Closed petition Make OFCOM open more frequencies for local radio in light of excess syndication

Closed on 10 March 2021

OFCOM are permitting large corporations to remove almost all local identity from TV and radio stations across the UK, with most programming syndicated from a few central locations. I want the Government to require OFCOM open more frequencies for non-commercial local radio stations and give support.

I am a volunteer radio presenter at The Cat 107.9FM which covers Crewe and Nantwich and we are fortunate to all be volunteers and have a license from OFCOM, but it took years to reach that. Local voices are important, and large companies want to block them. Bauer Media Group, for example, bought 56 radio stations from across the UK; rebranding and syndicating the majority, removing approximately 160 presenting roles (source: RadioToday) and reducing local content to one show a day in most cases.