By: Luke
Plymouth question Ofcom’s taste in music…
Something about radio licencing seems dodgy.
Firstly, there’s one being issued every other day - community licences, restricted licences, digital licences, FM licences. You only have to blink and Ofcom seems to have sent out a release telling the world that they have issued another radio licence to someone or other on the basis that they will deliver massive amounts ‘public value’ through a heady mix of good vibes and local news.
Secondly, the bidding process sometimes seems to pit nickel and dime operations against billion dollar global media players - with Ofcom acting as judge and jury as to who is best placed to deliver services to the ever dwindling audience for radio. I would love to be a fly on the wall at the meetings where they discuss these highly subjective decisions - e.g. ’should it be Iron Maiden or Vivaldi for Milton Keynes?’
Anyway, this charade seems to have gone pretty smoothly up until now. But with the recently awarded new FM licence in Plymouth going to Diamond FM - a rock station owned by Australian bank Macquarie (they also own Arqiva and Red Bee Media - notice the synergies) - it seems the regulator may finally have pushed its luck. According to reports, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce have written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport asking her to intervene and reverse Ofcom’s decision.
In the letter the Chamber of Commerce apparently say that Ofcom’s decision to green light Diamond FM, “has provoked astonishment and anger, way beyond the boundaries of this city”. They claim that there has been almost no support for Diamond FM in Plymouth yet the company it beat out four other bidders - three of which were based locally in Devon.
On this point the letter says -
“[Macquarie] has no local connections, no local directors or investors and submitted a formulaic application which was virtually identical to a losing bid they made for the Swansea licence last year…The local applicants … have been arrogantly dismissed in favour of a cloned application by an international bank, based on the other side of the world. It beggars belief…”
It will be interesting to see how all of this develops. I suspect that the Secretary of State can not intervene - in order to ensure that there is no political interference in licensing decisions. However local Conservative MP, Gary Streeter, tabled two questions yesterday, and we will keep an eye out for the answers -
Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon): To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the recent decision by the Office of Communication to award the new FM radio contract for Plymouth to Diamond FM, an Australian based company in preference to bids from local companies; and whether she intends to intervene.
Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon): To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what powers she has to set aside or award decisions made by the Office of Communications on the awarding of FM radio contracts.
Mar 17th 2006
Has radio licensing ever been anything but dodgy?
It’s just that much MORE dodgy in an era in which spectrum continues to be allocated according to eighty-year-old technological assumptions and continued and pervasive commercial consolidation.
Mar 17th 2006
The Chamber of Commerce in Plymouth are claiming they speak for every business in the city on this issue - which, if true, makes you think that it’s going to be a bit tricky for Diamond FM to get local businesses to advertise on the station!
Apr 11th 2006
Ironically, the Plymouth decision is actually one of the less perverse that Ofcom has made. The reaction is pure xenophobia, and entirely misses the point that Parliament, not Ofcom, decided to let overseas companies hold UK radio licences.
Apr 18th 2006
I think it is a good thing that diamond fm has won. I’ve spent a lot of time in Australia and the quality of output there kicks ass over any UK station. The presenters are fun and the as for the music, much better than pop pop and more pop..Well done diamond!!
Apr 18th 2006
Excellant news Diamond. At last a station for rock lovers!!
Apr 18th 2006
Everybody needs to get of their high horse. Lets think about the output of the sation for once. At last we will have REAL music in Plymouth. Diamond FM will ROCK!
Apr 18th 2006
Plymouth Sound isnt much of a local station anyway, half of the output is networked from london or bristol, at least Diamond will bring radio back into Plymouth. So what if its backed by an aussie company, maybe thats a good thing, sounds like they are going to pump a lot of money into it. Good on em’
Apr 25th 2006
It’s only a contraversial decision because the “local” applicants (one of which is UTV radio from, er, Belfast) don’t seem to have read the licence applications very stringently. To me, Ofcom seem to have applied the stated rules pretty fairly - particualrly as Plymouth already has four existing or forthcoming mainstream radio stations to which the new station has to offer something different.
Aug 8th 2006
how long do you think diamond will broadcast exclusively from Plymouth? The company has expressed a desire to roll out across the uk. It is only a matter of time until most of the programming is networked. Afterall why pay 10 or 20 broadcasters to broadcast essentially the same thing all over the country
Oct 19th 2006
I think Your Radio / Plymouth Live should of got the licence!
Jan 10th 2007
Well that didn’t last long did it. What a waste of time. Part of an article from the Guardian in Oct.
“Australian investment bank Macquarie may be seeking to exit the UK radio market before even launching its new station in Plymouth and has explored a possible sale.”
Selling it before they have even started. No one has heard of them since winning.
Lets have a local station for local people. Give Radio Plymouth the license. Their application was way above the rest!