Cornwall's 105 to 107 Itchy FM - Ofcom Licensing

Radio listeners in Cornwall are well aware that they can hear most pop music types on the radio. But
there is lower perception of a station providing Dance music, and an even lower perception for a station
providing Rock. The music types with the fewest people knowing where to find it on the radio were Hard
Rock and Indie, followed by Club Dance, Classic Dance, and Rap & Hip-Hop. These music types
appear to be under serviced by the available radio options in Cornwall.
The music sampling shows that this age group favours a wide variety of music categories, but is unable
to find this choice on Pirate FM and also Radio 1. It is clear that Pirate FM gets the “who plays that type
of music” image for many music styles by default. While Pirate FM has image for all music types, this is
primarily a function of their current broad variety and lack of competition. Their images for Pop music
types are much higher than their images for Dance or Rock music types. This supported by our
monitoring study which shows that Pirate FM’s music output only represents a very small proportion.
Interest in new Dance / Indie station is
high: We asked respondents: “How much
would you like or dislike listening to a new
radio station that plays a fresh mix of
current & new music selected from Dance &
Indie Rock, along with some mainstream
music currently not heard on local radio in
the county, and would provide relevant
Cornwall lifestyle information for the youth
market?” Fully 64% of 15-39s gave a “4” or
a “5” on a five-point scale to this idea.
Interest was highest among men and
among Radio 1 listeners. This station would
appeal to people throughout all ages within
15 to 39.
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