The Arrow - Ofcom Licensing

7. Evidence of Support
This section should provide evidence of support, where appropriate, from the applicant's potential audience
or from prospective local advertisers.
The Arrow has the overwhelming support of listeners in Manchester.
There is clearly interest in having a new radio choice in the market. Respondents to our
survey were asked about their attitudes towards the launching of a new station in the
region. An astounding 92% of them agreed that they would be very keen to try it out,
irrespective of the format.
Our research also showed extremely high levels of support for The Arrow. When read a
description of The Arrow and asked how often they thought they would listen to it, 25% of
respondents said they would listen every day (35% among males 40-59), with the figure
rising to 75% of respondents who would listen at least once a week (84% among males
40-59). When played a selection of tracks representing The Arrow’s format, 38% (57%
among male 40-59) said they would listen often and 13% said that it would be their
favourite station. This figure gives the most accurate indication of the potential reach of
the station, and therefore represents a major achievement for a new service in a
competitive market. We then asked how this would affect their current radio listening
habits. 38% of respondents said they would spend more time listening to the radio in
general, with 13% stopping listening completely to a particular station. For 59% of the
respondents the introduction of The Arrow would mean they would listen less to any
particular existing stations.
We also sought to measure general support for a station like The Arrow even amongst
non-rock music fans. Respondents were asked: “Regardless of whether you would listen
or not, would you support a radio station like [The Arrow] getting a licence to
broadcast?” A staggering 95% of them said ‘yes’. This overwhelming support is an
extraordinary finding, and confirms our view that the Arrow is the station that Manchester
really wants to hear.
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