Cornwall's 105 to 107 Itchy FM - Ofcom Licensing

Telegraph, Nuts Magazine (IPC) and Wrigleys all had strong brand attendance and sampling activity at
Fistral Beach in Newquay during this August Bank holiday Quiksilver Boardmasters Surf Competition.
We have researched the opportunity to work with national brands to build on existing events and
generate new activities. A number of brands have stated that they would support such initiatives. These
come direct from the brand promotions department and are not, therefore, channelled through national
sales. IMD Group regularly proposes client-responsive marketing solutions and adding Itchy FM’s
“brandable” opportunities will result in a low cost of sales for these “cut-thru” brand specific marketing
propositions.
“We'd look to use a youth station like Itchy to target regional sales through advertising. Currently there
isn't a suitable outlet for us in the South West.”
Hannah Neaves, Positiva / EMI
o National Advertising Sales
Itchy FM will contract a national agency to sell national revenue onto the station. Based on audience
predictions, consultation with agencies and comparisons against other similar sized radio stations in the
UK, we expect the station to book approximately £4,000 per month gross. We believe that first year
sales will be hardest, with a new brand and the first RAJAR survey unavailable. On this basis, we have
budgeted at approximately £3,000 per month in our business plan. The Launch Commercial Director
has worked extensively within the radio agency sales market and believes these figures are particularly
cautious, based on a low CPT and a slow client uptake, especially as a number of the leading media
buying agencies (Matters Media, Zenith Optimedia etc) have expressed significant interest in the young
adult reach that Itchy FM would deliver.
”I have read the proposal from Itchy 105 FM. Cornwall …does offer a significant incremental
opportunity which could be more explored than it is currently. Itchy FM could well be the platform for
achieving this.
We have had considerable success from Capital’s XFM format and if the station mirrors / builds on this
it has to be of interest to our business. I look forward to see what develops and would consider the
station in terms of potentially adding to our considerable radio roster.”
Revenue Study
Mark Riley, Media Account Director
The Carphone Warehouse Group
IMD conducted a revenue study, which was broken into both local and national revenue streams. 50
local businesses across the TSA were selected and were broadly balanced across the five major towns
of Newquay, Penzance, Truro, St Austell and Falmouth. The choice of business was made based on
their product or service being likely to appeal to young adults under 35 years of age. 38% of businesses
sampled had previously used Pirate FM. The study showed that 58% of businesses would seriously
consider using radio advertising to promote their business to adults aged under 35% - furthermore
58.7% would alter their marketing mix to enable them to spend more on radio whilst 13.8% would grow
overall marketing spend to accommodate the new youth radio station. An impressive 88.6% said they
would regard a radio station which was able to reach under 35s in Cornwall as ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’.
To identify promotions and event sponsorship opportunities, IMD also contacted a number of brands
which target 15-34 adults. Some of these brands have worked with IMD in both Cornwall and other
regions in connection with the Itchy Guide. This process took the form of consultations in which we
presented national brands with key plans for station activity, including beach parties, festivals and new
music tours, centred around the busy summer months, and a summary of some of the responses is
below. A full set of written responses are available to Ofcom on request.
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