Analogue Commercial Radio Licence: Format Change Request Form

Transcription

1 Analogue Commercial Radio Licence: Format Change Request Form Date of request: 8 May 2017 Station Name: 107 Jack FM Licensed area and licence number: Reading AL000273BA/3 Licensee: Celador Radio Ltd Contact name: Paul Smith Details of requested change(s) to Format Character of Service Complete this section if you are requesting a change to this part of your Format Existing Character of Service: Proposed new Character of Service: Programme sharing and/or co-location arrangements Complete this section if you are requesting a change to this part of your Format Current arrangements: Studio location: Locally-made programming must be produced within the licensed area. Programme sharing: No Arrangements Proposed new arrangements: Studio location: Locally-made programming must be produced within the licensed areas of Basingstoke (AL100745), Newbury (AL256), Andover (AL317) or Reading (AL273). Programme sharing: All programmes may be shared between the Basingstoke licence (AL100745), the Newbury licence (AL256), the Andover licence (AL317) and the Reading licence (AL273), subject to satisfying the character of service requirements above.

2 Locally-made hours and/or local news bulletins Complete this section if you are requesting a change to this part of your Format Current obligations: Locally made hours: At least 10 hours a day during daytime weekdays (must include Breakfast). At least 4 hours daytime Saturdays and Sundays. Local news bulletins: Hourly at peaktime weekdays and weekends. Outside peak, UK-wide, national and international news should feature. Proposed new obligations: Locally made hours: At least 7 hours a day during daytime weekdays (must include Breakfast). At least 4 hours daytime Saturdays and Sundays. Local news bulletins: At least hourly during weekday daytime and at peaktime weekends. UK-wide, national and international news should feature at other times. The holder of an analogue local commercial radio licence may apply to Ofcom to have the station s Format amended. Any application should be made using the layout shown on this form, and should be in accordance with Ofcom s published procedures for Format changes (available on our website at ) Under section 106(1A) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (as amended), Ofcom may consent to a change of a Format only if it is satisfied that at least one of the following five statutory criteria is satisfied: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) that the departure would not substantially alter the character of the service; that the departure would not narrow the range of programmes available by way of relevant independent radio services to persons living the area or locality for which the service is licensed to be provided; that the departure would be conducive to the maintenance or promotion of fair and effective competition that there is evidence that, amongst persons living in that area or locality, there is a significant demand for, or significant support for, the change that would result from the departure; or that (i) the departure would result from programmes included in the licensed service ceasing to be made at premises in the area or locality for which the service is provided, but (ii) those programmes would continue to be made wholly or partly at premises within the approved area (as defined in section 314 of the Communications Act 2003 (local content and character of services)).

3 Only one of these five criteria need be satisfied in order for Ofcom to consent to the proposed change. However, even if Ofcom is of the opinion that the proposed change satisfies one or more of the statutory criteria, there may be reasons (depending on the particular circumstances of the case) why Ofcom may not consent to the proposed change. The additional criteria to which Ofcom will have regard when exercising this discretion can be found at: ) Applicants should note that, under section 106ZA of the same Act (as amended), a proposed change that does not satisfy the first or last of these criteria (i.e. a change that Ofcom considers would or could substantially alter the character of the service, or does not relate to the origin of locally-made programmes) must, if it is to be considered further under any of the other three criteria, be consulted upon. #. In the event that Ofcom receives a request for Format change and considers that criterion (a) or (e) is not satisfied, it will seek confirmation from the applicant as to whether it wishes to proceed with the request (and, if so, whether it wishes to amend or replace its submission in light of the necessity to make it public). Please set out the statutory criterion, or criteria, set out in section 106(1A) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 that you believe is/are satisfied in relation to this Format change request, and the reasons for this: (a) Our proposal would not in any way alter the character of the service. 107 Jack FM would remain a locally oriented broad music and information station for year olds in the Reading area. In particular, the station will benefit from the same commitment to local news and information that all Celador stations carry. Local news bulletins, produced specifically for Reading, will run weekdays and weekends, with local headlines on the half-hour during weekday breakfast. Additionally, split links specifically for 107 Jack FM will include other local information, including weather, travel, sports news and what s ons. Given our commitment to providing an enhanced local news service, we are also requesting that the hours of locally-produced programming (defined as coming from the regional broadcast centre in Basingstoke) be reduced from 10 to 7, in line with Ofcom s published policy in its Localness Guidelines issued in September (b) Since the character of the service will remain unchanged, the range of programme services available from local independent radio in Reading will also remain unchanged. In both its music and speech content, as well as its commitment to localness for Reading, 107 Jack FM will remain clearly distinct from its competitors. (c) As we detail below, the principal reason for this request is to protect the financial viability of 107 Jack FM for the remainder of its licence term and beyond. Currently, the commercial radio market in Reading is dominated, in terms of both audience and local revenue, by Heart. 107 Jack FM cannot compete effectively while it remains financially insecure and lacks the resources to maintain a high quality service, let alone market itself and build its audience. The cost savings that will result from the co-location of, and programme sharing with, the other Celador stations in the Thames Valley approved area will ensure the long-term sustainability of the service and thereby promote more effective competition in the provision of local commercial radio in the area.

4 (e) Reading is in the same approved area as Basingstoke, where programming will originate. The Basingstoke service already has co-location and programme sharing arrangements with the Newbury and Andover services, which are also in the same approved area. Please provide any additional information and/or evidence in support of the proposed change(s) below. In particular, the applicant may wish to outline how they see that the proposed change fits within Ofcom s published Format change request policy and also Ofcom s Localness guidance, which includes our co-location and programme sharing policy. Celador Radio completed the acquisition of 107 Jack FM on 8 May Jack FM is a loss-making service, and we need to make urgent cost savings to begin to turn the business around. Management accounts (available to Ofcom on request) show that, in the year to March 2017, Jack made a net loss of just under 51k some 20k worse than budget, and over 6k worse than the previous year. Jack FM currently occupies premises within the Madejski Stadium, the home of Reading FC. The terms of its lease were drawn up when the radio station and football club were both under common ownership. With both entities having since changed hands, there is the potential for Jack FM to incur crippling additional costs the longer it stays in its current premises. We need to vacate the Madejski Stadium as a matter of urgency, and so we would be grateful for Ofcom s assistance in approving this request as swiftly as possible. Notes # Ofcom may approve a change under any of criteria (b) to (d) without consultation, or after a consultation of less than 28 days, if Ofcom considers that to hold a consultation at all, or for 28 days or more, would result in a delay that would be likely to prejudice the interests of the licensee. Ofcom may also remove for the purposes of consultation any confidential information submitted by the licensee. Version 6 amended April 2010 Background to the Decision The local commercial radio licence for Reading, broadcasting as 107 Jack FM, was recently transferred from Reading Broadcasting Company Ltd to Celador Radio Ltd ( Celador ). Celador has requested the following changes to the Format of the licence: To share all local programming hours with the Andover, Basingstoke and Newbury licences (which all broadcast as The Breeze), with a view to the Reading licence also becoming part of The Breeze network. To co-locate the Reading licence at Basingstoke, but also to obtain permissions to co-locate the Reading licence in the licensed areas of Andover and Newbury.

5 To reduce the required number of local programming hours on weekdays from ten to seven per day. To provide local news bulletins at least hourly throughout daytime on weekdays. The current Format requirement for local news on weekdays is at least hourly at peaktime (defined by Ofcom as being breakfast and afternoon drivetime). Every FM local commercial radio service is required to broadcast a certain amount of locally-made programming, which is specified in its Format. Locally-made programmes are those made within a station s licensed area or, where Ofcom has approved a wider area relating to that station, that Approved Area 1. The Approved Area relating to all of the licensed services involved in this request is Thames Valley. This request would change the character of service as set out in the Format of the Andover licence, and accordingly can be agreed only if Ofcom is satisfied in regard to one of the statutory criteria set out in section 106(1A) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (as set out above). If we are satisfied in relation to one of the statutory criteria, we are then able to decide whether or not to approve the request, taking account of our published policy criteria 2. Decision Co-location and programme sharing We first considered Celador s request for the Reading licence to co-locate are and share its programming with the Andover, Basingstoke and Newbury licences, noting that all the stations involved in the request are located in the Thames Valley Approved Area. With regard to the co-location aspect of the request, Ofcom was satisfied in relation to section 106(1A)(e) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, on the basis that the change requested, if approved, would result from programmes included in the licensed service ceasing to be made at premises in the area or locality for which the service is provided, but that those programmes will continue to be made wholly or partly at premises within the Thames Valley Approved Area. With regard to Celador s request to share all local programme hours with the Andover, Basingstoke and Newbury licences, Ofcom was satisfied in relation to section 106(1A)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, that the departure would not substantially alter the character of the service. In reaching this view we were cognisant of the cultural affinities between Reading and the other three licence areas, and the fact that the key local material strands local news, sport, weather, travel and what s on information will continue to be delivered on a bespoke basis by the Reading licensee using split link technology. Ofcom has previously said that we are likely to consent to co-location and/or programme sharing requests where the stations concerned are located in the same Approved Area, provided we are satisfied that the stations involved will continue to data/assets/pdf_file/0024/87405/the-regulation-of-format-changes.pdf

6 provide local material relevant to the listeners in their individual licensed areas, as is the case in this instance. Changes to local hours and local news provision Second, we considered Celador s request to reduce the hours of local output on weekdays (from ten to seven per day) but to simultaneously increase the local news requirement from peaktime to daytime. In relation to this aspect of Celador s request, we were satisfied in relation to section 106(1A)(a) that the departure would not substantially alter the character of the service on the grounds that the increase in networked programming would be offset by the increase in provision of bespoke of local news content for the Reading area. We then decided to agree this aspect of the request because it is consistent with our policy on local news, as set out in our published localness guidelines 3. Summary Ofcom decided to approve the various elements of the Format change request from the Reading licensee because in each case it was satisfied in relation to one of the relevant statutory criteria, and for the policy reasons outlined above. July Available at