Analysis of an Ofcom consultation on local radio that ignored public responses and approved a policy Ofcom had already committed to pursue, written by Grant Goddard in July 2011 for Grant Goddard: Radio Blog.

1. WHEN IS A CONSULTATION NOT
A CONSULTATION? WHEN
OFCOM CONSULTS ABOUT
RADIO
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
July 2011

2. Each of us has dozens of ‘consultations’ every day. You know the sort of thing. 'I’m going to
the corner shop – anything you want?' 'A Kit-Kat?' 'OK.' However, if I came back with a cat
rather than a chocolate bar, you would understandably be unhappy. That had not really been a
consultation at all.
Ofcom’s consultations on radio are increasingly like that. Ofcom pretends it is going to listen. It
doesn’t listen. And then it does whatever it wanted to do in the first place. Mmmm. Surely that
is not really a consultation at all.
In June 2011, an Ofcom consultation asked six questions about a proposal by Now Digital
(owned by radio transmission provider Arqiva) to extend the coverage of its Exeter and Torbay
DAB multiplex to North Devon. One of those questions was:
“Q6. Do you consider that there any other grounds on which Ofcom should approve, or
not approve, the request from Now Digital? Please explain the reasons for your view.”
However, Ofcom had apparently already decided that its ‘consultation’ was not a genuine
consultation at all, when it explained:
“Before deciding whether to agree to Now Digital’s request, Ofcom is legally required
to seek representations on the request from any interested parties. … Provided that
the request meets the terms of the statute, the decision whether or not to agree to the
request is at Ofcom’s discretion.”
So, Ofcom’s 21-page consultation document was really a complete waste of time and money.
The decision was already made. And it would be even more of a waste of time and money for
anyone to respond. But respond they did.
In July 2011, Ofcom admitted that, out of 234 responses submitted to its consultation, “the vast
majority … were opposed to Now Digital’s request.”
Most objected on the grounds that:
 “agreement to the extension of the multiplex would enable the holder of an existing
FM local commercial radio licence for Barnstaple to secure the renewal of that
licence, precluding the advertisement of a new such licence (which otherwise
would have been due to take place forthwith); and;
When Is A Consultation Not A Consultation? When Ofcom Consults About Radio page 2
©2011 Grant Goddard

3.  the level of coverage of North Devon proposed by Now Digital was unsatisfactory
as it would leave 30% of households in the area with no access to radio services in
the event of a digital radio switchover.”
Did Ofcom care about this volume of public opposition? Not at all. Did it investigate why the
share of listening to the merged 'Heart FM Devon' had fallen dramatically to an all-time low last
quarter (behind 'BBC Radio 2', 'BBC Radio 4', 'BBC Radio 1' and 'BBC Radio Devon') [RAJAR,
2011 Q1]? Apparently not. Ofcom explained:
“The [Ofcom Radio Licensing] Committee [RLC] noted the strong opposition to the fact
that approval of Now Digital's request would allow Lantern Radio Limited, the holder of
the local [Heart] FM commercial radio licence for Barnstaple, to apply for a renewal of
the licence and thereby preclude advertisement of a new licence. However, the RLC
did not consider that this fact should preclude the granting of Now Digital's request.”
And why not? Because Ofcom’s wholly unrealistic policy objective, for DAB to replace
AM/FM radio, is still being doggedly pursued to the exclusion of any wider regulatory issues –
consumer choice, market competition or the removal of barriers to sector entry. As well as to
the exclusion of the majority of the 234 respondents to this consultation.
To put the same thing in Ofcom’s own weasel words:
“What Now Digital Limited sought in its request is provided for in section 54A of the
1996 Act. Agreeing to the request would be consistent with the broad policy aims of
that section. Namely, the extension and promotion of local DAB broadcasting with
the consumer benefits of greater choice of services.” [emphasis added]
Now Digital promised to launch the first of three new DAB transmitters in North Devon within
six months of Ofcom’s approval. And what about the remaining two? Now Digital promised
these will be installed “six months after a positive decision in 2013 by Government regarding
digital switchover”. Oh, so you mean ‘never.’
The ulterior objective of this proposal was that the promise to build a single new DAB
transmitter in North Devon would enable Global Radio to automatically renew its existing FM
licence in Barnstaple for a further eight years without a public contest, thus denying any
potential new entrants. Ofcom simply rolled over and complied. And what did Ofcom suggest
to the complainants who might not have felt that London-based Global Radio was offering
them a genuinely local radio station in 'Heart FM'? It stated:
“The RLC recognised the strength of feeling among many respondents to the
consultation for there to be an opportunity for an alternative provider of a local radio
service in North Devon to apply for a licence … Ofcom is always keen to facilitate new
When Is A Consultation Not A Consultation? When Ofcom Consults About Radio page 3
©2011 Grant Goddard

4. When Is A Consultation Not A Consultation? When Ofcom Consults About Radio page 4
©2011 Grant Goddard
local radio services for listeners where such services are viable and therefore able to
offer consumer benefits over the long term. To this end, the RLC noted that, in its
response to the consultation, Arqiva stated that there is presently capacity for at least
one further new station to be accommodated on the Exeter & Torbay local [DAB] radio
multiplex.”
This is patronising rubbish. "Viable"? "Consumer benefits"? Can Ofcom please name any
DAB-only radio station that is making an operating profit as a standalone business? No?
Because there isn’t one. DAB radio has proven to be one massive financial black hole that has
wasted approaching £1bn. Suggesting to consultation respondents that they start their own
new local radio station on DAB is akin to Ofcom recommending these correspondents burn
down their own houses.
All Ofcom has done is raise two fingers to the people of North Devon in this consultation. If I
were Ofcom’s director of radio, Peter Davies, I would not consider booking a holiday in North
Devon any time soon.
Unless Global were to return the favour by picking up the tab for his bodyguards?
[First published by Grant Goddard: Radio Blog as 'When Is A Consultation Not A Consultation? When Ofcom Consults
About Radio', 18 July 2011.]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk