Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice
Children and Young People
Rotherham has been lagging behind national averages on various educational measures,
such as Key Stage 2 and GCSE results, and also on the number of school-leavers going into
education and training. Things are improving and Rother FM would like to do its bit to help
engage and encourage children to continue to improve the town’s educational standards.
Stations in the Lincs FM Group have a strong record when it comes to education and training.
The Group has compiled a media studies pack for use in secondary schools, and supports
this with station visits for school groups. Dearne FM was a partner in the recent Barnsley
Teacher of the Year Awards, while both Trax FM and Ridings FM have been actively involved
in road safety education at schools in their area. Work experience is regularly provided at all
the Group’s stations, and we have already spoken to staff at Rotherham College of Arts and
Technology about how we can help with their media studies courses. The ethos of Rother
FM will be that of the Lincs FM Group as a whole: school is fun, children are important to us,
and people should be supported and encouraged in their aspirations. We hope to work with
the local education authority on appropriate projects.
ii) broadening the range of local commercial services available in the area
It’s clear from our market research that there is a strong appetite for local radio in this area, as
Hallam FM is the most listened-to station with all age groups from 25 to 64, with Galaxy 105
the first choice of 15-24 year olds, and BBC Radio Sheffield the favourite with over 65s.
There is also apparently high satisfaction with the current selection of commercial radio
stations available – with 70% saying they are fully satisfied. However, once the option of a
local radio station specifically for Rotherham is raised, there is a very strong likelihood to
listen: 86%. When given a description of what Rother FM would sound like, 84% of
respondents believed it would broaden choice. We also know from our conversations and
consultations that there is a strong desire for a station that can be seen as “Rotherham’s own
radio station”, in the same way that those we spoke to perceive Trax FM as Doncaster’s
station and Dearne FM as Barnsley’s station.
Firstly, a thumbnail sketch of each of the existing commercial local radio stations, based on
their published formats and our own monitoring of a weekday’s output (0600 – 1900).
Hallam FM
Part of EMAP’s “Big City” network, Hallam FM describes itself in its format as “Chart and adult
contemporary music and information for 15-44 year-olds in South Yorkshire”. Music
programming will be “predominately” (up to 90%) current chart hits and new releases,
although we have noted in the past year that Hallam FM, along with other EMAP “Big City”
stations, have been playing an increased amount of 80s and 90s music. Speech should
account for at least 10% of weekday daytime output.
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