Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

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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. 28
Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice Our monitoring found that about 40% of the songs played were from pre-2000, mostly from the 1980s and 90s – one was even from 1967 (Aretha Franklin’s Respect). However, the “oldies” were mostly played as part of a musical segment: either the Top Ten at Ten or the afternoon’s School Years nostalgia feature. In terms of speech output, Hallam FM offers a good headline news service with local stories in all bulletins. Bulletins are mostly copy only, and there was not much audio on local stories: we heard clips on two Sheffield stories. Sports news had a good regional flavour, with stories about the Sheffield boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, as well as Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers football clubs. The regular travel news bulletins had details of problems on the M1, various delays on A roads and heavy rush-hour traffic in Sheffield. Programme content included competitions with callers from all over South Yorkshire, as well as comedy banter on the breakfast show with DJ “Big John” and his team. Subjects included Little Britain, Sharon Osbourne describing Madonna as an “old hooker” and listener texts about famous couples. Real Radio Real Radio’s format calls for “a full-service mix of talk and music with 24-hour news for Yorkshire, targeting primarily 35-54 year-olds”. Speech is heavily emphasised in the format, accounting for between a third and a half of daytime output. Music is a mix of 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and current hits, with no era dominating. When we monitored Real Radio, we noted that the music was – as expected – a variety from the last four decades: Robbie Williams followed by the Supremes, for example; or Steelers Wheel followed by KT Tunstall. News bulletins are thorough. The big story at breakfast time was Sheffield MP David Blunkett’s latest resignation, with audio and reaction from local councillors and others. There was also an update on the West Yorkshire suicide bomber and a York school pupil murdered in Russia. The 1pm news is an extended, 15-minute bulletin, although it did include six commercials, entertainment news, sport and a preview of the evening’s sports phone-in. Regional sport is a strength for Real Radio, with good coverage within news and sports bulletins of Leeds United, Sheffield United, Huddersfield and Barnsley football clubs and Hull rugby club. Travel news bulletins dealt mostly with the area’s motorways, as well as news of some traffic lights out of action in Leeds. A lot of the day’s programming was taken up with chat about “Bring A Pound To Work Day”, which was raising funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital, and included mentions for a number of local firms. 29
Page 1 and 2: An application to Ofcom for the loc
Page 3 and 4: General information (a) Name of App
Page 5 and 6: Executive director - Jeff Harwood S
Page 7 and 8: Executive Director - Matt Jones Occ
Page 9 and 10: Lincs FM Group Limited holds the Li
Page 11 and 12: Section 105 (A): Ability to maintai
Page 13 and 14: (b) Funding Section 105 (A): Abilit
Page 17 and 18: 3. Transmission proposals Section 1
Page 21 and 22: Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering f
Page 23 and 24: Target audience Section 105 (B) and
Page 27: Weather Section 105 (B) and (C): Ca
Page 37 and 38: ROTHER FM STATION FORMAT Licence ou
Page 39 and 40: Section 105 (D): Evidence of local
Page 41 and 42: Lifestyle Section 105 (D): Evidence
Page 43 and 44: Section 105 (D): Evidence of local
Page 45 and 46: Declaration Rother FM confirms that

Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

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