Panjab Radio fights for Coventry licence

Quidem’s competitor for the Coventry licence Panjab Radio has come out fighting in its bid to serve the area’s 50,000 Asians.

Station bosses says the current station, Touch FM, offers nothing new to Coventry and that “clearly their current listening figures bear that out”.

Managing Director Surjit Singh Ghuman MBE says: “If there was ever the time for a Punjabi radio station, this is it.”

The station currently broadcasts on DAB in the West Midlands, as well as to London, the North East and Yorkshire but it is the first time it has bid for an FM licence.

“Panjab Radio’s research shows that 90% of the artists and 82% of the songs played on Touch FM were also played on either Free, Free 80s, Heart, Smooth or Kerrang!*.

Surjit continues: “The 96.2 licence whether as Kix 96 or Radio Harmony has historically been occupied by specialist radio stations, its current incarnation as a mainstream station offers nothing new to Coventry and clearly their current listening figures bear that out.

“With nearly 50,000 Asians in the Coventry area we’ve been asked time and again why there isn’t a radio station for this community. FM licences rarely become available, so we’ve spent the last six months working with the community to devise plans for the perfect radio station. We’ve also commissioned independent research into the tastes and interests of Coventry residents and analysed the output of the existing local radio stations.”

*The research looked at all airplay from Touch FM, Free Radio, Free Radio 80s, Heart, Smooth and Kerrang from 6am to 7pm, Monday to Sunday.