OWNERSHIP OF THE UK RADIO INDUSTRY

The Office of Communications commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition

authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries in the UK. They have overuling

judement of the UK Radio stations.It has a duty to represent the interests of the public, by promoting competition and protecting the public from

harmful or offensive material in these industries.

OFCOM

Ofcom's duties are to examine specific complaints by listeners of UK radio, about programmes broadcast on the stations that it has licenced. It does not oversee unlicensed stations broadcast to UK listeners. When Ofcom receives a radio complaint, it asks the broadcaster for a copy of the

programme, it then reviews the specific radio programme’s content to see if it is in breach of the radio broadcasting

code. Ofcom requests response from the broadcaster to the complaint and so, Ofcom will mark the complaint as either ‘upheld’ or ‘not upheld’, or alternatively simply ‘resolved’

dependent upon their response.

It also helps protect the radio spectrum from abuse nationally, (from stations such as pirate radio stations.)

WHAT THEY DO FOR RADIO:

National Radio is radio that which is broadcast and can be received nationally through conventional broadcasting

techniques (not internet only for example.) Their ability to broadcast nationally proves that these stations notably have the largest audience listening to their stations, mainly due

to the vast area they cover in comparison to regional stations, but also as the stations have built up reputations

within the industry across the years, fundamentally proving their places as national radio broadcasters in the UK.

WHAT IS NATIONAL RADIO?

As shown in my previous post, within the UK, the BBC, responsible for Britain’s National radio services isn’t privately run.

Everyone in the UK who watches or records TV programmes at the same as they are shown on TV pays the Government for a TV licence annually.

Part of the cost of the license is spent on the BBC Radio sector. This means that the BBC can’t broadcast advertisements as it gains its funding

for the radio sector from this license, and so it isn’t ‘owned’ specifically by one person as it is a publically funded service.

This ensures that the service will never become privatised and as long as a licence fee is being collected, its services, including its vital national

radio stations will remain under public ownership.However, although it’s publically funded, there is a Royal Charter

document that first allowed the BBC to exist, as it changed the body running/owning it from a collection of individuals into a single legal

entity. Once incorporated by Royal Charter, amendments to the Charter and by-laws require government approval.

THE NATIONAL BBC RADIO

It guarantees the BBC’s independence and provides a framework for what the BBC does, due to there not being one

definitive owner (somewhat a constitutional basis for the BBC,) but most importantly, it outlines what the BBC needs to do to serve the public

effectively (its ‘public purposes’.)This therefore means that its radio services main goal is to serve the

public interest. It must remain ‘independent in all matters concerning

the content of its output, the times and manner in which this is supplied, and in the management of its affairs.’

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER DO?

As the BBC exists to serve the public, its mission is to inform, educate and entertain them. Due to the BBC’s National Radio

Stations being publically owned, it requires a body of management within the service to ensure the highest quality service is provided

for the public. Therefore, The BBC Trust exists –it is the governing body of the BBC, that ensures the BBC delivers that

mission.Their jobs are to essentially get the best out of the BBC Radio for licence fee payers and ensure, even though there is no individual

ownership of the company, that its radio quality is great.The Trust governs each BBC radio service with a service

licence. If the BBC Executive Board wishes to make any change to the stated commitments within the service licence, this must be

approved by the Trust.

WHO OWNS IT THEN?

The BBC Executive Board, chaired by the Director General, is responsible for the overall operational management of

the BBC with priorities laid down by Trust. The Board member directly concerned with radio is Helen Boaden,

thus she has overall responsibility for BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and the BBC digital radio stations 1Xtra, 6Music, BBC Radio 4 Extra, and Asian Network (all the network and

digital channels as well as the Radio Drama, BBC Proms and audio across TV and radio. )

THE BBC EXECUTIVE BOARD

Therefore the BBC has an obvious monopoly over the radio stations broadcast nationally within the UK, however, there are other nationally

broadcast radio stations that which are owned by individual radio or media based companies.

These include, Bauer Radio that owns that nationally broadcast stations:- Absolute radio,- Kiss FM- Planet rock

And Global Radio that owns the national stations:- Classic FM- LBC Radio

- Radio X

OTHER NATIONAL STATIONS?

I agree that the BBC National Radio Stations should be owned by the Public, and disagree with those that aren’t,

such as LBC Radio. If these stations are granted the importance of national broadcasting, surely the audience

should have at least part ownership of the stations, to ensure that the profits being made by these stations are

being returned back into the National Radio Industry rather than being spent on things we do not have control over, that aren't in fact securing the future of the industry or

helping it progress further either.

MY VIEWS ON THIS OWNERSHIP

Regional radio stations are radio stations available in specific areas or geographical

regions of the country only.- They are not broadcast nationally, but do

usually cover a very large geographical region within the UK.

- Like National Stations, Regional stations are usually commercial ones (driven by profit)

and so, are normally owned by major media corporations or companies.

- Some regional stations are a collection of smaller regional stations that broadcast a

mixture of specific content for each smaller station, in conjunction with other content that is used by all the stations within the

region.

REGIONAL RADIO STATIONS

Global Radio is a British media company formed in 2007. They owns

a large number of commercial Regional Radio Stations in the UK. They own many as a result of the

buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act of 1990,

meaning they could purchase and own more regional radio stations

across the country.

SO WHO OWNS THEM?

- Capital (a radio network of eleven individual regional hit radio stations )- Heart (a

regional radio network of 21 contemporary stations )

- -Classic FM- Smooth FM- LBC- Gold- Juice FM

The company bought other, smaller radio companies such Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio and now owns radio giants in the regional radio industry such as:

Celador is a global entertainment company that owns the regional stations: The Breeze Network

radio and the SAM FM Radio stations. Paul Smith CBE, is Chairman of Celador Entertainment

Limited which is the umbrella company for Celador Radio, Celador Films, and the companies other

ventures.

CELADOR

This company exposes the media industry becoming fragmented through poor ownership. As a result of the BBC

still monopolising national radio, many regional radio stations are owned by companies that have ownership in

other media, technology or entertainment areas. Thus, this is reflective that the Radio industry is no longer being driven by a love of music, or technology, but profit and

income. The companies have to have other areas that which they have ownership/business in, otherwise they wouldn’t

make enough to money to continue on as company, as regional radio is reliant upon advertisement revenue, not

consistent government funding, meaning the profit they aim to make could be considered unreliable. Therefore, this

means that the ownership of different regional radio stations will be changed and restructured very often in

comparison to that of national or community radio.

WHAT DOES THIS OWNERSHIP MEAN?

Local radio stations only broadcast to specific, small local areas, not regionally or

nationally. Most counties in the UK will have their own local radio stations, which

many listeners will prefer as they will provide more accurate content to their

geographical area than the national service they can listen to. As a result of the

buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act of 1990, and deregulation

resulting from the Communications Act 2003, most local stations are now neither

independent nor locally owned.

LOCAL RADIO

BBC LOCAL RADIO

An example of this is the BBC Local radio services. Although collectively it is

classed as a regional service, the individual, 40

stations are local ones. Each station produces most of their own programmes, however, some off-peak

programming is produced from one regional station

and is used by all BBC Local Radio stations in that

region.

These individual local stations are evidently owned by the national BBC. As it is

owned by a national company the BBC Local

Radio stations, often faces large budget constraints as in comparison to the rest of

the company, local radio isn’t a top priority or profit

maker.

MORE ON THE BBC LOCAL STATIONS

It surprised me to learn that the BBC had such a monopoly over the Local Radio industry in the UK in addition to

National Radio too. They have stations nationwide, from BBC Radio Cornwall to BBC Radio Sheffield, from BBC

Radio Manchester to BBC Radio Bristol therefore, it means smaller local radio stations, such as Isle of Wight Radio, broadcasting to the Isle of Wight are having its audience

challenged daily by a nationally run corporation. This means that listeners may prefer to listen to a well trusted,

nationally owned station, rather than a local one which may be branded mistakenly as unprofessional or of a lower quality of content, which is wrong. It further justifies the point that the BBC are monopolising the Radio industry,

one sector at a time, proving it is no longer about music or entertainment, but money.

THE BBC HAS A MONOPOLY!

Is an example of a local radio station, owned via a merger, with the

company Media Sound Holdings. The merger involves the Isle of Wight

Radio's shareholders taking shares in Media Sound Holdings and vice versa, so that the merged company

has ownership over the Isle of Wight Radio station. It had previously been

independently owned, and there were even successful buyouts of the company by management in August 2009, fighting to keep the station

independently owned, but the above mentioned merger in 2012 meant it

is now not independently run.

The company Media Sound Holdings also owns other UK local radio stations,

Splash FM and Bright FM

ISLE OF WIGHT RADIO

Digital Radio Stations are those accessible to listen to via a digital signal. The UK currently has the world's biggest

digital radio network, broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC stations across the UK. DAB radio stations in

the United Kingdom are broadcast on a number of frequency blocks on VHF Band III. Most UK radio stations

have a DAB sector attached to them, broadcasting their same content that they do usually via FM or online

broadcasting, via DAB too. There are also nevertheless DAB ONLY Stations, that only broadcast via this format.

DAB/DIGITAL RADIO

Regional, local and national licenses are awarded by OFCOM for digital radio broadcasting. Ensembles of

existing stations formed together by companies, compete for national licenses to broadcast their stations on the DAB

platform, given by OFCOM, when it advertises.The UK has 2 DAB ensembles and 48 independent and

regional ensembles that broadcast DAB ensembles are groups of DAB

broadcasters, transmitting multiple digital radio channels on a single transmission.

DAB AND OFCOM

How it works: In each area, a number of stations are broadcast together in something called a ‘multiplex’. The

multiplex operator holds a license and builds a transmitter network. This operator then contracts with lots of different radio stations to broadcast on its platform. As the multiplex

operator pays for the running of the entire multiplex, the radio stations pay a carriage fee to the operator, for them

to carry their station and to help cover their costs.

HOW IT WORKS (MULTIPLEXES)

Digital One is a national commercial digital

radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva.

As of March 2010, the multiplex covers more than 90% of the population via DAB from a total of 137

transmitters. Via OFCOM licensing, it carries the stations: Classic FM,

Talksport Radio and many others in a DAB format.

DIGITAL ONE

The BBC also broadcasts its national stations on digital radio, including Radio 6 Music, 1Xtra, Radio 4 Extra, 5 live

sports extra and the Asian Network on DAB.

THE BBC DAB

Two companies operate regional multiplexes in the UK

– MXR Digital and SwitchDigital.

MXR operates a regional multiplex in Yorkshire. They

are owned by a consortium of media companies including

Global Radio, Real & Smooth and Arqiva.

REGIONAL MULTIPLEXES

They broadcast stations including: Capital Yorkshire, Heart London., Gold, Choice FM and many others in DAB format.

Switchdigital is responsible for the regional multiplex in Central Scotland. It is owned by UTV Radio and the

Carphone Warehouse. Although the multiplex is in Scotland, the majority of the stations it carries are in England

SWITCHDIGITAL

Switchdigital’s London II multiplex broadcasts the following stations:

Amazing RadioJazz FMKerrang!LBC London NewsPanjab Radio

There are a number of local multiplex operators in the UK. These include:

UTV DAB, which is responsible for a number of local digital radio multiplexes across the country. They work with stations who wish to broadcast on DAB to one of their

areas, including central Scotland, London II, Swansea and Stoke on Trent, for example,

LOCAL MULTIPLEXES

UTV’s Bradford & Huddersfield multiplex broadcasts the following stations:Asian SoundCapitalHeart YorkshirePulse 1Radio YorkshireSunrise Radio

This proves that those who own the multiplexes that carry the DAB Broadcasting of the stations are more powerful

and important in the hierarchy than the owner of the actual radio stations. They can dictate whether or not to carry

their station and so, decide whether it can be available on this innovative platform. It means that the ownership of the technology required to broadcast is superior to that of the

stations, when concerning DAB Radio.

WHAT DOES THIS PROVE ABOUT OWNERSHIP?

It surprised me that the majority of companies that are in consortiums for DAB Multiplexes, own the non-DAB

broadcasting the station does too. I assumed that the two would be separated and owned by different people,

however the industry clearly has ownership overlaps, which could be perceived positively as it means there’s less

conflict in DAB broadcasting, however many would say it limits jobs and progression in the industry, when their

ownership does overlap.

MY VIEWS CONTINUED

Community radio stations are non-profit radio stations, that cover a geographical radius of up to 5km with its broadcasting. Usually they’re

targeted at whole communities but can however be for different areas of interest too - such as a particular ethnic group, age group or interest group. It is useful as the stations are able to

reflect a diverse mixture of interests and cultures within a specific area in an audible and effortless

way.  Community stations typically provide 81 hours of original and distinctive content a week,

with the majority of it being locally produced.On average, according to a BBC survey, stations

operate with 74 volunteers who together give around 214 hours of their time a week.

COMMUNITY RADIO

Community radio licences can be provided by OFCOM, to registered companies only, not individuals. Also, no company or organisation can hold more than one community radio licence, which shows there are

restrictions on ownership between commercial and community radio.

Although they are licensed by the government run OFCOM, any profit made by these stations has to be used for

securing or improving the future broadcasting of the radio service or sometimes it can be used to fund social

gain/community benefits to that specific station's target community.

WHO LICENCES THEM?

Angel Radio is a designated non-profit making radio station on the Isle of Wight and is an example of a community radio

station. It has around 30,000 listeners. A permanent full-time licence and a five-year community licence was granted

for Angel Radio Isle of Wight in 2006, the seventh such licence to be issued in the UK by OFCOM. It declares that

the station cannot accept advertising or professional sponsorship so the running costs (the licence fees alone

costs £5,500 each year) are met entirely by donations and grants from its listeners and other sources.

ANGEL RADIO IOW

All the music Angel Radio plays is also donated, many from old record

collections! Each old 78, 33 or 45 has been put on a turntable and recorded in real time onto mini disc and catalogued

by the station’s volunteer librarian, meaning there are about 130,000 songs

in the library for presenters to use.It’s co-managed by Chris Gutteridge and

Bev Webster, who have done so since 1999 raising funds, attending meetings,

and completing forms to keep the station on air as only the local East

Cowes Town Council have given them donations for running costs.

CHRIS AND BEV

Internet only radio stations are generally amateur run radio stations, broadcast solely on an online platform. As a result of this, these stations aren’t owned by large companies and don’t have their small scale ownership overruled by those that own the machines that broadcast the station, as it is

only via Wi-Fi and online.The stations are either Live Streamed via Wi-Fi/internet…

Or uploaded online in a podcast format, so they aren’t listened to live but instead can be listened to whenever

suits the listener (thus, this ensures its target audience can be achieved easier.)

INTERNET ONLY

Internet only radio stations are reliant upon a reliable Wi-Fi signal to broadcast upon. This means the majority of the

stations are owned by one individual person who records, presents and broadcasts the show. Internet radio stations

rarely feature advertisements due to strict advertising regulations in the UK, therefore there isn’t a need for a

large networked ownership of these stations as they aren’t achieving profit from advertisements within their

broadcast. Therefore, there isn’t an issue surrounding their ownership, as most stations are produced by those with a

love of music, or, simply due to a lack of equipment or costs to start up a local radio station.

WHO OWNS THEM?

An RSL (Restricted Service License) is granted to radio stations that have the intention to serve the local community for a limited time, or during a special event. They are granted by OFCOM and generally last for a maximum of 28 consecutive days and can only

be applied for twice in twelve months (with four month intervals in between two broadcasts at least.) They are normally used to trial a

radio project, in preparation for an application for a permanent license from OFOCM, or can be used for special events, sporting

events, student radio or hospital radio stations too.

RSL RADIO

An example of an RSL radio station is Worthy FM, which is broadcast for one week only

during The Glastonbury Festival. It features interviews, music, traffic updates, camping

availability and more and is run by a team of roughly 30 volunteers.

Although it is broadcast upon the site of the festival, the long standing volunteers who run it technically own the station, as it is

only for event and entertainment information, therefore won’t generate a

large profit, as it is mainly for entertainment only, so no large ownership is required.

OFCOM has the right to rebuke or take away any RSL license if they feel it is being

misused, therefore, they have legal ownership over which RSL stations

broadcast and which don’t.

WORTHY FM