Small Scale DAB Licensing consultation: Responses received October 2018 1 List of respondents A total of 87 responses were received from members of the public, and individuals and organisations working within a variety of sectors. Of the respondents, one has requested anonymity and therefore has not been listed. 1. Neil Kipling 46. Muxco 2. Iain Gowers 47. Tone FM 3. Rodney Maxwell 48. John Goodman 4. Paul Holmes 49. Celador 5. Peter Allridge 50. Global 6. Colin Marks 51. Mark O’Reilly 7. David Dbs 52. Niocast Digital 8. Steve Fox 53. Services Sound and Vision (SSVC) 9. Alec Thomas 54. Colonel J G Robinson Brigade of 10. Martin James Gurkhas 11. Penistone Community Radio 55. Buchan Radio 12. Graham Phillips 56. Resonance FM 13. Takeover Radio 57. Quidem Radio Group 14. Dave Hurford 58. The Flash 15. Radio Verulam 59. Bauer Media Group 16. Phonic FM 60. Alternative Broadcast Company 17. Chris Dawson 61. KMFM 18. Biggles FM 62. Nation Broadcasting 19. Maxxwave 63. DigiLink Connect 20. Moss Media 64. Wireless Group 21. Coast Digital Radio 65. DC Thomson Media 22. UKRD 66. 100% Media Group 23. BBC 67. Brighton and Hove Radio Ltd 24. Heart of Nation Broadcasting 68. Radiate ideas 25. 6 Towns Radio 69. Radiocentral24 26. The Source FM 70. Daniel Rose 27. Martin Steers 71. UDAB 28. Uckfield FM 72. Future Digital Norfolk 29. Seahaven FM 73. Radio Reverb 30. Marc Webber 74. Radiocentre 31. Kingdom FM 75. Arqiva 32. Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium 76. Community Media Association 33. Lincs FM Group 77. MKFM 34. Radio Woking 78. Commtronix 35. Broadcast Radio Limited 79. Chris Green MP 36. Awaaz FM Southampton 80. Angel Radio 37. OX4FM 81. Flame CCR 38. Winchester Radio 82. Andrew Hilbert 39. Paul Boon 83. Andrew Bush 40. Toby Perkins MP 84. Dr Paul Groves 41. Lisa Nandy MP 85. Will Jackson 42. Cambridge Radio Limited 86. Brian Lister 43. Hospital Broadcasting Association 44. Great Yorkshire Radio 45. Radio Exe 2 1. Neil Kipling Small Scale DAB Consultation Mailbox <[email protected]> application enquiry neil kipling 4 January 2018 at 12:03 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Good aernoon, Should the moon get passed to proceed I would like to know if there are any posions available in the north east? Regards Neil Kipling Station Manager Nova Radio North East www.novaradio.co.uk 3 2. Iain Gowers Small Scale DAB Consultation Mailbox <[email protected]> feedback Iain Gowers 4 January 2018 at 13:37 Reply­To: Iain Gowers To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Hi, I would just like to say I fully support small­scale DAB. My local small­scale DAB is Brighton. I have had experiences with problems with the transmission (not my reception) and also changes made of which the radio stations do have the staff to be able to respond to these. In one case a radio station was down for 3 days running over a weekend. Some of the small­scale muxes have website or social media presences (ie https://twitter.com/niocast?lang=en), therefore I was a wondering if it could be made a requirement that Muxs owner either have a social media presence or website to be contactable or announce changes (ie adding and removing stations, moving to DAB+)? There is no cost to set up a twitter account. Kind regards Iain 4 3. Rodney Maxwell Small Scale DAB Consultation Mailbox <[email protected]> Small scale DAB Rodney Maxwell 5 January 2018 at 08:40 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To whom it may concern, I am writing to put forward my support for the positive promotion of smaller scale community radio stations on the DAB platform. The access and use of this technology is a resurgent for radio and for local content and communication. And by local I mean people who live in an area ­ not content being beamed in from a central city to many regions at once. Local DAB provides a platform for local talk shows that promote community engagements, give local artists a platform to get their music listened to, and provides the host of volunteers a chance to get involved in broadcasting and therefore a first foot in the ladder. My own involvement in a community radio station in the last 12 months came about because I suffered from a brain tumour and could not return to work. My job had been about connecting with people and I missed that aspect of it, and additionally I worked across Europe so did not feel well connected to the local area. After 2 months in hospital I stumbled across the opportunity to ‘help out’ at my local station which then was internet based only. This opportunity provided me with a new lease of life and enthusiasm and I now do my own show a couple of times a week. What I have learned is how people are reconnecting with their community through radio ­ that the medium is not dead and that young and old use it for different reasons. But it requires local content delivered in a professional and accessible way and going on to a local DAB platform is key to this. Through communities listening in the car on the way to school or on a DAB radio in a barbershop is how local stations will grow. We can specifically support local musicians and charity groups by giving them more share of voice than the big commercial stations can, and we help enthuse and train people who may well spend their life in radio or the media generally. So small scale local stations are a key part of the eco system ­ please make sure they get full provision on the local DAB platforms. Yours sincerely, Rod Maxwell Sent from my iPhone 5 4. Paul Holmes Small Scale DAB Consultation Mailbox <[email protected]> Small Scale DAB Consultation Paul Holmes 4 January 2018 at 13:17 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Hi I welcome any expansion of Small Scale DAB wholeheartedly. Prior to ReelWorld, I worked for Global for 7 years so am very aware of the impact of the big players on Digital technology. With the advent of DAB+, it means far more services can enjoy the benefits of Digital broadcasting. At some point we will lose FM for sure, as Norway have and others are sure to follow suit. We can’t have a situation where literally just the big players like Global, Bauer, BBC, Wireless Group etc have DAB because they can afford the high costs, but smaller operators, community stations etc lose out. It’s already very clear for commercial stations who can’t afford to be on the regional Muxes that they are starting to suffer as Digital listening takes off and listeners are wowed by the choice on Digital. The cost of being on the Small Scale DAB multiplexes is small, so is perfect for community radio stations and keeps them relevant as Digital grows. As long as the Ofcom rules are such that they can afford to operate (advertising revenue etc) then great. Point 3 might be a bit strange, if they were on Small Scale DAB, then removed if someone else comes along. If they can operate successfully as a community station, and the transmission costs were low enough, then they should be able to afford that to be taken seriously and have longevity. The idea of the C­DSP license makes sense to me. I totally agree that the pricing needs to be right and transparent (I’m aware of costs on one of the licenses and it seems perfectly reasonable and accessible to me) but I definitely think smaller commercial operators should have access to Small Scale DAB as well as community stations, to ensure their survival and more importantly, quality and choice for listeners. As an aside, the recent disappearance of Connect FM from DAB due to large increases in the transmission costs should be a warning. Question 6, the first point would be OK as long as there is fair pricing and distribution of services and bandwidth. Question 7, yes it’s critical that areas, like Cumbria as mentioned, have this approach to secure Digital’s future. Question 8 is tricky, because it’s an arbitrary amount 40%. I appreciate it needs to suit everyone, but is there a way of making it actual population amount based or more on a case by case basis, so that it always made a sensible TSA that covered, a town, a selection of villages etc but didn’t cause issues with the regional/local multiplex operators? Eg it would never be the same TSA as a commercial operator Personally I think a 5 year license is fine, as by nature, some of these stations are likely to be less secure than the bigger operators so it gives more flexibility but enough time for them to know if it’ll work out OK. And with question 10, it’s the same to my mind, unless a 5 year license is putting people off. It’s plenty of time to become established and know if it’s going to work, and can easily be extended after that time. 6 Question 11, if it’s part of the broadcasting act then fine, I can’t really see a time when they’d need to do it with such strong coverage around the country on local and national multiplexes. Smaller commercial and community services would always take priority.