How to get an FM license in 2022

[XXL]

Thinking about applying for a license but looks like they’re not doing them anymore. I don’t want a shit DAB license, I don’t even know anyone that owns a dab radio, including myself.

[sinus trouble]

Theres only two ways i know of to get a License?

People Power! Get the community on your side! Maybe do some Marketing and local broadcasts? Offer something different and related to the area you live in!

Or? If you have big cash in the bank, You can line the pockets of the right contacts at Ofcom! That works a treat!

[sinus trouble]

Also if you are a good DJ/Presenter?

Why dont you drop some demos to already legal stations? It is less headache and youve got nothing to lose?

[Albert H]

OFCOM do provide "Community" FM Licences, but the rules are so restrictive, and you're not allowed to make a profit, so it's largely a waste of time. I have a friend who has one of these tickets, and he has a coverage of about 300000 population, and three towns and several villages, but he can't give away advertising time, and the licence fees and PRS / PPL extortion, rent for his premises and for the transmitter site and all the other expenses, and he can't break even, let alone make a living from it.

The odds in the UK are stacked against the small operator, and in favour of the big conglomerates, which is why you hear endless "Heart" crap across the band. The big companies carve up the areas amongst themselves, and if any small scale station gets successful, they "make them an offer that they can't refuse"!

[sinus trouble]

I totally agree with Albert!

Once you go legal, You are at the mercy of the radio giants!

All freedom of broadcast will be erroded until you are on your knees!

Like most industries in the UK, Its all about money and influence!

[BriansBrain]

OR

If you would just like your own FM Radio Station

Move to one of Canary Islands choose a frequency that is Free get some gear and go for it.

Easy

[sinus trouble]

OR

If you would just like your own FM Radio Station

Move to one of Canary Islands choose a frequency that is Free get some gear and go for it.

Easy

Thats the best option ive seen so far!

I just came back from Lanzarote! Weather was perfect apart from some mad thunder storms in the evening!

[XXL]

i dont know if i believe this tbh. Many ex pirate stations seem to be doing very well, probably taking back handers from the djs. they all advertise for over 5-10 mins at a time. they must be doing well or they wouldnt be able to renew their license.

[Barnabas]

3 of the 4 community licences round here are still doing OK - some of them have now been on for 15-20 years.

[3metrejim]

3 of the 4 community licences round here are still doing OK - some of them have now been on for 15-20 years.

Same round here (Nottingham). But somehow the Asain station (107.6) gets to broadcast from the highest point - mapperley ridge (well Woodborough Road, but very near) and they have an ERP of 50 watts, while the Caribbean station (97.5) much lower down in the city only gets 25 watts ERP. From Mapperley ridge the coverage area extends out to 10 Miles easily. A pirate used to broadcast from there on 100W, using a half decent antenna and the reception was as good, 8 miles away, as the 1000W ERP from the regional station on 96.2 from the radio mast on mapperley ridge.

[mpx]

Same round here (Nottingham). But somehow the Asain station (107.6) gets to broadcast from the highest point - mapperley ridge (well Woodborough Road, but very near) and they have an ERP of 50 watts, while the Caribbean station (97.5) much lower down in the city only gets 25 watts ERP. From Mapperley ridge the coverage area extends out to 10 Miles easily. A pirate used to broadcast from there on 100W, using a half decent antenna and the reception was as good, 8 miles away, as the 1000W ERP from the regional station on 96.2 from the radio mast on mapperley ridge.

It's most likely due to frequency allocation, which is also down to luck and timing. 107.6 got licensed before 97.5 did. It could also be down to the applicant selecting the site and this being agreed by Ofcom. It's often the case that if you don't ask you don't get..

[mpx]

On the original subject of the post, there aren't any 'available' FM licenses being advertised by Ofcom, and they are currently concentrating on Small Scale DAB, but if you're serious, find suitable clear frequencies in the area you want to cover, find suitable transmission site(s) and get an agreement in principle with site owners, put together a compelling application with evidence of support from local public figures and community groups, show that you can afford to run it, and if you have a strong enough case, they can't really turn you down if there is a viable frequency. This has worked before for a few stations, despite there being no active invitation for applications. You just need to make it very easy for them - do all the investigative work and show you're competent.

[Albert H]

Sadly, there are roughly as many Licences rescinded or returned as there are successes. Even the most successful "Community" stations have a net negative income - they cost their owners money to run. They're still not allowed to earn enough money to pay for themselves. It's actually really sad.

Other countries have a much more liberal approach to small scale local broadcasting, with low licence costs and the ability to sell advertising time at a rate that allows the stations to pay their staff (properly) and still make a small annual profit.... It would be great if the UK would go down the same route, but the push towards DAB (Dead And Buried - Stephen Moss was exactly right!) ensures that the fragmentation of the radio market (that would never suit the conglomerates) will never happen.

DAB / DAB+ is a real waste of bandwidth. It's spectrum-inefficient, has poor results (because of the desire to cram ever more low bit-rate stations into each multiplex) and is impractical in huge areas of the country with low population density (like most of the countryside).

The move online will continue apace, and as mobile data becomes ever cheaper (which is certain to happen), more of the listenership will make that migration. I was thinking about this earlier, and realised that over 90% of my "radio" listening is now to web streams - even when driving! Many of the stations I choose to listen to are only available on-line here. Asking around my friends, I find that this is more common than I could have imagined!

You may as well forget FM licences. They're not going to be made available in most areas (mostly because of the insane waste of bandwidth with the "national" stations). It should be remembered that if the Home Office and then OFCOM had followed the recommendations of the Wise Report back in the late 70s, we could have as many as 80 stations on the FM band in each major city!

[radionortheast]

It dosen’t seem good that it is not open to new community radio applications, I know of a drive in therta that had licence don’t know what type it was to be honest, it was hardly ever used it went bust, its still listed on frequency finder, you don’t own a drive in therta do? when there is a purpose they might give a licence out, It must been some kind of exstended durration rsl at 1w.
I don’t think the community radio route is the way to go, its more for groups of people, lots of money is needed, you’ve problalby got things like studios, renting were the transmitter is, I don’t think its meant for individuals. The way they start is they set up a company, I suppose your not liable for anything which gose out, inquire with people involved in setting other community stations up, they may know what boxes to tick. Lot of people involved in rsls in the past local radio have been sucessful at seting up community stations, thats who you would approach.
I suppose it might be better to badger the regulator maybe opening up the LPFM to individuals, if they’ve allowed a drive in to have 1w, maybe theres a case for an individual, you don’t say how far you want to cover.

[Albert H]

I did a few rigs for drive-in theatres / cinemas. Most of these were 200 - 300 mW (usually a 1 Watt exciter with a resistive attenuator), with stereo and RDS (the RDS usually just said "Cinema" so people knew they were tuned to the right thing when they listened to the pre-show music played when they arrived).

The aerial was usually an "H", mounted at just over 2.2m at the back of the car park, at the projection hut. The coverage was more than sufficient, even at the extreme edges of the car park, and it could usually be heard some distance beyond the site, though it was operated well within the parameters set by the regulatory authority. The rigs themselves were "one-box" affairs with line-level balanced audio inputs, a basic modulation limiter and pre-emphasis, stereo coder, RDS generator, exciter and (linear) power supply, all inside a 1U 19" rack box.

[reverend]

I am aware of one "drive-in movie" station (not in the UK) who applied for the use of a 25W TX mounted on the top of a multi-storey car park. Needless to say they were turned down. Nice try though!

[Albert H]

Tee hee! Some years ago, after an RSL licencing error by OFCOM, friends of mine were allocated 400W (1.7 kW ERP) on Band II for an RSL! OFCOM has put them on the same frequency as a commercial station about 40 miles away. They demonstrated (on the day before the broadcast period was due to start) that their 25 Watts wouldn't get to the end ofthe street. OFCOM refused a change of frequency (the obvious solution) but granted a power increase and an elevated antenna! It went for miles!!!! The commercial station complained to OFCOM and (eventually) got a refund of part of their licence fee for that year!

[house-every-weekend]

Wow that really is not very bright of Ofcom.

Re. earlier up this page about moving to the Canaries and just finding a clear channel. I have been there and the band is saturated. Plus Brians Brain posting earlier about the Guardia Civil turning up and asking for your licence at gunpoint does not sound good. I thought that didn't happen there and nobody cared about pirate radio or big yagi beams