Ofcom has revoked Absolute Radio’s AM licence following Bauer’s decision to cease broadcasting the service before the end of its licence period.
The station’s licence was renewed for a period of ten years from May 2021. Last month, Bauer confirmed that it would no longer broadcast the station on AM but will continue to broadcast nationally on DAB.
Under section 111(4) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, if Ofcom is satisfied that a national service licence holder has ceased to provide the service before the end of the licence period and it is appropriate to do so, it must revoke the licence.
Under section 101(3) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, where Ofcom revokes a national licence, it must require the licence holder to pay it a financial penalty.
Ofcom says it will now undertake a further process to determine the level of the penalty.
This story first appeared on radiotoday.co.uk