Ofcom awards five new AM community radio licences

Ofcom awards five new AM community radio licences 01 June 2017

Ofcom has today announced the award of five new community radio licences for medium wave (AM) services.

The new stations will serve communities in Glasgow, West Leicestershire, Suffolk & northern parts of Essex, Yeovil and south Somerset, and Leicester.

Community radio services are provided on a not-for-profit basis, focusing on the delivery of specific social benefits to a particular geographical community, or a community of interest.

Licences have been awarded to:

Ark AM (Noah's Ark Glasgow)

Contact name: Mazhar Khan

Email: info@ark.scot

Website: www.ark.scot

Ark AM will serve the needs of Glasgow's diverse Muslim communities.

Carillon Wellbeing Radio (Carillon Wellbeing Limited)

Contact name: Jon Sketchley

Email: admin@carillonradio.com

Carillon Wellbeing Radio is for people in West Leicestershire who have, or who are at risk of developing, long term health conditions.

Radio Caroline (Radio Caroline AM Broadcasting Ltd)

Contact name: Peter Moore

Email: caroline_pirate@btconnect.com

Website: www.radiocaroline.co.uk

Radio Caroline will broadcast a wide range of album music from the 1960s to the present day. It is for people aged 45+ in Suffolk and northern parts of Essex.

Radio Ninesprings (Radio Ninesprings)

Contact name: Steve Haigh

Email: steve_haigh@msn.com

Website: www.radioninesprings.com

Radio Ninesprings will bring a locally-focussed community radio service for the people of Yeovil and the south Somerset District area.

Radio Seerah (Seerah Academy (Radio Seerah))

Contact name: Mr Abdurahim Diwan

Email: radioseerah@hotmail.com

Website: www.radioseerah.com

Radio Seerah will be a station for the diverse Muslim and ethnic communities of inner Leicester.

See our statement setting out the main determining factors for the award of the community radio licences PDF, 198.7 KB . Community radio licences are awarded for a five-year period.

Ten years of community radioCommunity radio, which offers thousands of volunteers the chance to get involved in broadcasting across the UK, is ten years old.

The last decade has seen the number of community radio stations increase from just a handful to more than 250 stations, each reflecting the local needs and interests of its audience.

In April, Ofcom announced the conclusions of its review of community radio: future licensing and technical policy.

Ofcom will amend its technical policy, to remove references to set coverage areas for community radio stations. We will adopt a more flexible approach, and applications will be considered for wider areas where applicants can clearly demonstrate the proposed coverage area will better serve its target community, where it is technically possible.

Ofcom will also consider requests to improve coverage within existing licensed areas. This can help a station overcome poor coverage due to interference or local terrain issues.

Notes for editors1. In addition to the licence awards detailed above, Ofcom considered seven further applications, but decided not to award a licence to the following groups:

AM-Rock, Pipeline Media Ltd, (Districts of Thanet, Canterbury and Dover)

Indus Radio, Indus Community Radio Limited, (Birmingham)

Leicestershire Community Talk Radio, Leicestershire Community Talk Radio Ltd, (Leicestershire)

Quasar Radio, Quasar Radio Ltd, (London Boroughs within the M25)

Panj Baani Radio, Panjabi Arts and Literary Academy UK, (Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire)

Panj Pani Radio, New Dawn Community Well-Being Ltd, (Nuneaton & Bedworth)

Radio Central, Radio Central Limited, (Inner city Birmingham)

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Apply for a radio broadcast licence 31 May 2017

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