of Ofcom neither having the manpower nor the
> motivation from above to change the suituation. It is far from irrelevant
> that hundreds of illegal broadcasters are not taken out of operation because
> they are not actively interfering with licensed operators and are hence
> occupying a channel usable by a new broadcaster.
> 3 - We should capitalise on the reported statement of Ofcom's Head of
> Broadcast Licensing and make it very clear to him that while his words
> are welcome, he needs to back them up with an immediate and very substantial
> funding scheme for existing and incoming broadcasters who are all
> struggling and are seen to be falling in number month by month.
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Ian Hickling
> Partner
>
> transplan UK
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
>> Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 10:45:09 +0100
>> To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk; comradio-l at commedia.org.uk
>> Subject: [cma-l] Ofcom launches new round of community radio licensing
>>
>> Ofcom has today opened the door to a fresh intake of applications for
>> community radio licences. This comes in response to significant
>> interest expressed by more than 270 individuals and community groups
>> wanting to take to the air and provide services for their local
>> community.
>>
>> Community radio stations typically cover a small geographical area
>> with a coverage radius of up to 5km and are run on a not-for-profit
>> basis. They reflect a diverse mix of cultures and interests. For
>> example, you can listen to stations which cater for urban or
>> experimental music, while others are aimed at younger people,
>> religious communities or the Armed Forces and their families.
>>
>> This is the third wave of licensing since the first community radio
>> station took to the airwaves in 2005. Since then, a new community
>> radio station has launched, on average, every 10 days. To date, 228
>> community radio licences have been issued and around 11 million people
>> are now able to tune into community radio stations across the UK. This
>> figure is up 17% year-on-year and an increase of more than a third
>> (36%) since 2008.
>>
>> Ofcom Director of Radio Content and Broadcast Licensing, Peter Davies,
>> said: “Over the past six years community radio stations have provided
>> a voice for hundreds of local communities across the UK. Our postbag
>> has been inundated with a high level of interest for new licences,
>> which gives a strong indication of the likely level of demand in this
>> licensing round.”
>>
>> Applications process
>> ++++++++++++++++
>> Applications for new licences will open on a region by region basis,
>> starting today with Wales and south west England. There are seven
>> regions in total. Scotland is second in the process, with applications
>> opening before the end of 2011. This will be followed by Northern
>> Ireland in the first half of 2012 and then four English regions – one
>> every six months – that finish with the South East (see table below).
>>
>> Potential applicants should note that there are large parts of the UK
>> where there are no suitable FM frequencies available. This is mainly
>> in major towns and cities.
>>
>> Small scale radio is highly valued
>> +++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> Recent Ofcom research reveals that these stations are highly valued by
>> listeners, offering unique benefits that cannot be delivered through
>> other media. According to listeners, being informed and keeping
>> up-to-date is one of the most useful things about small scale local
>> radio stations. They are the preferred source for local information,
>> with 8 out of 10 listeners tuning into their local radio station first
>> before any other media to find out what is going on in their local
>> area.
>>
>> Regions and timetable:
>> +++++++++++++++++
>> 1 South west England and Wales
>> Open: Friday 1 April 2011
>> Close: Thursday 21 July 2011
>> 2 Scotland
>> Open: End of 2011
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>> 3 Northern Ireland
>> Open: First half 2012
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>> 4 Northeast England and Cumbria
>> Open: Second half 2012
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>> 5 Yorkshire and the Humber and the north west of England
>> Open: First half 2013
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>> 6 West Midlands, East Midlands (including Lincolnshire) and the east
>> of England
>> Open: Second half 2013
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>> 7 South east England
>> Open: First half 2014
>> Close: 3 months after opening date
>>
>> The full statement is available here:
>>
>> http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radio-broadcast-licensing/community-radio/apply-for-licence/
>>
>> Source:
>> http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2011/04/01/ofcom-launches-new-round-of-community-radio-licensing/
>>
>> \\
>>
>> Community Media Association
>> --
>> http://www.commedia.org.uk/
>> http://twitter.com/community_media
>> https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
>> Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/