Stray FM should have had its licence re-advertised rather than be allowed to lose its “special identity” to “out-of-town owners”, a Harrogate Conservative peer has said.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate said Ofcom, which regulates commercial radio, needed to do more to protect “well-loved” radio stations that were being “absorbed into the mega-conglomerates that now seem to control the sector”.
Speaking in a Lords debate about radio licenses, he added:
“In the region where I live in Yorkshire, a large number of local stations have lost their special identity as their out-of-town owners dispose of local staff and content, and simply hijack the licensed frequency to pump out centrally edited music that is obtainable in various other ways, either from national broadcasters or through web streaming services.
“That simply should not have been allowed.”
Lord Kirkhope, who is a lawyer and former MP for Leeds North East, has a long-standing interest in radio.
He helped set up a hospital station in Newcastle in the 1960s and subsequently applied unsuccessfully for for the Tyne and Wear franchise that went to Metro radio in 1973.
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He told the Stray Ferret he had Stray FM, which owners Bauer Media rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio in September, and other local radio stations in mind when he made his comments in Parliament.
He added licences should not have granted “without adequate local content”, adding:
“In those cases I consider there has been a breach of the spirit of the regulations if not the legality.
“In some of the obvious local cases like Stray FM those licences should instead have been re-advertised.
“After all, I might have been interested myself in maintaining the local spirit and I think there are others who might have joined me.”
Bauer Media has always maintained the station retains local content and services, as well as a presence in Harrogate.
