The latest round of Format changes from Ofcom gives permission for The Severn to share 20 hours of programmes a day with sister stations Telford FM and The Wyre.
In requesting the change of Format, Pete Wagstaff from The Severn says the only change they wish to make with immediate effect is that the local breakfast show at each site will be extended to 11am and the programme share will be 11am /4pm a change from 10am/2pm.
The split Breakfast Show for Shrewsbury and Oswestry will remain, using their "live record" feature.
The Format change request document says: "This request is to be able to share six of the ten locally-made daytime hours on The Severn with Telford FM. This is the same arrangement that was agreed with The Wyre last year. In actual fact, we only wish to run regional programming from 11am to 4pm, but the requested arrangement – as set out in Ofcom’s recent Future of Radio findings – will give us the sort of flexibility which may well be useful in the future."
Ofcom says: "This request brings The Severn in line with The Wyre in its ability to share more programming outside breakfast with Telford. Past experience shows the stations wish to network regional programming where it is most sensible for the listener, rather than to network as much as possible."
