Month: July 2024

Ofcom has found Poole’s Hot Radio in breach of its Key Commitments for the second time in 12 months for continuing to broadcast insufficient content specifically about Poole.

The community radio station says it wants to focus on two further areas – Christchurch over 10 miles away from Poole, and the larger town of Bournemouth to the east of Poole.
But Ofcom says the station must do what it was licensed to do – provide a radio service for the people of Poole, which has a population of over 140,000 people.
After listening to recordings of the station in March 2024, Ofcom found that there was insufficient content to distinguish the service from a service targeting the wider Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area. Though there were examples of Poole being mentioned directly regarding local events, much of the focus was on other areas, specifically Bournemouth which is outside of the coverage area.
Since 2019, Poole has been part of a new unitary authority known as BCP, bringing three towns together as one conurbation, something which the station wants Ofcom to recognise and agree to a coverage area increase.
But even though Ofcom has not agreed to change its FM coverage area, the station continues to provide content for the wider area.
The station is official partner for events outside Poole, including the Bournemouth Air Festival and the Dorset Wine Festival, based in Christchurch, and promotes other events and businesses in places which have their own local community radio stations such as Wimborne and Ferndown in east Dorset.
Since its last breach, Hot Radio says it has introduced a feature called “Positive news from Poole” however, Ofcom commented that for the week monitored it considered that the Licensee had not met its character of service to focus on Poole.
Hot Radio has managed to change part of its Key Commitments by removing the word ‘bulletin’ from its requirement to provide ‘news bulletins’, but again, Ofcom says, even with the word “bulletins” removed from the Licensee’s Key Commitments, there is still a requirement to broadcast news, including local news from Poole.
Ofcom concluded: “We are concerned that just under a year later the Licensee has failed to make all necessary changes to its content to come into compliance with its current Key Commitments, although we acknowledge that the Licensee is now meeting its music commitment and has improved its adherence to its character of service. Furthermore, with the recent approval of Hot Radio’s Key Commitment change to omit the word “bulletins” from its speech requirement we expect it to be more able to meet this requirement going forwards.
“We therefore expect the Licensee to work to rectify these issues immediately. We will monitor this service to ensure that Hot Radio is complying with the Key Commitments.” […]

Boom Radio has received two complaints about broadcasting offensive language in the music track You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette.

The song, which contained one use of the F word, was playing ‘during the school run’ according to one of the complainants.
Also this week, Ofcom has announced that Radio Winchcombe played Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, also in a 4pm hour.
Boom Radio said that it had not intended for the song to be broadcast “in the form it was”. It said it was “aware there were alternate versions” and that it had “downloaded the one which was marked appropriately, but it had been incorrectly labelled”.
The Licensee said, “in that respect, we agree with the complainants in that we would not have chosen to air the version we did”.
However, the station added that 94% of Boom listening is from those aged 55+ and that its “under 18 audience registers at zero”.
The station argued against Ofcom’s finding that children are particularly likely to be listening, and questioned why it was upholding this complaint when it didn’t pursue a complaint in 2021 regarding three uses of the F word.
Ofcom concluded: We considered the Licensee’s reference to a previous complaint about offensive language which Ofcom did not pursue. However, Ofcom also noted the differences in the circumstances of the two cases, specifically that the previous case had involved the accidental use of offensive language in live programming which had been followed by a sincere apology.
“Ofcom’s decision not to pursue this case was in line with Ofcom’s 2021 offensive language research, which found that participants considered the accidental use of the offensive language in live programming that was clearly a mistake to be more acceptable, particularly if it was followed by a timely apology. By contrast, in the present case, Boom Radio admitted that it had broadcast a version of a song that “had been incorrectly labelled”. We therefore considered that it could – and should – have known the nature of the content prior to broadcast.”
Meanwhile, Radio Winchcombe apologised to Ofcom for the broadcast of the offensive language, and said that it was “just as shocked as Ofcom in learning a track with explicit content” was broadcast and that there had been no apology or realisation that a mistake had been made.
The Licensee explained that the presenter was a relatively new volunteer and said that he had been “unwilling to accept any input we tried to give him about his show”.
It added that it had previously considered whether to allow the presenter to continue at the station, but had concluded that it did not have “significant enough concerns”.
The presenter provided his representations via email, which was sent to Ofcom directly. The presenter said that he “regret[s] ever playing that song” and that he has never “played a rude word and never would”. He explained that, following feedback from a listener that his show did not feature enough modern music, he began playing the top three songs in the Singles Charts, which he downloaded from the internet as he thought it “would be ideal for the younger listeners to hear”.
The presenter said that he did not know the song and did not hear the offensive language as the song was broadcast. He added that, had he known that there was offensive language in the song, he would not have played it, and that he had apologised to the Licensee when he was made aware of the broadcast of offensive language.
The presenter said that he had not been “shown how to use the main broadcasting computer or the 2 console[s] very much at all” and that he had therefore found these difficult to operate.
The presenter has since stopped presenting his show on the station. […]

Ofcom has investigated Hayes FM following a complaint about its output.
The community radio station in Greater London should provide original output for a minimum of eight hours per day and locally-produced output for a minimum of 13 hours per day.
Communicating with Ofcom, Hayes FM acknowledged that neither the original nor locally-produced output requirement has been met recently.
The Licensee explained that this is, at least partly, due to facing “a reduction in volunteers following [the Coronavirus pandemic and then] delays in getting all of the volunteers checked with the DBS agency”.
It set out that its current studio is on school grounds meaning a DBS check is a pre-requisite for volunteering.
The Licensee said that it is currently in the process of seeking out a new studio after its agreement with a local school to use their facilities has come to an end.
Hayes FM stressed this as a primary reason for its lack of original and locally-produced output and explained that its “energies have been and are focussed on finding alternative premises to set up a new studio to broadcast from”.
Ofcom had a listen to the station and said in terms of original output, the station met the stated eight hours only on the Friday of the week in question. Hayes FM broadcast three hours of original output on the Monday, two hours on both Tuesday and Wednesday, seven hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday. Of particular concern was Thursday when no original output was broadcast.
The regulator added that locally-produced output was overall closer on the average to its required output, but the stated minimum was still not achieved on any of the days of the week. […]

A long-standing Jersey presenter has retired from broadcasting after 35 years.
Phil Taylor, who was well known for presenting various shows including a Sunday afternoon request programme, announced his departure on social media.
He wrote: “18.00 today I came off-air at BBC Radio Jersey for the final time to join the ranks of retired radio presenters.
“It has been the absolute privilege and pleasure of the last 35 years playing “The Music That Matters To You, my listeners.”
“I have honestly enjoyed every moment of that time playing your choice of music, sometimes a regularly played tune, sometimes a rarely heard cracking classic and occasionally a forgotten pearl.
“Thank you so much for inviting me into your homes, cars and workplaces.”
He continued: “It is a privilege that I never took for granted, ever.
“Until next we meet, wherever, whenever, please be kind, tolerant, understanding and accepting of each other. Thank you.
“Phil Taylor – Retired BBC Radio Jersey presenter.” […]