Section 355 Review of Output: Juice FM (Liverpool)1
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Section 355 Review of Output: Juice FM (Liverpool)1 When a local commercial radio licence undergoes a change of control (this includes licence transfer), Ofcom is required, under section 355 of the Communications Act 2003 (the Act), to undertake a review of the effects or likely effects of the change of control in relation to: • the quality and range of programmes included in the service; • the character of the service, and; • the extent to which Ofcom’s duty under section 314 of the Act is performed in relation to the service. Ofcom’s duty under section 314 of the Act relates to securing the inclusion of an appropriate amount of local material, and a suitable proportion of locally-made programmes in the service. Under section 356 of the Act, where it appears to Ofcom from its review that the change of control would be prejudicial to any of the three matters listed above, then it must vary the licence, by including such conditions as it considers appropriate, with a view to ensuring that the relevant change of control is not so prejudicial. In doing so, any new or varied conditions must be such that the licence holder would have satisfied them throughout the three months immediately before the change of control. Ofcom is required to publish a report of its review, setting out its conclusions and any steps it proposes to take under section 356. Where Ofcom proposes to vary the licence, it is required to give the licence holder a reasonable opportunity to make representations about the variation. In October 2015, a change of control took place at Juice Holdco Limited, which holds a local commercial FM licence for the Liverpool area (AL207). Juice Holdco Limited was previously owned by TalkSPORT Limited, and ultimately owned by UTV Media (GB) Limited. Juice Holdco Limited is now 100 percent owned by Global Radio Holdings Limited, a company which is owned by This is Global Limited. Ofcom has now carried out its review under section 355 in relation to the Liverpool service Juice FM. In doing so, it has reviewed the output of Juice FM in the three months prior to the change of control taking place,2 and considered information provided to it with regard to the future programming on the station. 1 Capital, from 18 January 2016 2 At Ofcom’s request, Juice Holdco Limited supplied Ofcom with recordings of the station’s output between 27-30 September 2015. Ofcom’s assessment of the output of Juice FM (prior to the change of control) The Character of Service of the station is: A STATION REFLECTING THE YOUTH CULTURE OF LIVERPOOL PLAYING A MIX OF BREAKING NEW MUSIC, CHART AND DANCE, WITH RELEVANT INFORMATION AND A COMMITMENT TO LOCAL ARTISTS The station’s Format is shown in Annex 1. Annex 2 is the licensee’s completed Review of Output, which summarises the output of this service and its programme schedule is shown at Annex 3. In reviewing the station’s output prior to the change of control, it was noted that the licensee was required to broadcast locally-made programming, including local material, for at least 10 hours during each weekday daytime3 and for at least four hours during daytime on each of Saturday and Sunday. The station’s output during the period monitored exceeded this requirement; all daytime programming was locally-made (i.e. broadcast from studios in Liverpool). The Format also required the station to provide local news bulletins at least hourly at peaktime4 throughout the week. Bulletins of between 70 and 90 seconds duration containing local news and local (football) sports news were in fact broadcast hourly between 06:00 and 19:00 on weekdays, and hourly in the late breakfast shows at weekends. All local news was produced and presented from the station’s Liverpool studios by a team comprising two full-time journalists (a local head of news and a local reporter), and bulletins were unique to Juice FM. Traffic and travel reports were broadcast during weekday daytimes and during the weekend breakfast show (29 per day Monday-Thursday; 28 on Friday and four each Saturday and Sunday. Local weather reports were broadcast following the news across the day. As noted above, Juice FM’s Format requires it to broadcast “a mix of breaking new music, chart and dance”, which we interpret to mean pop, dance pop, r&b, house and hip hop. Among the songs played on this station, those listed below, while satisfactorily meeting these terms were also noted to be likely to have the effect of appealing to and reflecting the youth culture of Liverpool, a requirement set out in the station’s Character of Service description. Artist Title Rita Ora feat. Chris Brown Body On Me Sam Feldt feat. Kimberly Anne Show Me Love Pitbull Hotel Room Service Mase Feel So Good Lasgo Something Taylor Swift Wildest Dreams Little Mix Black Magic Sigala Easy Love James Bay Hold Back The River 3 0600 to 1900 4 Weekday breakfast and drivetime, and weekend late breakfast Juice FM also broadcast three specialist/themed programmes during the late evenings: current dance music mixed by DJ/producer presenters on Thursdays; classic dance anthems on Fridays and Saturdays, and a mix of local artists, features and current chart music on Sunday nights (the latter meeting the Format requirement to deliver a commitment to local artists). The new owner’s plans Global Radio proposes to re-brand Juice FM as Capital Liverpool5. Global will provide an ‘enhanced news’ service in accordance with Ofcom’s localness guidelines. This means news bulletins containing local news stories will be broadcast hourly throughout daytime on weekdays, and hourly between 06:00 and 12:00 at weekends. Global’s plans are shown in more detail at Annex 4. The bulletins will be one-minute long outside peak-times (05:00, 10:00-15:00 and 19.00), and between 90 seconds and two minutes long during peak times (06:00–09:00 and 16:00–18:00). A full time News Editor and a full time broadcast journalist will be based in Liverpool, and the station will be supported by Global’s existing Manchester news team outside weekday breakfast and drive. During weekends, news will be provided from either the Liverpool station or the Manchester regional news hub. All bulletins (except 05:00) will be written, produced and broadcast in either Liverpool or Manchester. The local breakfast and drive programmes will feature half-hourly traffic and travel updates, and local weather forecasts after the hourly news bulletins. Outside the weekday breakfast and drive and weekend breakfast shows, Global says that the use of ‘split links’ will enable Capital Liverpool to respond to, and provide listener information in respect of, extreme weather conditions, travel disruption and local breaking news. Capital Liverpool will also “feature relevant Liverpool artists across the radio station’s platforms so that [they] fulfil the commitment to local artists”. Added to this will be a remix programme containing local remixes. These aspects are part of the station’s commitment to local artist as set out in the station’s Character of Service description. Recommended variations to the licence Based on our assessment of the station’s output in the three months prior to the change of control, we do not believe that Juice FM was broadcasting any programming not already reflected in the existing requirements of the station’s Format which would, in our view, have a significant impact upon: • the quality and range of programmes included in the service; • the character of the service; and, • the extent to which local material and locally-made programmes are included in the service. Therefore, we are not proposing any variations to the licence. January 2016 5 On Monday 18 January 2016. Annex 1 COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION FORMAT JUICE FM Character of Service A STATION REFLECTING THE YOUTH CULTURE OF LIVERPOOL PLAYING A MIX OF BREAKING NEW MUSIC , CHART AND DANCE, WITH RELEVANT INFORMATION AND A COMMITMENT TO LOCAL ARTISTS Licensed area Liverpool area (as in Ofcom advertisement) Frequency 107.6 MHz Service duration 24 hours Locally-made hours At least 10 hours a day during daytime weekdays (must include breakfast). At least 4 hours daytime Saturdays and Sundays. Local news bulletins At least hourly at peaktime weekdays and weekends. Outside peak, UK-wide, nations and international news should feature. Shared arrangements (if applicable) Co-location No Arrangements Programme sharing No Arrangements Definitions Speech / Music Excludes advertising, programme/promotional trails & sponsor credits Peaktime Weekday breakfast and drivetime, and weekend late breakfast Daytime 0600 to 1900 weekday and weekend Locally-made Production and presentation from within the licensed area MCA population: 905,894 Licence number: AL 207-1 Notes This Format should be read in conjunction with Ofcom’s published Localness Guidelines as updated with additional text from “The Future of Radio : The Next Phase” (2007) AGREED MARCH 2008 Annex 2 Review of output questionnaire Date of review: 6th October 2015 Station Name: 107.6 Juice FM Licensed area and licence Liverpool (AL207) number: Licensee company: Juice Holdco Limited Submitted by (name and Piers Collins position): Existing Format Character of Service A station reflecting the youth culture of Liverpool playing a mix of new music, chart and dance, with relevant information and a commitment to local artists Programme sharing and/or No arrangements co-location arrangements Locally-made hours and/or Locally-made hours: at least 10 hours during local news bulletins daytime weekdays (must include breakfast) and at least 4 hours daytime Saturday and Sunday. Local news bulletins: at least hourly at peaktime weekdays and weekends.