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Radio Caroline should apply for 963/972
bruce_appleton
Posts: 605 Forum Member
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I am really hoping Radio Caroline applies for the 963/972 frequency in August( http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/07/ofcom-to-advertise-sunrise-radio-licence/ )as that would be the perfect way to bring Caroline back on the right frequency....where she belongs.I'm sure people involved in Caroline read these forums so please look into applying.
What do you guys think? Good idea? Imagine hearing..."you're listening to 319 Radio Caroline" again.......I,for one,would love this to happen.
Also(a bit ironic)happy 50th anniversary to Tony Blackburn.I wonder if he has any spare money laying around to back a bid????:)
What do you guys think? Good idea? Imagine hearing..."you're listening to 319 Radio Caroline" again.......I,for one,would love this to happen.
Also(a bit ironic)happy 50th anniversary to Tony Blackburn.I wonder if he has any spare money laying around to back a bid????:)
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As it is a commercial radio licence there's a £16,000 non refundable application fee for a licence which already has 5 other applicants who seem to be proposing a service aimed at the Asian community, same as the frequency has had for some time.
The community radio application has already been prepared ready for when Ofcom advertises the wider than area AM community radio licence applications which they are timetabled to do before the end of the year. The non refundable application fee for a community radio licence is £600.
Sorry, I couldn't resist saying what 99% of the population say nowadays!
http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radio-broadcast-licensing/community-radio/apply-for-licence/timetable
Indeed as I have just said. Nothing to do with Radio Caroline not applying, the licence application form has been prepared for some time. Ofcom have pushed the licence application date for AM wider than area licences back, as well as some others, due to heavy demand from areas already advertised. They said in January 2013 that applications would be sought "in the second half of 2013" then early this year announced it would be "in the second half of 2014"
Just checked the Radio Today article again and it's not £16000 but £`14500 non refundable for a licence with many applicants as I've already said, the listener supported structure of Radio Caroline which they've had since the Ross came into Dover has been explained on here several times with links given.
Ofcom are not advertising any new local AM commercial radio licences. The reason this current one has been re-advertised is that there is not a DAB service being offered so it has to go to open competition. The company who took over Sunrise and are operating the frequency at present are one of the five who put in not only the application fee but a refundable on receipt of application £66,000+.. If there were no declarations of intent they would not have advertised it.
All the other AM licences with a DAB service just get rolled over and if they are handed back go to community radio use as there more demand than there are FM frequencies available.
But it would be a shame if Caroline didn't try....
What do you mean by 'wider than area' licence? It doesn't seem to make sense.
This was Ofcoms statement in January 2013, date at end has now been amended to second half of 2014. That's why their application is ready to go in.
"Ofcom has decided to invite applications for community radio licenses to operate on the medium wave (AM) band only, for locations anywhere throughout the UK, later this year (2013). It is important to note that broadcasting on medium wave brings different technical, site and cost considerations, for example, from FM services. Applicants will need to address these and demonstrate a thorough understanding of requirements of broadcasting on medium wave in their application.
Ofcom is willing to consider licensing (daytime) coverage areas that are larger than is our usual policy for community services on FM (around a 5km radius), regardless of whether the service wishes to target an urban or rural area. Each applicant needs to consider who their target community is, and where it is, in order to justify the target area they require (as a guide, we are willing to consider licensing services of around a 10km radius or more, in daytime, subject to the availability of suitable frequencies).
This invitation will be in addition to the application areas set out in our timetable, and is not expected to impact on the estimated dates for inviting applications from the remaining regions referred to. We currently estimate that we will invite applications for services to broadcast on the medium wave (AM) band in the second half of 2013."
They have already in their current region by region licencing round offered community radio AM licences in areas where there's a shortage of FM frequencies for their usual 5km radius. IIRC there were 4 awarded just a few weeks ago. They also stated some time ago that 648 would be available for community radio licencing.
It'll be interesting to see how that works in practice. Fine for daytime reception but potential chaos at night with the AM band characteristics causing the signals to travel a lot further.
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648 is not normally a good frequency for community radio as the mast has to be large and expensive for that end of the AM band, but for Caroline not a problem as they have a large mast.
If they can get 648, will be clear at night and will mean they will not have to use too much power to cover the 10km radius, importantly reducing running costs, which is another of AM's potential problems, and Caroline (as a supporter's volunteer group) does not have much funding, sounds like they do not want to go commercial and start making comprises and will remain an independently owned, slightly quirky, tribute station with most listeners online (in stereo).
Yes but do you mean the real Radio Caroline that ended in 1990 or the pretend one we have now?
Sorry I could not resist saying what about 1% of this forum like to say everytime a Radio Caroline thread starts.
Interesting that you refer to Caroline as a 'tribute' station. That's how i see it. It has a small but loyal audience, scattered across the country, happy to listen on line in decent quality + stereo. So what would be the point of giving a few of them the chance to listen to a weak AM signal for a few miles around the ship. There must be a much better use for scarce funds.
Who knows?
It could be the Radio Caroline of the 1960s that once had the guts to take on the radio industry, or the Radio Caroline that brought us "Love, Peace and good music" by bored sounding presenters in the early to mid 1970s.
Or it could be the excellent one of the late 1970s who defied the odds and continued broadcasting whatever.
Or it could be the one that forgot all its principles in the mid-1980s and sold - out to Top 40 music ( I still recall the shock I felt when I heard Caroline playing "Don't Mess With My Toot - Toot" one particular morning! )
Or it could be the Radio Caroline of nowadays, the shadow of its former self that hardly anyone knows is still going ( as quoted to me by someone who works for the station! )
Whichever one it is, I very much doubt they will have the finances or the staff to operate a London based AM transmitter which nobody will listen to ( apart from sad old anoraks like me! ) unless they make some serious changes like I mentioned in my earlier "is it time for a change now?" thread of earlier this year.
This would have been a good idea/venture 10 years ago, but nowadays it's just throwing money down the drain...
Somebody who put backing into place - from the original days of the offshore venture needs to grasp the nettle and rescue it...
So they should waste money on broadcasting on a frequency no one listens to anymore just for the sake of nostalgia?
http://www.radiocarolineonair.com/edm This did not get far, but Ofcom responded and opened the chance to apply for an AM licence at low cost, (£600 according to Mike's earlier post) now to be late 2014.
Radio Caroline can now take up the chance and use their ship's large AM mast and a small low cost transmitter perhaps in 2015. It may not get much listening on AM other than "anoraks", but might get some publicity which will help with the renovation of the ship?
That was an initiative of Tracey Crouch MP, got 65 signatures. Richard Bacon asked Ed Richards in December 2010 about frequency availability when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee and he said he challenged his engineers every year about spare frequencies.
"It is one of things we discuss and I challenge them on every single year and I always have Radio Caroline in the back of my mind when I am doing so."
Tracey was at the Rochester celebrations and spoke to supporters. She's put a new one down for the 2014/15 session since Ofcom as you say are going to advertise the wider than normal area community radio licences by the end of this year.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/97
That's my issue though. absolutely get people wanting to be able to listen again to a station that they loved. It's the fixation on it coming from a ship and being on AM that is more problematic. Surely a key question is 'if Radio Caroline was launched in 2014 with the same freedom from restrictions and pioneering attitude what would it be like?'.
That end can be achieved without a ship or AM being involved and in doing so has a lot more chance of being a station that many want tolisten to and so be a sustainable business.
I can even get the AM concept if it's a pragmatic response as the only available terrestrial frequency at this time. It's the notion of being on AM as a matter of nostalgia and so limiting the audience that makes no sense to me.
Best if it keeps a Internet station only
Nice to see you on here Erwin.
I now have every confidence that Caroline WILL get back on to AM.:):)