Ofcom rejects XS Manchester’s request of format change

XS Manchester’s request of format change to rebrand as Capital XTRA has been rejected by Ofcom.

The request was made last October by Communicorp (now known as CCUK) to change from a rock and speech service for 35 – 64-year-olds, to an urban contemporary music service featuring music of an Afro-Caribbean origin and was subject to a public consultation.

Ofcom originally said it was minded to approve the change, which would have resulted in Global’s Capital XTRA service being broadcast on 106.1FM in Manchester, closing XS.

There were over 70 individuals and organisations who responded, with all but two opposed to the proposed changes.

In a statement regarding its decision, Ofcom said: “Having carefully considered the feedback to our consultation, including the views of around 70 listeners who opposed the change, we have decided not to grant the request.

“We concluded, among other things, that the substantial local speech content requirements in the XS Manchester Format, which many respondents considered crucial to the Mancunian flavour of the service, make it more distinctive than the proposed new Format.”

XS Manchester launched in 2008 as Rock Radio and has also been known as Real XS.

Read the full statement here.

CCUK tells RadioToday it now plans to continue to operate XS Manchester as normal.