Ofcom extends deadline for talkSPORT AM consultation

Ofcom is extending the deadline for responses to the consultation about talkSPORT requesting to turn off some AM transmitters.

The closing date was today – 13th November – but the regulator says due to a technical error, the consultation will now close on 20 November 2019.

It is thought that some data of talkSPORT’s coverage was not included in the original documents.

talkSPORT asked Ofcom to reduce the transmission coverage of its AM national commercial radio licence by 2.4%.

The changes have provisionally been agreed but Ofcom says it will carefully consider any comments from stakeholders before making a final decision because it will mean some listeners will lose their ability to receive talkSPORT on the AM band.

talkSPORT says that there has been a decline in analogue listening at a rate faster than it had predicted and the listening at the sites it wants to close, based on RAJAR data, is no longer at appreciable levels due to the evolution of audience behaviour.

The following seven transmitters are at risk of closure:

• Rosemarkie (Inverness);
• Redruth (Cornwall);
• Redmoss (Aberdeen);
• Londonderry;
• Occombe (Devon);
• Plummers Barracks (Plymouth);
• Pearce’s Hill (Devon)