AS Media Ownership of the UK Radio Industry Powerpoint

1. OWNERSHIP OF THE UK
RADIO INDUSTRY

2. 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

3. 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:

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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:

13. 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

14. 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?

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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!

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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)

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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.

26. 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 Radio
Jazz FM
Kerrang!
LBC London News
Panjab Radio

27. 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 Sound
Capital
Heart Yorkshire
Pulse 1
Radio Yorkshire
Sunrise Radio

28. 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?

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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?

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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?

36. 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

37. 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