Community radio application form
1. Station Name Guidance Notes What is the proposed station name? This is the name you expect to use to identify the Answer: station on air.
Quasar – The Album Station
2. Community to be served Guidance Notes Define the community or communities you are It is a legislative requirement that a service is proposing to serve. Drawing from various sources of intended primarily to serve one or more communities data (e.g. from the Office of Population, Census and (whether or not it also serves other members of the Survey) and in relation to your proposed coverage public) and we need to understand who comprises area, please determine the size of the population that community or communities. The target concerned and the make-up of the population as a community will also be specified in the licence, if this whole, along with any relevant socio-economic application is successful. information that would support your application. The legislation defines a ‘community’ as: people who (Please tell us the sources of the information you live or work or undergo education or training in a provide.) particular area or locality, or people who have one or Answer in fewer than 300 words: more interests or characteristics in common.
Quasar seeks to target a ‘community of interest’, geographically spread over a wide area. It comprises adults aged broadly between 45 and 64, spanning all socio-economic and ethnic groups, whose musical taste extends beyond what is, and was, in the singles charts. Their preference is to hear music from a wide range of genres and eras. They will be listening to whole albums as opposed to just the tracks which were, or have been, selected as ‘singles’. They will still be interested in hearing new music but generally speaking not what may be ‘trending’ on social media or hyped as the latest ‘must hear’ as this will largely be aimed at younger people. A typical listener would be mature and musically aware. They perhaps grew up in the 1960s alongside such serious acts as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. They probably shared the views of people such as John Lennon and took an interest in events such as the Woodstock Festival. As the 1970s dawned they may well have gone to the Isle of Wight Festival, discovered the evolving sounds of The Who, David Bowie and Stevie Wonder and read with interest about the early careers of future greats such as Bruce Springsteen. At present they may not be listening to music radio at all as they find no station plays the depth and variety of music they prefer to hear. Figures from the Greater London Authority, based on the 2011 Census, show the current London Borough population to be around 8,173,938. The break-down of those in our proposed target is best illustrated by the graph below, but totals 1,732,526 persons.
Quasar would appeal to a significant percentage of this broad age grouping.
Community radio application form
3. Proposed area Guidance Notes What is the area you propose to serve? It is Ofcom policy that community radio stations usually serve an area of up to a 5 kilometre radius from the transmission site. See ‘Coverage and planning policy for analogue radio broadcasting services’. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radi o-ops/coverage/analogue-coverage-policy.pdf
As our target community is widely spread we propose to serve the area of Greater London bounded by the M25, specifically the London Boroughs.
Programmes and programme output: Definitions: Studio location: The studio from which the service will be broadcast should be located within the licensed area. Locally-produced: Locally-produced output is output made and broadcast from within the service’s licensed coverage area. (It is anticipated that most stations will produce the bulk of their output themselves, in the locality. However, for some target communities it may be appropriate for fairly high levels of output to originate from outside the licensed area.) Live output: is that which is produced by a presenter in the studio at the time of broadcast. (The amount of live output may vary between different services depending on the needs or expectations of the target community.) Original output: output that is first produced for and transmitted by the service, and excludes output that was transmitted elsewhere before. Original output can be live or voice-tracked. Repeat broadcasts of original output do not count towards the minimum requirement. Peak time: it may be helpful to state what material will be broadcast in ‘peak time’. If you do, please say what you consider peak time to be for your target community (this may vary from station to station). Automated output/voice-tracked material: most stations will carry automated output at some time. The amount of automated or voice-tracked material does not need to be specified in the key commitments. Sustaining service/third party produced material: if you intend to broadcast material produced by a different organisation please state what it is and how much (per day or week as appropriate). 4. Programming output Guidance Notes Please fill-in all three questions below The law requires applicants to state their proposals for Question A asks you to describe your programme providing a service that would: service. (i) cater for the tastes and interests of members of its Question B relates to how your output will serve the target community or communities (or for any tastes and interests of your target community. particular tastes and interests in those communities); Question C is about how your service will broaden (ii) broaden the range of programmes available on non- the range of local (non-BBC) services available in BBC local services (commercial and community your area. stations) to members of the relevant community or communities; Later in this form you will be asked to draft your own ‘key commitments’. This will form the basis of your (iii) broaden the overall range of such non-BBC local licence and is what Ofcom will judge you against. It services provided in the area concerned; and should include a summary of your proposed (iv) have a distinct nature, or provide distinct content, programme output as set out below and reflect your from any non-BBC local services with which it would commitment to cater for relevant tastes and interests, overlap. to broaden the range of relevant programmes and Ofcom is required to consider the extent to which an services and to provide a service with a distinct applicant’s proposals will cater for the tastes and nature and content as set out in the Guidance Notes interests of members of its target community or in the column opposite. communities. Ofcom is also required to consider the extent to which proposals for a community radio station would broaden the range of programmes available by way of non-BBC local services (both commercial and community stations) in the area concerned (especially, the extent to which a proposed service would have a distinct nature or provide distinct content from any overlapping non-BBC local services).
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The information given here should be more detailed than what you set out in your draft key commitments (later in this form), and will help us gain a fuller understanding of how you will serve your target community and what the station will sound like. 4. Programming output A: Please tell us about your programme service. The following questions may help you describe your programme service (but should only be used as a guide): What will the service sound like? What music will you play? What are the main speech elements of the service and how will the social gain/community benefits you propose be reflected on-air? What is the likely music to speech ratio? Will this vary at different times of the day or week (or year)? Do you intend to broadcast live output? If so when and how much do you propose to do? Will you broadcast in languages other than English (what languages and how much)? Will your output be original i.e. specifically produced for your service? Will it be locally produced? Do you intend to repeat material? Quasar is already ‘on-air’ and the service we propose is largely that which we currently broadcast on- line (www.quasarradio.uk). It consists of a broad mix of music, almost exclusively from albums, tailored to a musically aware and somewhat discerning adult audience. Hit singles, current or past, do not feature in the mix unless they are taken from an album and their chart success is just coincidental. Our programming does not identify with any particular era or genre of music. We play tracks from wide ranging albums from the 1960s through to the present day. Whilst there may be some replication with other services, none within the target area offer the depth and range we currently deliver. To be specific about the music we will play is difficult as it will be from albums released over six decades along with new and current material. Some examples of better known albums we would play would be The Beatles – Sgt Pepper, Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here, Fleetwood Mac – Rumours, Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms, Steve Winwood – Talking Back to the Night, Waterboys – Dream Harder, Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill, Ian Hunter – Man Overboard, Eagles – Long Road Out of Eden, Doobie Brothers – World Gone Crazy, Rumer – Seasons of The Soul. At the risk of repeating ourselves they are all album titles and not specific tracks. Our presenters are, and will be, encouraged to play tracks from the entire album. Quasar is a music station carrying very little speech content outside of presenter links and promotional material and we do not propose to change that to any large extent. Currently the ratio is in the region of 95% music, 5% speech. The short speech based features we currently run are anything from music news, both new and historical, concert reviews, album reviews and lifestyle items. We would continue and perhaps extend the range and frequency of these items. Special programmes are also included from time to time, for example our occasional ‘Quasar Live’ strand. The recent death of David Bowie was something that touched our target community and reflected in our output and we would continue to have due regard for such events. Virtually all programming, something of the order of 90%, is and will be produced by us and broadcast in English. In the main it will all be pre-recorded ‘as live’ close to transmission time but live programming is possible with our set-up and we may do this on special occasions like holiday weekends. Automated and/or voice tracked output will also feature along with some syndicated programmes that fit our format, these currently number two. It would be our intention to repeat certain programming at times of day different to their initial transmission. It is our contention that the very fact our service would be available goes a long way to meeting social gain requirements for our target community. They are not being served to any great extent at present with little or nothing available from existing outlets. A community spirit is not just about coming together physically to ‘do’ something. It can also be about like minds individually enjoying something such as music. Today it is easy for those with common interests to interact via social media. We already have a vibrant Facebook page and Twitter feed to facilitate that which is, and will be, promoted on-air We cannot listen to every album release and so would be very open to suggestions from the community. Community radio application form
They will, on occasions discover a real ‘gem’ that deserves a wider audience. It is also likely to be the case that suitable music is being made in the community. Many of today’s famous musicians started off making music in bedrooms and garages and, subject to certain quality and artistic considerations, we would encourage this material to be submitted and allocate time within programming for it to be played. Our target listeners will also be attending concerts large and small and we will allocate time within programmes for their previews or reviews to be broadcast. It may be that sections of the community will be organising such events from time to time and we would support such efforts by, for example, offering free airtime for publicity.
B. What is the address of the proposed studio (if known)?
We do not propose having a designated studio. Our presenters are spread far and wide and use their own facilities to submit programming. There will be two ‘hubs’ within the transmission area (at present these are located at the private addresses of the Directors) to control playout, accept live feeds and provide audio to the transmitter. We will also have portable facilities available for loan to enable community contributions. Provision for them to make contact already exists, although we will add a mailing address.
C: Based on what you have said above, how will your proposed radio service cater for the tastes and interests of your target community/communities?
Unlike most music radio stations, Quasar avoids tight formatting which constrains a presenter to playing only certain pre-selected tracks. We merely lay down a framework which governs the broad mix of eras across a single hour. Within this framework the presenter has total freedom to select which track is actually played. Outside of automated hours we do not programme set tracks from any album and encourage our presenters to select any track from an album. This approach results in what some may term an eclectic mixture of music. It is certainly totally unpredictable and offers the listener the chance to hear music they may not have heard before alongside that which they are already familiar with or maybe have forgotten about – and sometimes all three in the space of 10 or 15 minutes! Since we started broadcasting in 2014 we have already helped to give emerging artists such as Ryley Walker and The Clear a wider audience as well as introducing listeners to new material from established acts such a David Crosby and Don Henley. Our presentation style is laid back and adult always trying to reflect what is ‘real’ to a target listener and avoiding the over-hyped and somewhat false sounding banalities that seem to predominate today. Our speech segments are in a similar style trying to reflect what is relevant or interesting to a target listener. Celebrity gossip, meaningless and random so called funny stories from the papers and the like do not feature as this is precisely the sort of thing that has, in part, been responsible for driving those we target away from listening to the radio. All of our presenters are within the target age range and thus will have much in common with the community being served.
D: How will your proposed community radio service add to the range of programmes available on non- BBC local services (commercial and community stations) to members of the relevant community or communities, add to the overall range of such services in the area concerned and be different and distinct from them? Please tell us which non-BBC local services your station will overlap with.
No music station in the area we are proposing to cover plays anywhere near the breadth and depth of that which is, and will be, played on Quasar and no other service comes close to replicating our sound. In essence we are a free-form station and the exact opposite of the tight formatting employed today. Almost all commercial stations completely ignore the adult audience who want to hear anything other than X-Factor type artists or the same tired oldies. The Heart brand, for example is very successful at targeting a female 36 year old with no desire to hear anything but contemporary pop music and danceable oldies, but this is not the audience we currently have or strive to attract. Quasar’s format offers a completely different listening experience. The music is picked by human beings with passion and experience and no-one is telling them what to play and when to play it. We talk ‘to’ our audience in normal measured tones and not ‘at’ them using liner cards and overhyped slogans. Much of the music played on Quasar is not heard anywhere else as it doesn’t fit into the neat boxes much loved by commercial radio in general. The community we propose to target is probably not even
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listening to music radio at present as they find nothing on the dial to engage them. They want a station where they can hear real people with a passion for the medium and a musical mix that challenges them. Quasar is designed to fill that gap. Aside from the three INR stations Quasar Radio will overlap the following London wide non-BBC services: Capital FM, LBC, Kiss 100, Smooth Radio, Magic 105.4, Absolute Radio, Radio X, Heart 106.2, Spectrum Radio, LBC 1152, Gold, Dilse Radio, Lyca Radio, Sunrise Radio, Premier Radio. Other ILR stations within London where overlap would occur are: Capital Xtra 96.9 & 107.1, London Greek Radio, Time 106.6, Time 107.5, Radio Jackie and Panjab Radio. We would also overlap the following community stations: Westside 89.6, Hayes FM, NuSound Radio, Bang Radio, Resonance FM, Rinse FM, Reprezent, Desi Radio and Betar Bangla.
Social gain
5. Social gain Guidance Notes Community radio is required to be for the public good Broadcasting legislation specifies a number of and to bring community benefits, or social gains, to ‘characteristics of community radio services’. Licence listeners and participants. The requirement for ‘social holders need to ensure their services conform to these gain,’ is one of the key factors that makes community characteristics, including in this case the delivery of radio stations different from other radio services. social gain. Please tell us what community benefits your service The legislation sets out social gains that stations must will bring to your target community(ies) and/or the provide. These are the achievement, in respect of general public. Please include summaries of individuals or groups of individuals in the target evidence to support your answer. community, or in respect of other members of the public, Your draft ‘key commitments’ (later in this form) of the following objectives – should include a summary of your proposed social (a) the provision of a radio service to individuals who gain set out below. are otherwise underserved by such services, (b) the facilitation of discussion and the expression of opinion, (c) the provision (whether by means of programmes included in the service or otherwise) of education or training to individuals not employed by the station, and (d) the better understanding of the particular community and the strengthening of links within it. Social gain may also include the achievement of other objectives of a social nature.1 Applicants are required to provide evidence that their service will result in significant social gain to the public or the target community(ies). Copies of letters or research reports etc. should not be submitted, but brief relevant extracts from them, which represent an accurate and comprehensive summary, may be included. If we wish to see the source material, we will ask for it. Ofcom is required to have regard to the extent to which your proposed service would result in the delivery of social gain to the public or target community.
The community we seek to target is diverse and widely spread, not having any particular geographic location in common and in many cases not having many shared social or work similarities. What binds it together is a wide and varied musical taste, much greater than may be considered the norm. This community is, at best, only catered for sporadically or, at worst, not catered for at all by current services available in London – or indeed the entire country for that matter. Were we to be granted a licence the community would instantly gain a huge benefit, both in terms of having a radio station that catered solely for them and in the provision of a wider outlet for the community’s existing and emerging
1 See Article 2(3) of the Community Radio Order 2004 and Ofcom’s Notes of guidance for community radio applicants and licensees. Community radio application form
musical talent. Listener Tim: “Some really nice music today from Dave and Cliff. Decorating to some great tracks”. Listener Gary: “Just discovered Quasar and its already sounding brilliant”. Listener Paul: “Very impressed with the great music”. When it comes to new bands and musicians getting their work heard on the radio seemingly nothing has really changed since the late 1950s. Students of broadcasting history will tell you that back then, accepting there were fewer outlets, if you were not an established act there was little chance of getting airplay for your work. Today even though there are many more radio stations the story is much the same. Fortunately the internet and social media gives many other opportunities now, but we believe having access to a radio station with a remit to promote new talent will have the benefit of broadening the options to be heard and also the base of potential listeners. Quasar would seek to bring this somewhat disparate group together both physically and through a shared listening experience. Musician Tom Pinsent: "God Bless Quasar, they play not only new and interesting music but also older tracks that I haven't heard for years". The Loosehounds (Band): “We are very proud that you brought Loosehounds on board at a very early stage for us”. In terms of bringing the community together in a physical sense our plan is to forge relationships with the organisers of concerts and other musical events across the transmission area. We would act as a sort of audio notice board with the aim of bringing such events to the attention of those who might not ordinarily get to hear about them. This in turn would bring benefits to both performers and those who would like to listen.
Access and participation:
6. Participation in the service Guidance Notes How do you propose to ensure that members of your Legislation specifies a number of ‘characteristics of target community (or communities) are given community radio services’. Licence holders need to opportunities to participate in the operation and ensure their services conform to these characteristics, management of the service? including in this case providing opportunities to Your draft ‘key commitments’ (later in this form) participate in the operation and management of the should include a summary of your proposed service. Ofcom requires information as to how this would participation objectives as set out below. be achieved. Answer in fewer than 400 words: What will be the involvement of members of the target community in the radio station? How many volunteers do you anticipate will be involved in your service per year?
One of our goals on launching Quasar was to offer a platform for up-and-coming and emergent bands and musicians making quality music to showcase their work. We all have to start somewhere but in today’s continual thrust to achieve the biggest audience radio stations are less and less likely to take a risk programming such material, or if they do it is generally restricted to an off-peak ghetto. We will actively encourage such bands and musicians to submit their material and if it passes our quality threshold we will broadcast it as part of our main programme strands or make it available to be heard on our MixCloud page. Further, we will support efforts to make or perform music by groups and individuals within the community. There are many, for want of a better word, niche festivals and events across the capital each year but many are only known about within a small circle. Quasar would offer free airtime to enable such events to be promoted to a wider audience and work with organisers to help make them a success. There will be some within the target community who may wish to participate in the radio station in a more ‘hands on’ way and there will, of course, be scope for this. For those with relevant equipment and expertise there will always be opportunities to contribute to programming within our format guidelines but we also recognise the wider aspects or operating a radio station such as sales, marketing or general ‘back room’ work. We will have an open door policy and try to match those who come forward to any available roles.
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7. Access to facilities and training Guidance Notes Set out the practical (formal and informal) Ofcom is required by the legislation to have regard to the mechanisms which you will use to ensure that provision each applicant proposes to make to allow for members of your target community can gain access access by members of the target community to the to your facilities that would be used for the provision facilities to be used for the provision of the service and of your service and to receive training in their use. for their training in the use of those facilities. Your draft ‘key commitments’ (later in this form) should include a summary of your proposed access and objectives for training people in the use of the facilities as set out below.
We will seek to build relationships with educational establishments offering media courses. There is an abundance of practical experience of the radio industry within our group and those running such courses may find it useful to tap into it too. Learning about the theory is one thing and media courses can impart that knowledge very well, but guidance on putting that theory into practice would offer an enhancement and we would offer assistance when and where it was felt to be useful. Quasar is probably unique in that much of our system runs on the Linux, as opposed to Windows, operating system and uses open source software. Rivendell, our playout system, is a fully featured piece of broadcast software. Were it to be a proprietary system, like RCS Master Control for example, it would cost many thousands of pounds, but being open source it is completely free and it benefits from a network of users and developers offering support. This system is used fairly extensively in the United States and one or two other territories but is yet to make a great impact in the UK with only a few stations that we are aware of using it. This places us in a position of being able to offer advice, guidance and even training to the community radio sector and Those making music. Going ‘open source’ can offer major savings and we would stand ready to share our knowledge and experience.
Ensuring accountability:
8. Accountability Guidance Notes Please set out your proposed community Broadcasting legislation specifies a number of accountability mechanisms. These should cover ‘characteristics of community radio services’. Licence matters such as: holders need to ensure their services conform to these How will members of your target community: characteristics. One is that, in respect of the provision of the service, the provider makes itself accountable to the make contact with your service, and community (or communities) the service is intended to influence the operation of the service? serve. How will suggestions or criticisms from members of Ofcom is required to have regard to the provision each your target community (or communities) be applicant proposes to make in order to ensure its considered and acted upon? accountability to the relevant community (or Your draft ‘key commitments’ (later in this form) communities). should include a summary of your proposed accountability measures as set out below.
The Directors will have overall responsibility for all aspects of the radio station and be accountable for its day to day operation, finances, output and ensuring the key commitments are met. The current two directors identified have wide ranging experience of radio station management from programming and administration through to engineering disciplines. In particular they have extensive experience of this type of ‘niche’ broadcasting. We want Quasar to have a strong connection to the community it serves. Our general email address, Facebook page and Twitter feed are already in place to enable our current listeners to make contact and send feedback. A small number do make contact from time to time and the general feedback we have received so far has been wholly positive. These methods will obviously remain and receive promotion on-air. As an additional, and more formal, mechanism we will set up the Quasar Listeners Forum which would be open for any interested member of the target community to join. We would see the forum meeting Community radio application form
annually, following an inaugural meeting, and electing a co-ordinating committee of up to five persons to have direct access to station management about matters raised either at the annual meeting or by individual members on an ad-hoc basis. The remit of the forum would fall into the following areas. To put forward any ideas for programming or programming content. To advise on any changes within the target community that may identify a need for the station to fulfil or an opportunity for it to take up. To bring to the attention of the Directors any concerns about the station’s operations or programming. The Listeners Forum would produce an annual report outlining its work which would be published via the website.
Guidance notes: station’s draft key commitments Please draft the Key Commitments for your proposed service. There is a blank key commitments template overleaf. If your organisation is awarded a licence, the key commitments you draft here will be included in your licence. (Please note: Ofcom may require amendments if, for example, we feel changes are required to better reflect your application proposals). Your draft Key Commitments should be consistent with, and, where appropriate, summarise the answers you have already given in this application form. It is important that you draft your own commitments rather than just copying what may have been done by others. You should keep in mind that it will be a condition of any licence to meet the Key Commitments: something you must do at all times and for breach of which you could face sanctions including revocation of the licence. So, you should think carefully about what you will be committing to. We would expect key commitments to be brief and no more than one page long.
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KEY COMMITMENTS: to be completed by the applicant [Guidance is given in italics.]
Station name Quasar – The Album Station [As in section 1 of this application] Licence area [State the proposed coverage area as London Boroughs within the M25 set out in section 3 of this form.] Description of character of service [Describe in no more than 80 words in total]: A music service aimed at all adults, aged broadly between 45 and 65 living or working within the London Boroughs, whose musical taste extends beyond what is, and was, a hit single. The service will be both non- era and non-genre specific, playing a wide range of tracks, almost exclusively from albums, from the last six decades and the present day. (60 words)
The service broadcasts: [these bullet points should be a summary of the answers you have given in section 4 of this form]: Music: A broad mix of non-genre and non-era specific album tracks, comprising around 95% of total output.
Speech: Short segments, all in English, relevant to the music played or to the target audience comprising 5% of total output.
The service provides original output for a minimum of 6 hours per day.
The service provides locally-produced output for a minimum of 6 hours per day.
There is no central studio but two ‘broadcast hubs’ within the licensed coverage area.
The service provides a range of community benefits (social gain objectives mandated by statute) for the target community, both on-air and off-air, and in doing so, achieves the following objectives:
Provide a platform for new and emergent bands/musicians to have their work heard.
Encourage and support those in the community organising and running music events.
Work with educational and/or training establishments in the community to enhance existing and proposed media studies and music production courses.
Provide a consistent service to the community of interest we have defined that is currently ill-served.
Members of the target community can contribute to the operation and management of the service.
The service has mechanisms in place through the Quasar Listeners Forum, to ensure it is accountable to its target community.
[Please note: If awarded a licence, the key commitments you draft here will be included in your licence. (However, Ofcom may require amendments if, for example, we feel changes are required to better reflect your application proposals).]
About your organisation:
9. Company details Guidance Notes The legislation requires that: Community radio services should not be provided primarily for commercial reasons or for the financial or other material gain of the body providing the service or the individuals involved in it Any profits produced may only be used to either improve the future provision of the service or for the delivery of social gain to members of the public or the target community Provide the name of the body corporate (e.g. Only a body corporate can hold a community radio company) submitting this application and the type of licence. A body corporate is almost always a (registered) Community radio application form body corporate. company, although it can also include, for example, Please provide copies of the company’s some bodies created by statute (an individual or a Memorandum, Articles of Association and Certificate registered charity on its own is not a body corporate). of Incorporation (or, where it is another type of body Your application must therefore be submitted on behalf corporate, its founding documents and those which of a registered company (or other body corporate). set out its objectives and rules of operation) There are different types of company (e.g. a company limited by shares, a community interest company, a company limited by guarantee) and we need to know what kind of company is applying for a licence. We will not consider a licence award to a company if it has not yet been registered. If the application is successful the licence will be awarded to the body corporate (e.g. company) submitting this application.
Company (or other body corporate) name: Quasar Radio Ltd
Date of registration: 4th October 2016
Company registration number: 10409974
Type of company (or other body corporate): Limited by guarantee
Where your body is not a company, please explain N/A how it meets the requirement to be a body corporate:
10. Ownership Guidance Notes Please provide details of who controls and who owns Ofcom needs to know about the ownership of the the body corporate (e.g. company) applying for this company (or other body corporate) applying for this licence, and on what basis this control and ownership licence, and any issues regarding its control. We will is achieved. (If this will be different once the station also consider how the company (or body corporate) will starts broadcasting please say so (a licence is not be run (this will usually be specified in the Articles of issued until broadcasting starts.) Association of the company). The information provided must include: In relation to exerting control over the applicant, the all the subscribers, members, shareholders, or information provided should include the name and whatever is appropriate for the applicant address of any individuals or corporate bodies in company (or body corporate), and state the accordance with whose wishes the applicant’s affairs are extent of their interest (e.g. % shareholding) (if or will be conducted in most cases or in significant the company will be controlled by members, but respects. the members are not yet recruited, please say so). (You will also be asked about the board of directors in 11 & 12 below.) details of any individual, company or other body that may exert control over the applicant.
Quasar Radio Ltd is a company limited by guarantee owned jointly by Martin Lee (50%) and Trevor Smith (50%). The company has no shareholders and will distribute no dividends with any profits being ploughed directly back into the company in order to enhance and develop its activities. Both Directors serve in a voluntary capacity and undertake to carry out all statutory and accepted tasks in the proper running of the company. They do not stand to benefit financially in any way. It is not anticipated that further Directors will be added, certainly prior to any licence being granted and most likely not within the first year of operation. Day to day management of the radio station will be carried out by the Directors and other nominated individuals noted in Section 11. There are no other individuals, companies or other bodies that may exert control.
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Ability to maintain the service:
11. Management and operations Guidance Notes With regard to the applicant please provide: In addition to the notes above on ownership, Ofcom is A list of directors, indicating who is the managing also required to evaluate the human resources involved director and/or chair (please see question 12 in the running of a community radio station. Answers regarding directors’ details). should demonstrate how those who have relevant experience will work for the station. In addition, a An indication of management structure (e.g. diagram or organisation chart may help paint a clearer management committee or equivalent, if picture. applicable), and/or Information about who would be responsible for the day to day management and running of the station (there is a separate question regarding other staff below). Explain the role(s) in the station, job titles, and indicate whether paid or voluntary, full or part-time (and the number of hours).
Martin Lee. Joint Managing Director/Head of Programmes. Voluntary. 18 hours per week. Trevor Smith. Joint Managing Director/Head of Engineering. Voluntary. 18 hours per week. Day to day management rests with the individuals above, taking account of input from the Listener Forum detailed earlier. The Head of Programmes will take charge of all matters relating to the station’s output including scheduling, administration and overall responsibility for music. The Head of Engineering will be responsible for all technical matters within the various studio environments, transmission hubs and through to the transmitter itself.
12. Management and operations Guidance Notes Please provide information regarding each director as Ofcom needs to know about the proposed directors and set out below (some or all of which may be regarded chair of the applicant. Some or all of the information as confidential). given in this section will usually be removed from In addition if any individuals have been identified for the publicly available copy of this application form. management roles at the proposed station, please (All community radio applications forms will be made give further information in this section. available on our website.) If you request that any information be removed, please indicate which (and why Answer (for each director): by email to [email protected]).
Martin Lee Employment: Media Technician. Further Education College Other directorships: None Relevant experience or qualifications: Prior to moving into further education in 2006 Martin had a long career in broadcasting dating back to 1978. As a broadcaster he worked on a number of commercial stations around the country and held managerial roles in programming at Viking Radio, Pennine Radio/The Pulse, Vale FM, Wessex FM and Spirit FM.
Trevor Smith Employment: Freelance Broadcast Engineer Other directorships: Director of Quasar Media Technology Ltd (unrelated company) Relevant experience or qualifications: Trevor has worked as a broadcast engineer, principally in television and outside broadcasts since 1980.
Other management Head of Sales: This post will be filled by Geoffrey Bagley. He is currently one of our volunteer presenters and will continue in that role. Additionally he will take on responsibility for airtime sales and sponsorship. Aside from Geoff’s experience as a professional broadcaster he is also experienced in sales, mainly in the financial sector, but also in Community radio application form media sales. He was a partner in and estate agency and mortgage broking company and is currently semi-retired. If any individuals (not necessarily directors) have been identified for management roles please state what experience identified individuals have to undertake the role in question.
13. Staffing structure Guidance Notes What is the staffing structure of your proposed radio The legislation requires that Ofcom has regard to the service? Provide a job title for each position and applicant’s ability to maintain the proposed service (as indicate whether the individual will be paid or will well as to ensure the applicant is fit and proper to hold work in a voluntary capacity, will be full or part-time the licence). As well as its ownership, management and (indicate the number of hours for part-time posts). operations, the proposed staffing of the station is This may be provided as a diagram or organisation relevant to these considerations. chart.
Martin Lee and Trevor Smith will, at least for the first year of operation, comprise the Board and work with the Quasar Listeners Forum. Head of Programmes/Presenter – Martin Lee. The post is voluntary at 18 hours per week. Head of Engineering/Presenter – Trevor Smith. The post is voluntary at 18 hours per week. Head of Sales/Presenter – Geoffrey Bagley. The post is voluntary at 18 hours per week. Head of Music/Presenter – Kathy Barham. The post is voluntary at 9 hours a week. IT Technician/Presenter – Eamon Brooks. The post is voluntary at 9 hours a week. Sales Exec. X 2 to be recruited from the community on a part-time, commission paid basis. Presenters. These posts will be filled other current members of the team operating our internet service. They are Glyn Davis, Nigel MacArthur, Bob Liddon, Gary Ziepe, Dave Asher and Derek Herbert. All posts are voluntary at 2 to 3 hours a week. It is anticipated that additional recruitment to presenter and contributor roles will be from the community.
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14. Applicant’s experience Guidance Notes Please describe the history of your group, and any Ofcom is required to consider whether an applicant has relevant experience of the group, or the individuals the ability to run a community radio station for the within the group, by answering the questions below. licence period (up to five years). To aid our consideration we want to know about any relevant experience the applicant group as a whole, or the individuals involved, may have.
A. Please provide a brief history of your group.
Quasar Radio came into being as a 24 hour on-line radio station in September 2014 but its origins can be traced back to some 40 years ago where most of those involved now played roles in creating an alternative outlet for those who wanted to hear more than the latest Top 40 singles. Quasar was created by a group of disillusioned current and former radio professionals who had grown tired of the very limited fayre available on the radio today. With seemingly more and more small and local stations being swallowed up by corporate giants who simply turned their acquisitions over to automated bland formats, often playing the same few hundred tracks in constant rotation, we found nothing on offer in mainstream radio that we would want to listen to. There are quite literally hundreds of bands that have released thousands of albums over the past six decades so surely, we reasoned, there must be an audience out there for a station playing quality album tracks rather than a few hundred hit singles? From the outset our mission has been to create a station that WE would want to listen to in the sure knowledge that other radio listeners who felt similarly disenfranchised would listen too. This application is an evolutionary step on that mission.
B. Please summarise the group’s broadcasting experience (e.g. internet radio, Restricted Service Licences (RSLs)).
Almost all of our on-air team can claim professional broadcasting experience dating back over 40 years or so. They have all worked in the commercial radio industry and two have been Programme Controllers in their time. We also have the services of a highly experienced broadcast engineer and full career histories are available on request. The team have been running Quasar Radio as an internet radio station since September 2014.
C. Please summarise the relevant experience of the group or its members, in relevant non-broadcast areas (such as third sector, local business, fund-raising, training or education).
Martin Lee: In his role as Programme Controller at a number of commercial radio stations he carried out coaching sessions with presenters and led general training of broadcast staff. He currently works in the further education sector and has contributed to media studies courses as guest speaker.
D. Please summarise the radio broadcasting experience of key individuals in the applicant group (only if not already described above). N/A
Evidence of demand:
15. Demand and/or support Guidance Notes Please provide a summary of evidence of demand When considering community radio licence applications, and/or support for your proposed service. Ofcom is required to take into account the extent of local This may include a variety of information, for demand for, or support for, the provision of the proposed example: service. summary of support from statutory or voluntary It is for applicants to decide what evidence of demand or sector organisations which expect to contribute support they wish to submit. However, Ofcom does not practically and/or financially to your operations, believe that generic support for the establishment of a or which would expect to collaborate with you in new radio service is as meaningful as evidence of joint activities; considered support for a specific applicant’s proposals. This means that Ofcom does not attach great value to evidence of interest generated through radio activity (e.g. RSLs, internet radio), community Community radio application form
activity, training, voluntary sector work etc; numerous examples of similar generic or form letters of support by your group, or to petitions. results of research; Copies of letters or research reports etc. should not be summary of support from local politicians, submitted. However, your response here may include councils, educational or religious bodies etc; brief relevant extracts from such material and must summary of support from local business or other represent an accurate and comprehensive summary of sectors; any such supporting evidence. If we wish to see the source material, we will ask for it. evidence of support from your proposed target community. Answer in fewer than 1,000 words:
Quasar is on-air now and has a growing band of loyal listeners so clearly there is a market for the type of radio station we are proposing. Within the large population of the London boroughs there will be many like us and our current listeners who find there is nothing for them on existing stations, but will find our broad mix of music and laid back presentation appealing.
The above map, day and time picked purely at random, shows actual listening to Quasar from data supplied by our streaming provider. Not surprisingly most of it is in United Kingdom and Europe with north America being the next highest. We find that listeners return day after day and unusually many of them listen for long periods when they tune in, staying for hours instead of the ‘magic’ 15 minutes many stations strive to achieve. Tools included by our streaming provider also enable us to ‘see’ new listeners from IP addresses connected to the stream. When a new IP address is identified for the first time we count that person as a unique listener. Doing this enables us to track audience growth with a reasonable degree of accuracy bearing in mind that IP addresses can and do change. Our listenership has grown steadily since we launched on-line in September 2014 and we pick up additional listeners each week. In addition some of our programming is available via our MixCloud page and we find this is well frequented by those wishing to ‘listen again’ or perhaps listen to something they missed. There are already listeners in the area we propose to serve. The map below, captured at the same time as the previous world map, shows listening broadly within the M25. The graph below that shows the growth of unique listening, referred to earlier, for the current year.
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We feel all of this demonstrates there is a demand for the service. Were there not it would be fair to assume little or no listening at all.
Ability to maintain the service – financial information:
16. Pre-launch financial information
In assessing an applicant’s ability to maintain the service we need to know what funds and assets it holds, how much it intends to spend getting the station on-air (pre-launch expenditure), and predicted funding for the pre- launch period. Please note ‘in-kind’ income is dealt with in 18 below.
√ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application. 17. Year 1 financial information - income Please provide information on the predicted income for your first year of broadcasting. N.B. there is a legislative restriction on income from on-air advertising and sponsorship/commercial references (in summary, each station is allowed a ‘fixed revenue allowance’ of £15,000 per year from paid-for advertising and sponsorship; some stations may also be allowed up to 50% of their total relevant information per year (i.e. disregarding the fixed revenue allowance). See the ‘Invitation of applications for community radio licences’ for your region for further information). √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application. 18. Financial information – in-kind support Please provide totals that reflect the in-kind support you expect to receive for the pre-launch period, and for year one. You may count some volunteer input as in-kind support – please see our guidance on this http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/volunteerinput.pdf √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application.
Community radio application form
19. Year 1 financial information – outgoings Please summarise year 1 outgoings – your expected operational expenditure to cover the first 12 months after the service has commenced broadcasting. (Add rows if necessary). √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application.
20. Year 1 financial information – commercial activities on air During your first year of broadcasting would your proposed The legislation for station carry any on-air advertising? (If so, please state the Community Radio
amount of income you anticipate from this source and its places limits on the anticipated proportion of total income) amount of income annually from the sale If ‘No’ might your proposed service seek to carry on-air of on-air advertising and advertising at a later date? (If so, please state the amount sponsorship that can be of income you estimate from this source and its estimated generated. proportion of total income) During your first year of broadcasting would your proposed station carry sponsorship or commercial references in return for payment? (If so, please state the amount of income you anticipate from this source and its anticipated proportion of total income) If ‘No’ might your proposed service seek to carry sponsorship or commercial references in return for payment at a later date? (If so, please state the amount of income you estimate from this source and its estimated proportion of total income) √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application.
21. Pre-launch financial information - contingency If there is a shortfall between pre-launch predicted income and outgoings, please explain below how you would expect to cover any outstanding costs. √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application. 22. Year 1 financial information - contingency If there is a shortfall between Year 1 income and Year 1 outgoings, please explain below how you would expect to cover any outstanding costs (see also 23 and 24 below). Alternatively if there is a surplus at the end of Year 1, please explain what you intend to do with such additional resources. √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application. 23. Financial information – loans and other borrowings If any of your proposed funding (either set-up or operational) is in the form of loans e.g. from directors, individuals or organisations, please provide details as to who the loan is from and the terms of such lending, expected repayment terms, interest rate charged and other associated costs. √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application. 24. Financial information – alternative funding streams If there is a shortfall between income and outgoings, what arrangements have you explored and are in place to provide further financial and/or ‘in-kind’ support for your proposed service? If you have any proposals for expanding and/or changing the funding model of your proposed service after the first year of operation, please provide details below: √ Tick this box if you request Ofcom to withhold this information from the public copy of your application.
Broadcasting engineering:
Engineering notes We require preliminary radio frequency (r.f.) engineering information and applicants are advised that this section
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is not intended to be exhaustive. We are asking for the basic engineering parameters necessary to determine the extent of frequency availability in an applicant’s chosen area (after taking account of the requirements of neighbouring broadcasters); and to determine whether the proposed service area can be adequately served from this site. As a result, applicants should note the importance of identifying a transmission site that is suitable for the area they wish to serve. While Ofcom would not wish applicants to go to unnecessary expense (we do not guarantee the availability of a suitable frequency and/or our ability to allocate it for broadcasting from the chosen transmission site), we do require precise details about the transmission site chosen. The questions following relate to this. Applicants should provide evidence of negotiations or agreement with the site owner (e.g. whether a provisional agreement is in place). Any licence award will be based on the coverage area from the site identified in the application. If a licence is offered, Ofcom may not be able to agree to a change from the site put forward in this application (and any request for a change will need to be justified). Applicants should read and be aware of the relevant part of the Ofcom Site Engineering Code which may be found at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/tech-guidance/eng_code/ Community radio stations typically have a coverage area of up to a 5 kilometre radius. Please see Ofcom’s ‘Coverage and planning policy for analogue broadcasting services’ (including community radio) http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/coverage/analogue-coverage-policy.pdf
25. Engineering information Note: there are fundamental differences between FM (VHF) and AM (MF) transmission systems. These include differences in mast and antenna size, transmitter site requirements, site location, installation cost, audio quality and night-time interference. Before completing this section, applicants may wish to take professional advice to ensure they understand these differences and their implications. Answer Waveband: Is the application for an FM licence? No Is the application for an AM licence? Yes Should a suitable FM frequency be unavailable, would a frequency on AM be acceptable? If you have answered YES to this last question please N/A complete the questions below separately for both an FM transmission site and an AM transmission site. Do you understand the fundamental differences between FM (VHF) and AM (MF) services and have you Yes incorporated these below and in, for example, your start-up and other costs, detailed earlier? Transmission site Valley Retail Park, Purley What is the postal address and post code: address: Way, Croydon CR0 4UZ National Grid The NGR is a reference code comprising two letters and Reference (NGR): two groups of three numbers (e.g. SW 123 456). It is available from Ordnance Survey. Further information can TQ 307 662 be found at: http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/index.html About the site’s What is the height of the site, in metres, Above Ordnance 38.5 metres dimensions: Datum (AOD)? In metres, what is the total height of the mast / building 90 metres Above Ground level (AGL)? What is the height, in metres, of the transmitting antenna 88.6 metres AGL? Please supply photographs of the transmitter mast / Tick if enclosed building and aerial location. About the Who owns the site and what are their full contact details? […] transmission site: Is this site already used for broadcasting and if so by No whom? Transmission site Delete as appropriate the yes/no answers which describe availability: your situation regarding proposed site (it may be that you cannot answer all four questions): Community radio application form
Site identified? Yes Provisional agreement with site owner in place? No Or under negotiation? Yes Applicant group owns site? N/A Other – please specify. (Note: we cannot consider an application if no site has been identified.)
How to contact you:
26. Public contact details Guidance Notes Provide the name of the person who will deal with Ofcom will publish community radio licence enquiries from the press and public and the contact applications, and from time to time statements which details for them. may include public contact details, on its website. A point of contact is required to deal with press and other enquiries from interested parties. Name: Cliff Osbourne Mobile: 07391 924029 Email: [email protected] Website: www.quasarradio.uk
Concluding declaration:
28. Declaration APPLICANT’S, DIRECTORS’ AND OWNERS’ OTHER INTERESTS 1. In relation to the applicant and any body’s and/or individuals whose details are given in sections 11, 12 and 13 of this application, please state whether the applicant, any body or individual is (and if so identify that body or individual) involved in any of the activities set out in the table below, and the extent of the involvement or interest. For these purposes, the applicant includes associates of the applicant (i.e. directors and their associates and other group companies): (Note: if none of the following categories in this section apply, this must be clearly indicated by writing “none” in any appropriate box.) Activity/involvement By the applicant By a director and/or a shareholder (section 12 of this or member application form) (section 11 of this application form) a) Local authorities None None b) Bodies whose objects are wholly or mainly of a None None political nature, or which are affiliated to such a body c) Bodies whose objects are wholly or mainly of a None None religious nature d) An individual who is an officer of a body falling within None None (c) above e) A body corporate which is an associate (as defined in paragraphs 1(1) and 1(1a) of Part I of Schedule 2 None None to the Broadcasting Act 1990) or a body falling within (b) or (c) above) f) An advertising agency or an associate of an None None advertising agency Trevor Smith is the owner of Quasar Media g) Other broadcasting interests (including radio, Technology Ltd an television, satellite and cable broadcasting and allied None unrelated company activities). involved in television OB facilities. Other interests
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2. Give details of any other interest or activity of the applicant which is or could be incompatible with the requirements imposed by or under Schedule 2 to the Broadcasting Act 1990 (as modified by the Community Radio Order 2004) and Articles 6 and 7 of the Community Radio Order 2004. Please also give details of any other participant in the applicant whose interest is or could be incompatible with those requirements. (You may need to seek advice about these matters) Answer: None
Other matters 3. In pursuance of its duties under Section 86(4) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (as amended), Ofcom requires that the applicant should notify Ofcom of any matters which might influence Ofcom’s judgement as to whether: a. the applicant; b. any director of the applicant; c. any individual, or any director of a company, who will have an interest of 5 per cent or more in the applicant; may not be considered a 'fit and proper person' to participate in a radio licence. Such matters would include, for example, the following (whether they occurred in the UK or any other country): any unspent criminal conviction, any undischarged insolvency and/or bankruptcy orders, any disqualification from being a director of a limited company, and any adverse findings made by Ofcom (or its predecessor broadcast regulators), any other regulatory authority and/or any court or tribunal in respect of any regulatory matters. Answer:
None
Do you confirm, to the best of your knowledge and belief, that: 4. The applicant is not a disqualified person in relation to the licence by virtue of the provisions of section 143 (5) of the Broadcasting Act 1996 (relating to political objects); 5. The applicant is not otherwise a disqualified person in relation to the licence by virtue of Part II of Schedule 2 to the Broadcasting Act 1990 or any other rule prohibiting its holding the licence; 6. No director, member or other person involved directly or indirectly in the management of the applicant group is the subject of a disqualification order as defined by section 145 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 1996; 7. No person (body corporate or individual) involved in the application has been convicted within the past five years of an unauthorised broadcasting offence and that the applicant will do all it can to ensure that no person (body corporate or individual) so convicted will be concerned in the provision of the service, the making of programmes included in it, or the operation of the radio station if the applicant is granted a licence; and 8. Any matters which might influence Ofcom's judgement as to whether the directors or members of the applicant group are fit and proper persons to participate in a radio licence have been made to Ofcom. Applicants should note that Ofcom reserves the right to revoke a licence if at any time any material statement made is found to be false and to have been made by the applicant or any member or officer thereof knowing it to be false, and that in the circumstances of section 144 of the Broadcasting Act 1996, the provision of false information or the withholding of relevant information with the intention of misleading Ofcom could incur a criminal conviction and a disqualification from the holding of a licence. √ Please tick this box to confirm that the applicant agrees with the above statements. Please tick the boxes below to indicate which additional documentation is included as part of this application. We are not willing to accept additional information with this application, other than that set out below: √ Memorandum & Articles of Association √ Certificate of Incorporation √ Application Payment (UK £ 600.00) non-returnable (Paid by BACS – Ref. Quasar Radio) √ Photographs of the transmitter mast / building and aerial location. (Please see appendix at end of document)
I hereby apply to Ofcom for the grant of a community radio licence and declare that the information given in this application and any additional documentation is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, correct.
Community radio application form
Martin Lee (Name of person) Joint Managing Director (Title or position in the applicant group) 18th October 2016 (Date)
Please return this form and any additional electronic information by email to: [email protected] If there is any paper-based material associated with this application, please send it to: Community Radio Licensing Team, 5th Floor Ofcom Riverside House 2A Southwark Bridge Road London SE1 9HA Please make sure you keep a copy of this form for your records.
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