SLR - Ofcom Licensing

Section 105(A): Ability to maintain proposed service
2. Financial and Business Plan
Provide a concise summary of how the applicant considers it is able to establish and maintain,
throughout the licence period, its proposed service, and how this licence fits in with the investors’
strategy.
Overview
Shrewsbury Local Radio’s board combines a solid understanding of – and passion for – this
special part of England with its strong sense of community and unrivalled levels of highly
relevant radio industry experience. This unique blend of skills and knowledge will ensure the
creation of a successful radio station driven by the clear understanding of the importance of
meeting the demands of local listeners and advertisers alike whilst demonstrably broadening
choice in the market. SLR has applied substantial resources in order to clearly identify the
type of programming content that will directly appeal to listeners in the Shrewsbury and
Oswestry areas. Our all-embracing programme of consultation and detailed market research
is summarised in Section 6 of this application.
Despite the existence of an established heritage AM/FM ILR service for Shropshire, we are
confident that Shrewsbury Local Radio’s unique ability to focus purely on the needs of the
listeners and advertisers, who populate our two towns, will enable the station to establish a
substantial audience and client base within a relatively short period of time. The local
business community has already been educated on the potency of radio advertising by the
existing stations, and our face to face research with local business leaders has, once again,
confirmed that radio is now acknowledged as a cost-effective marketing tool. However, we
also detected a perception that the audiences delivered by Beacon Radio and Classic Gold
WABC are too narrow in demographic terms and scattered over a very large geographical
area. The view that advertising in general and radio advertising in particular is becoming
increasingly expensive was also expressed. However, Shrewsbury Local Radio’s broader
target profile and tighter geographical fit allied to a more focused community-orientated
offering were very well received. The research also suggested that SLR’s promise of
competitive rates compared with existing stations and the local press, and a commitment to
professional production standards and client service from the outset, will encourage
advertisers to use the station. 52% of the businesses we spoke to said they would be “very
likely” or “quite likely” to advertise their business or service on a new local radio station of the
description given to them.
Our unique new advertising proposition in a developed and educated marketplace makes us
supremely confident about the station’s viability. We do recognise, however, the commercial
realities of launching a new station in a market of less than 120,000 adults. The strong local
press and the existing commercial radio operators have been around for a number of years.
We expect them to use every method possible to retain their share of local business. This is
a long-term project for SLR, though, and we are confident that the station will evolve and
grow in standing and profitability with the passage of time. The SLR board has the necessary
energy, drive and resource to nurture and support the company throughout the licence
period.
1. The SLR Licence Area
The license area encompasses 20 postcode sectors centred on the two major towns of
Shrewsbury and Oswestry comprising a population of 118,352 adults. Of these 68,500 live in
the county town of Shrewsbury and 15,600 in Oswestry some 18 miles to the North West.
Communications between the towns are excellent by virtue of the A5 which links the two.
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