Ofcom has announced its new financial terms for INR3 – the national commercial licence held by Absolute Radio.
Following a fee reduction for INR1 Classic FM and INR2 talkSPORT, Ofcom is dropping Absolute's required payment from £100k per year to £10k.
If Absolute Radio accepts the new terms, its licence will be automatically renewed with the new financial details from May 1st 2011.
The licence will not be re-advertised based on the regulators conclusion that the combination of the profits available from operating a national AM licence and the entry costs required to launch the service (e.g. launch marketing costs, other start up costs (such as dry running costs) and capital expenditure) would not be sufficient for a hypothetical new entrant to make a return.