SLR - Ofcom Licensing

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Section 105(A): Ability to maintain proposed service 2. Financial and Business Plan The broadcast area has the following characteristics: • 51% of the population is female; • Just over half of the adult population falls within the station’s 35 to 64 year old target age group; • Ethnic minorities comprise only 1% of the population; • 51% of the population is within socio-economic group ABC1, while 49% are within group C2DE; • 14% of employed adults are managers and senior officials, while 11% are professionals and 13% are associated professionals and technical staff; • 54% of the adult population are part- or full-time employees, 10% are self-employed, 6% are students and 15% are retired; • 72% of households are owned either outright or with a mortgage. The proposed SLR footprint includes parts of two local authority areas – Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough, centred on Shrewsbury, and Oswestry district, both of which are within the county of Shropshire. 24% of the county’s population live in Shrewsbury, while 6% live in Oswestry. The population of Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough is projected to fall from 96,300 in 2004 to 95,000 in 2021, while the population of Oswestry district is projected to rise from 36,600 to 39,200 over the same time period. Both areas will experience an ageing population that will increase both the number and proportion of those aged 45+ within the area. 2. A Gap in the Market Analysis of RAJAR ratings data (see Research Project 2, full details in Appendix 6) has highlighted changes in the local radio market that have convinced the SLR Board that a clear gap in the market exists for a truly locally-focused radio station serving Shrewsbury and Oswestry: • Total radio listening has fallen from 88% to 84% reach during the last five years; • Commercial radio’s share of listening has fallen from 51% to 49% during the last five years; • Local (not regional) commercial radio’s share of listening has fallen from 31% to 18% during the last five years; • Beacon FM’s share of listening has fallen from 12% to 9% during the last five years; • Classic Gold WABC’s share of listening has fallen from 4% to 1% over the last five years. Market research commissioned by the Board (see Research Projects 3 and 5, full details in Appendix 7 and 10 respectively) has demonstrated that demand exists amongst the local population for a source of news and information that is wholly focused on their own locality. The research confirmed that this demand is not currently being adequately satisfied by existing local commercial radio stations, which is why BBC Radio Shropshire currently achieves an 18% share of listening within its survey area (substantially more than Beacon FM and Classic Gold WABC combined within their survey areas). 17
Section 105(A): Ability to maintain proposed service 2. Financial and Business Plan Analysis of the demographics of hours listened to Beacon FM and Classic Gold WABC demonstrated that the age group least catered for by existing local commercial radio stations is 45 to 54 year olds. INDEX 100 =normal distribution 220 0 DISTRIBUTION OF HOURS LISTENED BY AGE [indexed by population] MARKET GAP Beacon FM Classic Gold WABC 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ The station’s proposed target audience of 35 to 64 year olds was carefully selected by the SLR Board after reviewing all available data. This target group represents just over half of the adult population of the area and is sufficiently large to render a local commercial radio station economically viable. Although the graph shows that Classic Gold WABC’s audience is skewed towards 55 to 64 year olds, the overall impact of the station is negligible because its share of listening within its broadcast area has fallen to only 1%. Even within its key 55 to 64 demographic, Classic Gold WABC only achieves a 2% share. Shrewsbury Local Radio believes that it has identified a viable gap in the radio market and, as a result, it has carefully produced an achievable business plan and a set of programme proposals that will satisfy the demand of local people for a new local radio station that caters for their distinctive tastes and interests. 3. Skills & Experience to Maintain the Service The Board of Shrewsbury Local Radio Limited and the staff of major shareholder Laser Broadcasting Limited bring together an unrivalled range of radio management skills and long term commitment to the industry, both in the Shropshire market and elsewhere, to ensure that the station will maintain the highest standards during the entire twelve-year period of its licence. In addition to the directly relevant experience of its Directors [see answer to Question 1(a)], the Board is able to draw upon a wider range of skills and services. The Board has agreed to contract Laser Broadcasting Limited to supply Shrewsbury Local Radio Limited with a full accounts service, commercial traffic system, commercial production, sales training, IT support and a minimum of 36 hours per month of management time during the launch period, and then 30 hours per month thereafter. The contracted provision of these essential back-office services will ensure that Shrewsbury Local Radio can concentrate its efforts on delivering the local radio station that the people of Shrewsbury and Oswestry are demanding. 18
Page 1 and 2: An Application to Ofcom for the FM
Page 3 and 4: Section 105(A): Ability to maintain
Page 17: Section 105(A): Ability to maintain
Page 39 and 40: Section 105(B) and (C): Catering fo
Page 53 and 54: Section 105 (D): Evidence of Local
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Section 105 (D): Evidence of Local
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SLR - Ofcom Licensing

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