Couldn't agree more with the sentiment. I think it's tragic that we've lost a real opportunity to have true local radio in the UK. From what I understand of the process, there are clearly significant barriers to entry that prevent a smaller organisation achieving success in the bidding process. The whole setup caters for the big boys who are only interested in making money, rather than making money by providing a good service. Who would have thought that, 40 years down the line, it's now the BBC that offer interesting choice while the commercial sector has been reduced to mindless wallpaper?
The financial model seems to make it difficult for stations to succeed so they go into this descending loop of endless cuts and more centralisation to save money. Why can't they and OFCOM realise that local opt-outs are a totally ar$e-about-face way of looking at things. The start point should be the local content - it's only local people with an ear to the ground that really stand a chance of producing something that's genuinely local, not the big commercial groups.
Alan
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