Commercial radio station Pennine FM goes bust

Apr 17 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

According to its website, the station was listened to by 38,000 people during a four week period.

But its most recent official survey revealed the station had 20,000 listeners and a total market share of 3%.

The station had to cut a phone-in show because of a lack of listeners in 2007.

Its website was unchanged yesterday and there were no messages about the company’s plight.

According to Radio Today, which covers industry news, Pennine FM is the fifth commercial station this year to go out of business.

A spokeswoman for RadioCentre, the industry body for commercial radio, said: “It is sad news that Pennine FM is no longer broadcasting – unfortunately, this is a reflection of the difficulties radio stations are facing in the current economic climate and underlines the importance of the reviews that Ofcom and the Government are conducting into the industry’s framework.”

The closure comes as it was reported nationally that as many as 50 local radio stations could be forced to close.

An official paper, ordered by the Government as part of the Digital Britain review of the media and communications sectors, said major changes were needed if local commercial stations were not to suffer “death by a thousand cuts.”

In the report, John Myers, the former head of GMG Radio, recommended changing existing rules on local programming, music policy and the location of a station’s premises in favour of a “local impact test.”

Local commercial stations were facing huge difficulties, he said, overwhelmed by the explosion of online radio services, hemmed in by an outdated regulatory framework and hamstrung by poor decision-making within the industry.

Half make a loss every year, the report said.

Mr Myers wrote: “Instead, the radio industry as a whole must be bold, as I believe this might be one of the last opportunities it will be offered to carve out a long-term, profitable and successful future.”