NEWS: OFCOM INTRODUCES RANDOM MONITORING OF LOCAL COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS' OUTPUTS TO CHECK FORMAT COMPLIANCE by GRANT GODDARD

www.grantgoddard.co.uk February 2006

After more than a decade of government regulation of commercial radio, during which there has been no official programme of monitoring stations outputs, Ofcom has finally announced that it will carry out both spot and planned monitoring of its licensees. Until now, monitoring of commercial radio stations has only been executed as a reaction to a specific complaint from the public about a stations output. Even when stations performances were being evaluated as part of a radio licence re-advertisement, station monitoring was not a requisite part of the procedure. This has created an environment in which some station owners are acutely aware that their output remains unchecked by the regulator. Inconsistencies between stations prescribed Formats and their actual output have regularly been brought to Ofcoms attention by applicants for new licences who have analysed programmes of the existing stations in their proposed markets. Until now, the strict execution of Formats has been somewhat laissez-faire by both the regulator and the licensees. Under The Radio Authority, there was an example of an incumbent for one particular licence re-advertisement that was found by a member of staff to have been in breach of its Format in three substantial ways for several years. The station was nevertheless re-awarded its licence against competing bids. Under Ofcoms new 'content sampling' system, monitoring will take place across different station styles and geographic areas in the most constructive way possible, and will be designed to avoid regular emphasis on a particular group. Each station will be monitored for three days, one of which could be a weekend day, without advance warning. The results will be supplied to each station and, if there is evidence of non-compliance, the station will be asked to respond. Ofcoms Radio Licensing Committee will discuss each case and must decide whether to resolve the matter or issue a comment, a Yellow Card warning or a financial penalty. The results for all sampling exercises will be published on the Ofcom web site. Particular attention will be paid to the localness of the output, with the specific question asked: Does a particular programme/strand content clearly come from the area it is supposed to serve, or could it be played out anywhere? In terms of music content, the monitoring will expose whether the core music obligation is being delivered, and whether any minimum/maximum obligations contained in the Format are being met. As part of the new procedure, Ofcom has published three examples of its new Content Sampling Report for different types of station. These reports, for Londons 'Magic 105.4', Coventrys 'Mercia FM' and Worthings 'Splash FM', are already available on the Ofcom web site and show all three stations to be in compliance with their Formats.

[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Station Monitoring Resumed' [sic], #724, 22 February 2006]

News: Ofcom Introduces Random Monitoring Of Local Commercial Radio Stations' Outputs To Check Format Compliance Page 2 2006 Grant Goddard

Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk

News: Ofcom Introduces Random Monitoring Of Local Commercial Radio Stations' Outputs To Check Format Compliance Page 3 2006 Grant Goddard