Rother FM - Ofcom Licensing

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Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice iii) the provision of local material, if any Localness is what will make Rother FM distinctive. Rother FM will be a station that puts the people of Rotherham at the heart of everything it does. It’s not just the local news and information, although that is extremely important. The tone of the station will be Rotherham through-and-through: the chat, the informal interaction between the radio station and the listeners, the tone of voice, the way the presenters talk about the area, the particular sense of humour with which local observations, dedications, what’s on information, travel news and even the weather are delivered. Local management will be an important part of Rother FM’s success. Although all Lincs FM Group stations have strong central support and policies, the local management teams are given substantial freedom to develop the station’s sound and activities to suit the local area. One way of achieving this is to recruit local staff wherever possible. The Lincs FM Group has a great record of training and developing local people, and many of the Group’s most highprofile presenters are in their first full-time job in radio after cutting their teeth at local colleges, hospital radio stations or mobile discos. Almost our entire sales team at each of our stations is made up of local people and they help contribute to programming ideas and travel news. We will try to find suitable Rotherham people for as many of the on-air positions as possible, and we are committed to training the radio stars of the future. We already have good relationships with colleges offering media courses in the region. As a result of Rother FM’s RSL and our ongoing activities within Rotherham, we have received – and continue to receive – job enquiries from local people. Another way of ensuring we have the right tone of voice is by talking to local people. Rother FM will always have an on-going dialogue with its listeners. As described above, they will help us formulate our travel news and weather. While not broadcasting “phone-ins”, our presenters will have daily talking points: ideas that spark conversation and encourage listeners to call us with their anecdotes, which we will recount on air. Examples that have sparked great response on other Lincs FM stations include memories of school dinners, chat about what films and TV series have been filmed in the area and asking listeners to tell us what’s great about living in the area. Listeners will be able to participate in the life of the station in other ways, too. All phone, text and email comments will be dealt with at senior management level. Rother FM’s website will include ways for listeners to get involved, including surveys on topics of local interest and additional information on events, charity initiatives and local talking points. Rother FM will be proud of Rotherham, and do its best always to reflect what’s good about the area. Lincs FM Group stations in the region have already begun working with Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Bluebell Hospice, supporting their fundraising activities. Rother FM was a sponsor for the Chamber Business Awards last year and hopes to continue that association. Dearne FM supported the Barnsley Teacher of the Year competition with great success and Rother FM will look for similar opportunities. We have also been approached by Cancer 32
Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering for tastes and interests/broadening choice Research UK’s Race For Life team, who are keen to work with Rother FM as a partner for their Rotherham race; they already work with other stations in the Lincs FM Group. Localness does not equal parochialism. Rotherham is a go-ahead, enterprising area with “big city” ideas. One key difference between Rotherham and the other parts of South Yorkshire where our parent company has radio stations is the closeness to Sheffield, just the other side of the Tinsley viaduct. Many Rotherham people travel to work there. Like it or not, the two places are intertwined in many ways, and our market research showed that news about South Yorkshire generally is considered almost as important as news about Rotherham. Therefore part of Rother FM’s job will be to help underline what is distinctive about Rotherham, while taking care not to ignore events in Sheffield that might impact on our listeners: stories about jobs, transport and so on. The difference between Rother FM and the Sheffield-based Hallam FM and BBC Radio Sheffield is that everything we broadcast will be from the perspective of Rotherham. 73% of market research respondents felt it was important that a news service on a local radio station should be independent of ownership from any other media in the Rotherham area, such as local newspapers. Rother FM’s parent company has a proven track record of providing just such a service, and in fact our journalistic presence in Yorkshire means that Rother FM’s three journalists will be able to punch well above their weight. News-sharing is already well-established between Trax FM, Ridings FM and Dearne FM, and these arrangements will be extended to Rother FM. Regional stories are shared between stations when appropriate and a reporter from one station may conduct interviews for the other stations if necessary. At weekends the duty journalist at one station will also be responsible for news on one of the other stations – making check calls, and putting together and reading a specific news bulletin for each of the two stations (one live, one pre-recorded shortly before transmission). This means we can make the best use of our three-strong Rother FM news team, allowing us to have a reporter news-gathering in addition to the desk editor on most weekdays. Additionally, Rother FM will be able to utilise many of the important local and regional contacts that journalists at our nearby stations have already built up. Also, the Lincs FM Group has an established journalism training scheme, led by our Group Director of News Sean Dunderdale, which focuses on areas like news-writing, voice work and media law. iv) the proportion of locally-made programming, if any Almost all of Rother FM’s programming will be locally made. The regular exceptions will be a networked Sunday chart show (Hit40UK) and a weekly country music show (shared with the Lincs FM Group’s other Yorkshire stations). There may be a small number of other shared Lincs FM Group programmes in due course, such as a weekend album show. We will also consider carrying suitable syndicated programmes if/when they are available. For example, stations in the Lincs FM Group broadcast the Girls Aloud Christmas Special produced by Somethin’ Else in 2005. Networked and syndicated programmes and those shared with other stations in the Lincs FM Group will usually only be broadcast at off-peak times and will total no more than 12 hours in a week. 33
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 and 28: Weather Section 105 (B) and (C): Ca
Page 31: Section 105 (B) and (C): Catering f
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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