Closed consultation

Consultation on analogue community radio licensing

Updated 10 November 2023

1. Introduction

The community radio sector is a vibrant and vital part of the UK radio landscape. Since the first full community radio licences were issued in 2005, the sector has steadily grown and now includes more than 300 analogue (AM / FM) services, while the emergence and growth of small-scale DAB (SSDAB) is providing an option for even more stations to broadcast to localities across the UK. Each of these stations provides a unique, truly community-focused service, secured by its core obligations of being not-for-profit and providing social gain - a model to which the government remains committed, as set out in the ‘Up Next’ White Paper of April 2022.

As the joint government / industry Digital Radio and Audio Review made clear, radio is evolving rapidly. The trend in listening - across the industry as a whole - is away from AM and FM and towards digital, including DAB and DAB+ but also over the internet. Community radio stations are taking advantage of this, through both their SSDAB services and their online presence (which represented 21.1% of community radio listening in 2019/20, according to research carried out for the Review). However, analogue still represents a significant proportion of radio listening and will continue to do so over the coming years, with the Review concluding that there will be a need for analogue radio in the UK until at least 2030.

In the meantime, analogue community radio licences will begin to expire from October 2025, and given the need for stations - and Ofcom, who are responsible for managing these licences - to have clarity well in advance of this date, it is now time to review the legislative framework for analogue community radio licensing.

To date, analogue community radio licences have been issued for an initial five years in accordance with the provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the Community Radio Order 2004, with subsequent Orders amending the relevant provisions such as to enable Ofcom to extend these licences for a further five years on three occasions. These incremental changes to the legislation have balanced both the relative scarcity of analogue spectrum (which has acted as a counter-argument against longer, or indeed perpetual licences), and a desire to ensure that stations have the stability and certainty to develop their services. We are seeking views in this consultation on whether - and if so, for how long - to legislate to enable licences to be extended again.

We would also welcome views on the current restrictions on the capacity of stations to raise money through advertising and sponsorship.

Since 2015, community radio stations have been able to raise at least £15,000 per year from commercial sources. For stations operating in the locality of a small commercial station, where that commercial station has not taken advantage of provisions introduced into the Broadcasting Act 1990 by the Digital Economy Act 2010 relating to where they can produce ‘locally-made’ programming, this is an absolute restriction. Stations whose local commercial service has taken advantage of those provisions are allowed to take an additional level of income from advertising / sponsorship (potentially up to 50% of their annual income above the £15,000 base). Stations with no such local competition can raise 50% of their annual revenue above £15,000 via commercial avenues.

The original purpose of these restrictions was to protect the essential character of community radio and to encourage stations to build their local presence and strengthen their connections with their listenership. This is particularly important in the context of the ongoing trend towards consolidation of ownership within the commercial radio sector, which is being driven by a variety of structural and technological factors: from the growth and proliferation in the ways of consuming audio content, the shift from local to national listening, the growth of competition for the share of listeners’ audio consumption from online audio services, increased competition for advertisers’ spend from the expansion of digital media and rapid growth in online advertising and the need for broadcasters to invest in developing new content services and in accessing new distribution platforms to maintain their audiences.

However, that same trend has left fewer than ten community stations subject to the absolute restriction, while the 50% rule may have limited the scope for community radio stations to grow and develop even where stations are operating in areas with no, or limited, local commercial radio services. The government wants to ensure that community radio has the freedom to develop its local services (while maintaining its core character, including the requirement to deliver social gain).

This consultation therefore seeks views on:

• whether the government should make provision to allow analogue community radio licences to be extended for a further period (and if so, what the length of this period should be); and
• whether the existing provisions relating to advertising revenue remain appropriate.

Beyond the above, we would welcome any and all views on possible future licensing models which would support the continued success of the wide variety of community stations across the UK.

In the event that it is appropriate to do so in light of the responses to this consultation, the government intends to make any changes by way of secondary legislation to amend the Community Radio Order 2004, in accordance with the provisions of s262 Communications Act 2003. Any such changes would need to satisfy the existing statutory tests for community radio as set out in s262(2) of the 2003 Act, namely that “the description is of services to be provided primarily for the good of members of the public or of a particular community, rather than for commercial reasons”; and the Secretary of State “considers that the provision of services of that description confer, or would confer, significant benefits on the public or on the communities for which they are provided.”

This consultation is being carried out in accordance with the terms of the government’s consultation principles.

The consultation period has been set at 12 weeks in order to give the government the option of bringing forward any legislative changes in the early part of 2024. The closing date for responses is 5pm on 31 January 2024.

2. How to respond

This consultation covers the United Kingdom, and we welcome comments from all stakeholders who may be interested. The consultation will close at 5pm on 31 January 2024. ​Please respond by email to communityradiolicensing@dcms.gov.uk.

We are happy to provide a copy of this document in Welsh or alternative accessible formats. If you require a copy in an alternative format or if you have any questions, ​please get in touch at:

FAO Community Radio Analogue Licensing Consultation
Media and Creative Industries Directorate
DCMS 
4th Floor, 100 Parliament Street 
London
SW1A 2BQ

or communityradiolicensing@dcms.gov.uk

3. Privacy notice

3.1 Data controller for your personal information

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the Data Controller in respect of any personal information you provide in your answers. Your personal data is being collected and processed by DCMS, which processes your personal data on the basis that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. We will hold the data you provide for a maximum of 2 years. You can find out more here.

3.2 Personal data collected as part of this consultation

We will process the names and addresses and email addresses provided by respondents, and information about which organisations respondents belong to, where this is provided. We will also process the information that you provide in relation to your views on the proposed changes contained in the consultation, which may of course include commercially sensitive data. When the consultation ends, we will publish a summary of the key points raised on the Department’s website​. This will include a list of the organisations that responded, but not any individual’s personal name, address or other contact details. All responses and personal data will be processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

3.3 Publication of responses

If you want some or all of the information you provide to be treated as confidential or commercially sensitive, it would be helpful if you could clearly identify the relevant information and explain why you consider it confidential or commercially sensitive.

Please note that DCMS may be required by law to publish or disclose information provided in response to this consultation in accordance with access to information regimes: primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR. If we receive any request to disclose this information, we will take full account of your explanation, but cannot give you an absolute assurance that disclosure will not be made in any particular case. We will not regard an automatic disclaimer generated by your IT system as a relevant request for these purposes.

3.4 Your data protection rights

Once you have submitted your response to the consultation you will not be able to withdraw your answers from the analysis stage. However, under the Data Protection Act 2018 (and the UK GDPR), you have certain rights to access your personal data and have it corrected or erased (in certain circumstances), and you can withdraw your consent to us processing your personal data at any time.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the supervisory authority for data protection legislation, and maintains a full explanation of these rights on their website. DCMS will ensure that it upholds your rights when processing your personal data.

3.5 Data Protection Officer contact details

The contact details for the Data Controller’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) are:

Data Protection Officer
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport 
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

dpo@dcms.gov.uk

If you would like to exercise your rights under data protection legislation, or you’re unhappy with the way we have handled your personal data and want to make a complaint, please write to the department’s Data Protection Officer using the contact details above. 

If you need any further information please contact us at dcmsdataprotection@dcms.gov.uk

3.6 Information Commissioner’s Office contact details

You have the right to lodge a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office about our practices, to do so please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website or contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office 
Wycliffe House 
Water Lane Wilmslow 
Cheshire SK9 5AF

casework@ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Textphone: 01625 545860 Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm

4. Policy and regulatory background

4.1 Emergence and development of community radio

The community radio sector is now well established within the UK’s media landscape. The first services were launched following the completion of the Access Radio pilot scheme in 2002 (which led to the first full community radio licensing regime), and demand has grown ever since. There are now more than 300 Ofcom-licensed stations broadcasting to communities across the country.

The overwhelming majority of these stations hold an analogue licence and broadcast on either FM or AM frequencies. Currently, analogue community radio licences are valid for five years, following which stations are entitled to ask Ofcom for them to be extended (for an additional five years each time) on up to three occasions. As such, the first licences - which were issued by Ofcom in 2005 - will begin to expire from October 2025.

The Community Radio Order 2004 sets out the regulatory framework for analogue community radio, and was informed by the Access Radio pilot scheme and the evaluation carried out by Professor Anthony Everitt in 2003. The Order set three key requirements to ensure the distinctiveness of the sector: 

• stations are required to deliver ‘social gain’ for the communities they serve, whether this is a particular geographical area or a community of interest (for example stations focused on students, older listeners or particular ethnic communities); 

• stations need to be established as not-for-profit enterprises, with profits recycled to support the stations’ wider social or community objectives;

• licence holders are restricted to a single licence to ensure that each station is focused on delivering for its community and to maintain the distinctiveness of individual stations and the sector overall.

The 2004 Order prevented stations from being licensed if Ofcom determined that a proposed service would overlap with a commercial station with a coverage area of 50,000 adults or fewer, and prevented stations which overlapped with commercial stations serving 150,000 or fewer adults from taking advertising or sponsorship. In all other cases, the Order limited income from advertising or sponsorship to a maximum of 50% of a station’s annual revenue.

The Community Radio Order was amended in 2010 to enable Ofcom to extend stations’ licences by a further five years and to allow stations to obtain more than 50% of their revenue from one source (which had been prevented by the original Community Radio Order). It allowed Ofcom to license stations overlapping with a commercial station with a potential audience of fewer than 50,000 adults for the first time (while prohibiting stations in this category from carrying advertising and sponsorship) but retained all other advertising restrictions. The 2010 Order also clarified that Ofcom are not required to conduct an economic viability assessment with regard to a community radio service before deciding whether, and on what terms, to grant a licence for another such service.

The licence extension provisions reflected in particular that stations are often only beginning to realise their full potential social impact towards the end of their initial five-year licence period, and that limiting these stations to one-off five-year licences could have negative impacts on business planning and the ability to attract long-term  investment.

The Community Radio Order was further amended in 2015 following the publication of the Connectivity, Content and Consumers policy paper in July 2013. The changes relaxed the advertising restrictions to allow all community stations to receive a fixed revenue allowance of £15,000 from advertising and sponsorship, with the majority of stations also able to raise up to 50% of their annual revenue beyond this allowance from the same sources. The 2015 Order also enabled Ofcom to extend stations’ licences for a further five years, on a similar basis as 2010 - namely that the existing limitation on licence duration risked disincentivising longer term investment in stations.

The Community Radio Order was amended again in 2019 by the Small-scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019. The Order set out provisions for a new light touch licensing framework for Small Scale DAB (SSDAB) and created a new licensing regime for community digital radio stations. This regime has broadly the same social value requirements as for analogue stations, but licences are issued in perpetuity - reflecting the greater availability of spectrum on DAB and the fact that digital community radio (‘C-DSP’) licences do not come with a guarantee of broadcast (this having to be negotiated with the multiplex on which the station will be carried). The 2019 Order also included provision for a further five-year extension of community analogue radio licences for licences starting to expire in 2020.

The Digital Radio and Audio Review, which reported in October 2021, considered the future landscape for UK radio up to 2030 and beyond. The Review concluded that FM services would be needed until at least 2030 and that the government should initiate a further review by 2026 to look at the impact of future trends in radio listening on wider policy. 

In the Broadcasting White Paper (published in April 2022) and in its formal response to the Review, the government agreed with the Review’s conclusions in this regard.  Although the Review focused in particular on issues affecting BBC and commercial radio, its conclusions have implications for the community radio sector and highlighted the need to look again at the licensing rules relating to community radio. The Broadcasting White Paper committed to consult on possible changes to the licensing structure for community radio and in particular look again at restrictions on advertising revenue that prevent some community radio stations from fully monetising their content.

4.2 Community radio licences and further licence extensions

The first analogue community radio licences (issued in 2005) are due to expire in 2025, and under the current legislation, Ofcom would need to consider whether some or all of the licence areas should be re-advertised and the process for relicensing. We are seeking views on a number of options, and we welcome input from respondents on any alternative frameworks:

Option 1 - Do nothing: Make no change to the legislation, but instead to allow licences to expire and be readvertised by Ofcom in accordance with the legislation as it currently stands.

Option 2 - Allow the extension of licences for a further five year period, or a fixed period longer than five years without condition.

Option 3 - Allow the extension of licences in perpetuity as is the case for community digital sound programme (C-DSP) licences (noting that current legislation allows for termination of these licences with two years’ notice, if this is considered appropriate as part of any future digital switchover).

Option 1 (do nothing)

Although the rollout of SSDAB and the growth in online listening now gives local community groups a variety of ways to reach listeners without requiring analogue spectrum to do so, there is still demand for FM spectrum from community groups, especially in urban areas (where availability often remains limited). This option would open the way for licences covering the same or a similar area to be competed for and would enable new community groups to offer services which may better meet the needs of the particular area served by an existing AM or FM community radio licence. This option could also, in principle, give Ofcom an opportunity to secure stronger social gain commitments from incumbents through a competitive bidding process against other community groups.

The cumulative effect of the extensions for which the legislation already provides is such that community radio stations are entitled to broadcast for an extended period without the need to recompete for their licences.  There are good arguments that the current legislation of allowing three extensions (effectively a 20-year term) has provided more than sufficient time for stations to establish themselves in their communities and to build a sustainable business model, and that stations that are less effective or struggling to fulfil their commitments should have to face competition for what, notwithstanding the trends towards digital listening, remains sought-after analogue spectrum.

On the other hand, requiring all community radio stations that have held licences for 20 years to go through a lengthy process of reapplication for their analogue licences would impose additional burdens and will be especially disruptive to stations who go through a competitive process (although it is possible that there may be areas where no other proposal comes forward). It is also possible that some stations may decide to close rather than reapply due to the cost and time implications of the application process (recognising in particular that community radio stations tend to be largely volunteer-led), and this therefore creates a risk that reopening licences for competition may in fact result in fewer stations overall. 

Finally, a full relicensing process would place a significant administrative burden on Ofcom, who would need to develop and run an extended relicensing programme which may impact the delivery of their current work supporting stations onto SSDAB (which, as touched on above, presents an alternative option for community stations to reach audiences). This would particularly be the case in 2025 and 2026 as a large number of former Access Radio pilot stations - around 100 stations in total - were licensed in 2005 and 2006. In addition to this, it is not necessarily clear whether completing a full relicensing process would support Ofcom’s duties to support communications for the whole of the UK given community radio services are launching on SSDAB more quickly than could be delivered by consistent rounds of competitive analogue licensing.

We would also need to consider the process for relicensing and whether the current framework gives Ofcom sufficient clarity in determining between incumbents and new entrants who may both have strong proposals but are targeting very different communities. Ofcom’s approach in offering analogue community radio licences since 2005 has been to organise around geographical rounds and seek - as far as possible - to accommodate as many proposals as it judges being effective within the constraints of the available spectrum in a particular area. In this way, Ofcom has been able to oversee the development of a wide variety of stations both geographically and in serving different needs. 

With full relicensing, Ofcom would need to consider and consult on how best to organise a relicensing process. While there is a logic in readvertising the specific frequencies allocated to the area served by an existing community radio station whose licence is due to expire, this would reduce the scope for new applicants to propose a different geographical area of coverage. While the current powers give Ofcom the flexibility it needs to develop a relicensing process that is fair both to incumbents and new entrants and to manage the process in an effective and sensitive way, given the number of stations that will go through what will be a continual process, a large degree of disruption to the sector must be expected. 

Overall, the government is not persuaded that full-scale relicensing of all analogue community radio licences after 20 years would help strengthen community radio overall, although there may be benefits in some parts of the UK if the process were to result in new stations that were able to provide content that is more reflective of particular communities’ needs. However, we would welcome the widest possible views from the community radio sector and in particular from organisations that are interested in establishing new community radio services.

Question 1: Do you favour allowing all community radio licences held for 20 years to expire, and if so, why? 

Question 2: What would be the probable impact on individual stations and the wider community radio sector if licences were allowed to expire and be readvertised in accordance with the existing legislation? We would be interested in the potential benefits in terms of encouraging new entrants to the sector, and what would be the cost and other impacts for community radio in rebidding for licences?

Further extension options

Given the policy and practical issues associated with option 1, we have explored alternative approaches. Options 2 and 3 - set out in further detail below - continue the approach taken since 2009 in allowing for a further extension for all licence holders provided the station continues to meet the normal requirements. At this stage the Government has no preference.

Option 2 (fixed five year (or longer) extensions)

Option 2 would continue the approach followed in previous reviews of community radio licensing and reflected in the Orders passed. It would enable existing community radio stations that have successfully launched and built connections with their communities and those that volunteer, but which in many cases do not enjoy high levels of long-term financial security, to continue broadcasting without needing to dedicate time and expense to rebidding for their licences. It would also result in a reduction in the regulatory burdens on Ofcom, who would otherwise have to run a lengthy licensing process from 2025 (with likely consequences for the takeup of SSDAB).

A further five year extension would also ensure that all analogue community radio licences will continue to run until at least 2030, by which time - as set out in the Digital Radio and Audio Review - the situation is likely to be significantly clearer with regard to any potential digital switchover. For reasons such as this, we do not consider that there is likely to be any benefit in provisions which would involve extending licences for less than five years. 

A longer extension period - potentially up to ten years - would provide a greater level of stability and certainty for stations, as well as taking the sector towards what may be a natural endpoint for analogue radio at some point in the mid 2030s. It would also align more closely with the approach taken in relation to analogue commercial radio licences. It could mirror the current dates of expiry for national DAB multiplex licences and would be comparable to the length of licences available to most national and commercial radio stations. Potential new entrants would retain other ways to become established, including seeking a C-DSP licence to broadcast over DAB, or setting up online.

Question 3: What would be the likely impact on the community radio sector of a further five-year or ten-year extension of licences?

Option 3 (shift to a system of open-ended licences)

Option 3 would enable community radio stations to retain their existing analogue licences indefinitely (subject, of course, to those stations complying with the conditions of their licences, given Ofcom’s revocation powers in this area). This would provide a further level of stability to licence holders, as well as aligning with the licensing regime for digital radio stations, including new digital community radio stations. While it would in theory remove an option for new entrants to the market, such prospective service providers would (as with the other extension options above) retain the options of being carried on a local or small scale DAB multiplex (once rollout across the UK is complete) or providing an online-only service.

Analogue community radio licences are subject to s97A Broadcasting Act 1990, which gives the Secretary of State the power to nominate a date for digital switchover should this prove appropriate in due course (and they may nominate different dates for different services). Section 97B of the same Act provides that stations must receive at least two years’ notice of a licence termination in accordance with such a switchover.

As set out in the government’s response to the Digital Radio and Audio Review, no decisions have yet been made in relation to whether, and if so when, such a switchover should take place. In the event that such action becomes appropriate in the future, it will be necessary to consider whether a switchover should encompass all radio stations, or whether, for example, community radio stations should be allowed to continue on analogue.

Question 4: What would be the likely impact on the community radio sector of allowing licences to be extended in perpetuity - mirroring the position for digital sound programme (DSP) service licences and community digital sound programme (C-DSP) service licences?

4.3 Review of advertising requirements

Alongside the potential changes to the legislation relating to licence duration, we are also seeking views on the existing restrictions on community radio stations’ ability to raise income via advertising and sponsorship.

Currently, all community radio stations are permitted to raise up to £15,000 from advertising and sponsorship. The overwhelming majority of stations are also allowed to raise 50% of their annual income beyond this £15,000 through advertising and sponsorship, but a small number (whose coverage areas overlap with those of a small commercial radio station) are prevented from doing this, and must rely on other funding streams, such as donations and grants.

Restrictions were originally created in 2005 to limit the adverse effects from competition from new community stations on established independent commercial radio stations and to help ensure that community stations were focused on social rather than commercial objectives. The restrictions were relaxed in 2010 and 2015, with the current requirements set by the Community Radio (Amendment) Order 2015. In the meantime, the commercial radio sector has continued, in large part, to consolidate, and there are now only six community radio stations whose coverage area overlaps with that of a small commercial station.

We are aware that there are a variety of views within the community radio sector and among other interested parties as to the relationship between the essential character of community radio and the extent to which a station should be funded by commercial sources and / or donations, grants and similar funding streams. We consider that it is of fundamental importance to retain community radio’s core social gain and not-for-profit nature.

However, while the current legislation sets limits on the level of commercial funding, we recognise both the economic challenges facing stations and that stakeholders may have strong arguments for how increasing stations’ ability to raise money through advertising and sponsorship (which in itself can provide a valuable service within the local community) may enable more of them to make significant steps towards self-sustainability. In the event that the restrictions were to be relaxed, it would of course be open to any given station to set its own parameters for its funding sources. This freedom and flexibility would also help community radio to develop new ways of raising funding - for example by collectively selling national advertising.

We recognise that remaining small commercial radio stations may still be concerned that any further relaxation of these restrictions would reduce the distinctiveness of community radio, and potentially place a number of community stations into more direct competition with neighbouring commercial services. We believe, however, that the retention of these requirements provides no tangible benefits to community radio and that any residual impact of their retention on a small number of commercial stations is outweighed by the value of a relaxation to the community sector both in terms of allowing individual stations more freedom to raise funding and in helping community stations to come together to raise revenue from national advertising. It would also simplify reporting to Ofcom which could be significantly streamlined, reducing what is a considerable regulatory burden for community stations and Ofcom. 

As such, we are minded to take steps to remove the current restrictions on community stations’ ability to raise money through advertising and sponsorship, and would welcome representations on this proposal and the degree to which any safeguards should be maintained. However, before doing so we want to understand in detail the views of commercial radio and the community radio sector.  We would particularly welcome feedback from community radio stations on the likely impact of any change to these restrictions on (a) their ability to fulfil their key commitments; and (b) their long-term sustainability.

Question 5: Should the current restrictions on community radio stations’ ability to raise revenue through advertising and sponsorship be removed? If so, is there a need for any safeguards?

4.4 Next steps

A summary of responses and the government’s response to this consultation will be published in due course following the closure of the consultation. The government’s response will take all responses submitted to this consultation into account, and will be based on a careful consideration of the points made in responses, not the number of responses received. We would welcome views on all aspects of the consultation paper.

None of the changes require changes to either the Broadcasting Act 1990, the Communications Act 2003 or other primary legislation. We plan to take forward any action via an amendment to the Community Radio Order 2004 following the conclusion of this consultation, in accordance with the powers set out within section 262 of the Communications Act 2003.

5. Consultation questions

Question 1: Do you favour allowing all community radio licences held for 20 years to expire, and if so, why?

Question 2: What would be the probable impact on individual stations and the wider community radio sector if licences were allowed to expire and be readvertised in accordance with the existing legislation? We would be interested in the potential benefits in terms of encouraging new entrants to the sector, and what would be the cost and other impacts for community radio in rebidding for licences?

Question 3: What would be the likely impact on the community radio sector of a further five-year or ten-year extension of licences?

Question 4: What would be the likely impact on the community radio sector of allowing licences to be extended in perpetuity - mirroring the position for digital sound programme (DSP) service licences and community digital sound programme (C-DSP) service licences?

Question 5: Should the current restrictions on community radio stations’ ability to raise revenue through advertising and sponsorship be removed? If so, is there a need for any safeguards?