Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice
4. Programming Philosophy
(a) This sub-section of the application should take the form of a statement setting out the applicant’s
overall programming philosophy and vision for the radio service.
Rother FM aims to become the market-leading radio station in Rotherham; the station to
which the people of Rotherham listen in order to hear what’s going on in this part of the world.
It will be a truly local station, built around a high-quality news and information service,
supported by a broad and distinctive blend of music.
Our target audience will be defined first and foremost by geography rather than
demographics: Rother FM aims to be an inclusive station, appealing to as broad an age range
as possible, adults and children alike.
We will respect our audience: their tastes, their aspirations, their values and their intelligence.
We will be positively for Rotherham – to borrow the phrase coined by Rotherham Metropolitan
Borough Council, we will be Rotherham Proud. We have no interest in being negative about
people and places, except when the news agenda demands it. We hope to become a force
for good as part of the borough’s exciting regeneration.
(b) The strategies which the applicant proposes for implement in regard to:
i) catering for the tastes and interests, general or particular, of persons living in the area
The area
As the nature of the area is fundamental in planning our programming proposals, we thought
a brief description of the Rotherham Borough and its particular needs and challenges would
be useful at this point.
Rotherham has been through tough times. In the twenty-five year period after 1970, almost
50,000 jobs were lost in the borough. This is not an unusual story in South Yorkshire:
Sheffield has suffered from the decline of the steel industry while Barnsley and Doncaster
were devastated by the death of coal. But Rotherham was built jointly on those two traditional
industries. The area was home to many collieries working the South Yorkshire coalfields,
particularly in the east of the borough such as Dinnington. Meanwhile, proximity to the
navigable River Don gave Rotherham a big advantage in the steel industry. The giant
Templeborough Steelworks employed 10,000 people at its peak. So when both industries
collapsed in the last quarter of the 20 th century, it was a double blow for Rotherham.
Rotherham’s population declined through the eighties and nineties, and the decline was
particularly marked amongst younger people.
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