Section 355 Review of Output

Compass FM ()

Publication Date: 15 July 2020

Section 355 Review: Compass FM (Grimsby)

Introduction

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. On 6 February 2019, Ofcom received notification from Lincs FM Group Limited that agreement had been reached to sell the analogue radio licence for Grimsby, held by Compass Radio Limited and broadcasting as ‘Compass FM’, to Limited. The acquisition of this licence and others owned by Lincs FM Group Limited was completed on 28 February 2019. Ofcom has now carried out its review under section 355 in relation to the Grimsby licence formerly owned by Compass Radio Limited. In doing so, we have reviewed the output broadcast under the licence in the three months prior to the change of control taking place, and considered information provided by Bauer Radio Limited with regard to the future programming of the station.

Ofcom’s assessment of the output of Compass FM (prior to the change of control)

The character of service for Compass FM is: A ‘FULL SERVICE’ STATION FOR THE GRIMSBY AREA AIMED AT THE MATURE LISTENER FEATURING LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION WITH A BLEND OF CLASSIC OLDIES AND MELODIC POP.

Compass FM broadcasts 24 hours of locally-made programming1 per day from its studios in Lincoln, meaning the licensee considerably exceeded Ofcom’s localness guidelines in this respect. Some of its

1 Locally-made programming defined as programming made within the licence area or wider ‘approved area.’ 1

Section 355 Review: Compass FM (Grimsby)

programming was shared with other local Lincs FM Group radio stations: this included ‘The Farming Programme’, shared with Lincs FM on a Sunday morning. Locally-produced news bulletins are aired on Compass FM hourly between 7am to 6pm weekdays, and from 8am to 1pm weekends, with their duration ranging from three to five minutes depending on the day’s news agenda. The bulletins included a mix of local and national news, but with at least half of any bulletin featuring local news, with a heavy bias towards North East . The bulletins were produced by a team of five journalists working out of a newsroom in Lincoln. Other local material broadcast by Compass FM included regular travel and weather bulletins broadcast around the clock, school closure information (when relevant), hourly what’s on updates and score flash coverage of local rugby and football games. Regular programming features included ‘Cakeaway’, a weekly feature where Compass FM delivered a cake to a listener’s workplace, and ‘Sofa Songs’ where a locally prominent person is interviewed and chooses their all-time top five favourite songs. Compass FM played a mix of music from the 1960s to the present day, with artists such as Randy Crawford, Elton John, Billy Joel, George Benson and the Bellamy Brothers reflecting the Format requirement for “a blend of classic oldies and melodic pop.” Themed music programming included ‘Sunday Collection’, a four-hour celebration of music on Sunday mornings from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

The new owner’s plans

Recommended variations to the licence

Based on our assessment of the station’s output in the three months prior to the change of control, and the new owner’s stated plans, it does not appear to us that the change of control of the Grimsby licence would be prejudicial to any of the following three matters:

• 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. In particular, we do not consider that Compass FM was broadcasting any programming that was not already reflected in the requirements of the station’s Format which would, in our view, have a significant impact upon any of these matters. Therefore, we are not proposing any variations to the licence under section 356. July 2020

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