The Commercial Radio Deregulation consultation has been published today:
There are a number of outdated and burdensome regulations in place for analogue radio which were put in place back in the late 1980s, while digital radio enjoys much more freedom in comparison. Following a number of recommendations made by Ofcom, this consultation outlines our proposals for how we intend to deregulate commercial radio.
As the radio market is changing with more people move towards digital and online audio services, and as Ofcom’s scope to make further changes is limited by the current regulatory framework, the Government believes it is the right time to consider the overall regulatory structure for commercial radio.
We welcome comments from individuals and organisations involved in the commercial radio sector, including members of the public who hold an interest in commercial radio.
Put simply, Ofcom will no longer have to "secure provision within the United Kingdom of a diversity of national services, each catering for tastes and interests different from those catered for by the others, and a range and diversity of local services" - as per section 85 of the Broadcasting Act 1990.
The proposals include a new duty on Ofcom to secure the provision of news and other core information such as travel and weather, including stations on DAB from the date following a future digital switchover.
All other format requirements that apply to local and regional analogue licences will be scrapped, allowing stations to play whatever music they wish, and operators will no longer need studios within the TSA, meaning locally-relevant content can be produced centrally as long as journalists are retained in each of the existing editorial areas to source stories.
None of this is unexpected and it seems mostly sensible to me.
DAB and online are delivering a wider range of formats than ever before without regulation and stations are finding their niches (not just in terms of music but the overall content and feel/mood) to attract audiences.
With today's tech, except for newsgathering, local content can be produced to an equally high standard from afar and where the microphone or playout PC is located doesn't determine the quality.
There are, however, a couple of things I would question.
The government agrees with Ofcom's assessment that without any requirements for the provision of news, and especially local news, this type of content would be underprovided by the commercial market and therefore there is a need to secure local news requirements on DAB-only stations. We have identified two broad approaches:
- Option (a) extend the national and local news/core information requirements to DAB-only stations. This means they will have obligations to also carry either national or local news (as the case may) or core local information. For digital only stations on local multiplexes in particular, this would be a significant departure from the current position.
- Option (b) place obligations on local multiplex operators to ensure that a proportion of stations (based broadly on current provision) carry local news services with the number set by Ofcom as part of their local news requirements.
One thing that has changed massively over the years is how well radio stations understand their audiences.
It is simply not true to suggest that stations always do the bare minimum. If research suggests something is of strong importance to listeners, why would they not provide it when doing so clearly makes business sense?
That said, if left to the market without regulation, can we honestly say that every part of the UK would enjoy a trustworthy local news service?
Sure - outside of radio, where there is consumer demand and support from organisations, online community resource hubs will emerge; but do they have the stamina and integrity to carry the torch?
Option A goes against the whole deregulation ethos and would likely be counterproductive - discouraging new services for whom news doesn't fit the format and/or would be financially unsustainable, therefore negatively impacting choice.
As for Option B, it was never intended that multiplex operators would influence programming in this way and such responsibility shouldn't be in the hands of a non-regulatory body which is merely a distributor.
As well as the issue of conflicting ownership of a number of muxes by competing radio groups, existing carriage arrangements and contractual obligations mean it is unlikely that there would be any legal basis for the imposition of news provision requirements anyway.
Is the fairest option for there to be a revenue threshold, whereby licences with bespoke local advertising have to provide relevant news/information?
It'll be interesting to see how the industry responds.
Another issue close to my heart is existing speech quotas on "full service" licences (I wonder why?!)
Presumably, if all format requirements other than key information are to be disposed of, these will be removed too?
The consultation runs until Monday 8th May at 5pm.
