Former competitors join forces for Ofcom DAB radio licences

Two former competitors for the Inverclyde SSDAB multiplex licence have joined forces to bid for two of the Round 6 licence areas.

Caledonia TX Ltd and Lanarkshire based C.I. Broadcasting have formed Lanarkshire DAB and North Ayrshire Broadcasting to bid for the respective area licences.

Spencer Pryor of C.I. Broadcasting told RadioToday: “It makes a lot of sense to join forces and submit a single strong application for these areas. We would have bid for Lanarkshire on our own account as our EKlipse Radio station, which has been on the East Kilbride landscape since the late 1990s when we applied for an FM SALLIE licence, will now have a means to broadcast to its own locality.

“Coupled with Caledonia TX’s engineering skills and knowledge we are sure we can make Lanarkshire a great place to listen to local DAB radio.”

Also on board are community stations Shire Radio and Breeze Radio Scotland, along with Jay Crawford’s Edge 1 and 2, as well as stations like Timeless Radio and Celtic Music Radio.

Andy McGregor of Hamilton’s Breeze Radio said: “Breeze Radio broadcasts from the Heart of Lanarkshire in Hamilton, and we’re excited to be part of the Lanarkshire DAB bid for the licence. Hopefully we’ll be blasting out across Lanarkshire in 2025 in fabulous DAB stereo!”

In North Ayrshire the joint venture company is North Ayrshire Broadcasting (NAB) and it’s proposed to use a two site SFN transmitter network to cover the coast up to the Inverclyde licence area which is due to launch in the next week, and which is operated by Coast DAB. The North Ayrshire multiplex will cover the main towns of North Ayrshire such as Stevenston, Saltcoats and Largs. Bid partner stations include local community stations 3TR and Clyde Coast Radio.

Caledonia TX and C.I. Broadcasting are also involved separately in bids for Cumbernauld & Coatbridge, Paisley & West Glasgow, and Ayr, Troon & Irvine.