97.2 Stray FM has gained approval to reduce the amount of specialist music output required from 14 hours per week to nine. The TLRC station has an unusual amount of specialist shows for a station of its size, and Ofcom said the change of Format would not significantly alter the character of the service.
Mike Vitti, area director for TLRC applied for the change saying:
[blockquote]It is difficult to try and produce alternative music varieties at this station and we are worried about repartition. There is no real rock music output on Stray FM therefore a Rock Show would not really complement our current daytime programming yet our Essential Eighties selection works with our current format exceptionally well. As a result of this we would like to request a change of format from a requirement of fourteen hours a week of specialist music to nine. This will enable Stray FM to continue to integrate our specialist music into our overall sound-shape.[/blockquote]
To which Ofcom replied:
[blockquote]We do not consider the request to reduce specialist music programming hours on Stray FM from 14 hours per week to nine hours per week to be an unreasonable one, given the very mainstream nature of this station and the unusually high number of specialist hours (for a local service of this type) that are required by its current Format. Given that the specialist music shows on Stray are required by the station’s Format to “complement the main music mix” (rather than to provide something clearly distinct from it), we feel that acceptance of the request would not be likely to bring about a significant change in Stray’s character of service. The request is therefore agreed.[/blockquote]
In addition, Yorkshire Coast Radio (Bridlington) has had approval to move the locally-made, four-hour Saturday show to a Sunday, if they wish.
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