Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

Galaxy 105
Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice
Galaxy 105 is “a rhythmic-based music led service for 15-29 year olds supplemented with
news, information and entertainment. The service should have particular appeal to listeners
in their 20s.” The format calls for the music to incorporate such genres as house, garage,
soul and R’n’B, while speech should “provide a reasonable balance of news and information
for the target audience”.
Our monitoring showed that Galaxy 105’s music output was predominantly current, and
predominantly dance and R’n’B influenced, with the exception of the occasional current
mainstream pop song such as Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”.
News bulletins ran half-hourly through the breakfast sequence, there was a bulletin just
before 1pm, and again just before 5pm and 6pm, with headlines at about 5.20 and 6.20pm.
The bulletins offered a well-chosen headline service mixing stories from the
Yorkshire/Lincolnshire region (an angle on the suicide bombers, the trial of a Lincolnshire
coach driver) with national news (a vote on Tony Blair’s terror bill) and “funnies”. Travel news
focused on major roads, with details of where mobile speed cameras were positioned.
Galaxy 105’s style is clearly targeted at a teenage and twenty-something audience. Banter
on the breakfast show (“Hirsty’s Daily Dose”) was about Little Britain, stories about getting
drunk on school nights (“not big and not clever”) and also a fun listener talking point about
whether you need manners when you live in Yorkshire.
Magic AM
Magic AM is “a soft music-led service aimed primarily at over-30s in South Yorkshire”. Most
of the music must be over five years old, and the station must feature “information, sport,
what’s-ons and other items” for the target audience in South Yorkshire.
Our monitoring revealed a good variety of mellow hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Mostly
there was a wide separation of eras, with – for example – a 90s song followed by a 60s song.
The only exception was during the “Guess the Year” feature.
There was a good regional news service, with two or three minute bulletins most hours,
including local audio in many bulletins. The ten-minute 5pm bulletin included a report from
the church in Dinnington where the funeral of a Rotherham schoolboy was being held, a
report and voxpops on Yorkshire children being taught self-defence in schools and a full
sports round-up. There was also a good travel news service, with detailed items such as a
broken-down lorry on the M1, delays in Sheffield and train problems between Doncaster and
Meadowhall.
The presentation style was relaxed and frequently based around music, including concert
ticket giveaways for local gigs. There was also banter about Christmas decorations and carol
singers and items from the newspapers.
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