The Scottish Government, in a formal response to an OFCOM consultation, has mounted a robust defence of local radio. A statement sent to OFCOM speaks of a ‘tipping point’ where the public value of local radio might be lost.
A statement from the office of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop MSP, responds to plans for all the commercial radio stations from the Tay to the Borders to be put into one ‘approved area’ with little or no regulation of where stations should be based, and only minimal requirements for peak time programmes to be made in the places where they are listened to.
The proposition, coming through OFCOM from the big commercial radio companies, is that less prescriptive regulation will enable them to compete more effectively with digital services, unnamed, but presumed to be Spotify, Pandora, iTunes and the national terrestrial stations which can be listened to on a DAB radio.
The government response says the proposition is untested and there may be a ‘tipping point’. They believe that if these proposals are adopted, Ofcom would have a greater responsibility to scrutinise and monitor licences to ensure that the public value offered by ‘localness’ continues to be provided.
They specifically object to relieving radio stations of the need to provide any locally made programming at weekends and on public holidays. They are also against the idea of Edinburgh local radio programmes being made in Glasgow, quoting from a previous OFCOM publication which showed how much Scottish audiences appreciate local news on the radio.
Clearly the controversy over job cuts at STV has played into the Scottish Government’s thinking. They write that there is a ‘level of concern’ about the delivery of the STV licence obligations in Scotland in future. They allude to the closure of the city station STV Edinburgh and its replacement with a Glasgow based channel, STV2, which itself has now closed.
The preservation of jobs and career opportunities in radio in the rural areas is seen as a tangible economic benefit and the statement calls on OFCOM to maintain a system which provides creative opportunities for people right across the country.
Instead of relaxing the rules for local radio stations, such as Forth 1, the suggestion from the Scottish Government is that the national DAB stations available in Scotland be given local news obligations, in order to create a more level playing field. It is an interesting idea, and is technically feasible. DAB transmitters can opt out of their networks and be fed with localised news and information, if only the broadcasters can be persuaded to pay for it. But this would immediately open the question of UK wide DAB stations taking a slice of local advertising revenue to help pay for localised news bulletins and information.
Whatever happens in the future of radio, the Scottish Government, which ultimately has no powers to regulate broadcasting, should be commended for reminding OFCOM of local sensitivities, including those that exist between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The distinctiveness of the East and West of Scotland is one of the defining characteristics of Scottish life and culture and should continue to be reflected in the regulatory framework for local services in Scotland.
