Kismat FM - Ofcom Licensing

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Kismat Section 105(D): Evidence Of Local Demand & Support Radio “Asian people like Asian songs, but sometimes the young people don’t want it.” (Group 2) “Bhangra music would help to balance it out, but they [i.e. young people] are not interested in Ghazals & Qawalis. Bhangra are the new songs….. It seems that they [i.e. Kismat] are aiming more for older listeners and not younger ones. The young ones want lively music – they don’t want to listen to their granddad’s songs! Overall, it appeared that the more Kismat Asian Talk Radio was debated, and the more suggestions for its potential format surfaced, the more respondents appeared to take ownership of it, and to welcome the possibility of a new radio station, which offered them greater listening choice and a potential forum for their interests and concerns. “Yes, think I’d tune in, as long as the quality and the standard is high. We have a couple of stations here that don’t really provide you with that – the reading, the news reports are bad, and they repeat too many ads. But if they [i.e. Kismat] can do what they say in a professional way, I’m up for it.” (male, group 1) Evidence of Demand Section 105 (D) : Page 7
Kismat Section 105(D): Evidence Of Demand & Support Radio EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT In addition to general support, Sunrise has actively informed members of Manchester's Asian community and others of its plans. Prior to undertaking face-to-face presentations and discussions, letters outlining the plans for Kismat Radio were sent in early January 2005 to over 400 people including: Asian Businesses; Asian Arts; Community & Social Organisations; Religious Bodies; and a number of semi-statutory service providers (including Local Councillors, MPs and MEPs). Subsequently, follow-up interviews were arranged with over 200 members of the Asian community in the Manchester area. Mr Khalid Masood, noted for his strong links with the Pakistani and Muslim communities, Shammy Batra (Corporate Services Director, Sunrise Group), Mr Rana Sarkar (Social Worker in Manchester and Director of Kismat Asian Talk Radio) and Mr Surinder Biant (ex BBC journalist and Director of Kismat Asian Talk Radio) met with over 200 Asians representing all walks of life as part of this project with a view to: Ascertaining support for an additional Asian radio service in Manchester; Exploring suggestions for and interest in Kismat Radio's proposals. Interviewees who expressed support for Kismat's proposals were also asked if they would be prepared to make an on-the-record statement that might be made public later. Some of those statements are set out below. An advantage of this approach is that, as well as English, many respondents spoke Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali (all languages spoken by at least one of the interview team) and found it easy to express their opinions. Interviews were mainly conducted in Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale and central Manchester, districts with the main concentration of Asians in Greater Manchester. Interviewees included representatives from all areas of activity: Local Authority workers; Freelance Journalists; Care professionals (nurses, social workers, care assistants, doctors etc); Taxi Drivers; Businessmen (Restaurants, Fast Food outlets, Retail Shops, Accountants, Lawyers etc); Students (Colleges associated with Manchester University) and Housewives. Almost all of the people interviewed were positive about the prospect of an additional station for Asians, particularly one proposing speech and music for older members of the community. In addition to their verbal support, many have expressed their views in writing as shown in the extracts below. A file containing these and other expressions of specific support for Kismat Radio is provided as an Appendix with this Application. Brief excerpts: "Regarding the proposed new Asian talk radio service for Manchester. I read about this proposal with great interest and hope you are successful in obtaining a licence." The Rt Hon Keith Bradley MP, Manchester Withington “I am writing to express support for the proposal from yourselves to establish an Asian Talk Radio station for Greater Manchester. This would significantly enhance the context within which OREP is working to improve race relations and encourage racial equality, by providing a means of showcasing ethnic minority achievement and by giving airtime to some of the important race relations issues which concern the Asian communities in Oldham and the surrounding towns within Greater Manchester…” John Tummon, Director, Oldham Race Equality Partnership “….. I have today met with your application Director, Shammy Batra, who has answered all our queries and explained the nature of the bid in some detail. I am impressed with the background of some of the individuals who will serve on the proposed Kismat board and BREC would be happy to work with this board in an advisory capacity.” Mrs Zeeidha Hussain, Director, Bolton Racial Equality Council Evidence of Support Section 105 (D) : Page 8
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