Ofcom delays radio consultation results

Ofcom has delayed the publication of the results of its much-anticipated Future of Radio consultation due to the volume of responses received from the industry.

The consultation was in April as part of a plan to develop a new regulatory framework for the sector.

It is understood that commercial groups are pressuring Ofcom to radically reduce the amount of local output smaller commercial stations must produce, citing a scarcity of resources and a need to ensure a higher quality of programmes in order to better compete with BBC services. In July, the RadioCentre - a body representing many commercial stations in the UK - argued that "localness would be supplied by market forces without regulatory intervention" because it is what audiences want.

According to The Guardian, the RadioCentre has sent a subsequent letter to Ofcom signed by executives representing GCap, Emap, Global Radio, GMG and UTV Media saying:

"We all agree that localness is important to our listeners. However, it is also clear that quality of output is of greater importance... Few local commercial stations have the resources to recruit the kind of talent, or produce the kind of programme, that can compete with the likes of Chris Moyles, Jeremy Vine or Chris Evans."

Ofcom is currently proposing that depending on size, local stations should broadcast between four and thirteen hours of locally originated programming. It is understood that the RadioCentre has asked for these brackets to be reduced to between three and seven hours, in essence permitting stations to take far more networked programming.