All local analogue commercial radio stations will have to carry a mandatory amount of local news on weekdays under new Ofcom rules implementing the Media Act 2024.
Even those stations that are currently exempt from providing suitable bulletins will need to commence bulletins from 2028.
Ofcom estimates the ongoing additional cost at around £340,000 per year across affected services, with most of the burden concentrated on a small number of stations.
In a statement published today, the regulator confirmed it will require local news at least hourly between 6am and 7pm on weekdays, and at least three times between 7am and 12pm at weekends and on bank holidays.
The new licence condition also requires that local news “must consist of, or include, news gathered” within the relevant multiplex or licensed area by journalists working in the course of employment or business.
Ofcom’s statement indicates it will require journalists to be physically present in the relevant area for news to be considered locally gathered but will not set a quota for how much of each bulletin must be locally gathered.
News must also be up-to-date, and if a bulletin is pre-recorded, it should not be so far in advance that they cannot take account of new or breaking developments.
Stations with turnover below £50,000 will face a lighter requirement. They must air at least three bulletins between 6am and 10am and three between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays, and will not have to provide locally gathered news.
For most stations, the new conditions are expected to take effect from 1 October 2027. Services not previously required to provide local news will have until 1 October 2028 to comply.
Existing local news conditions will remain in place until the variations take effect.
Following feedback to a consultation, Ofcom has adjusted its approach in ways that reflect points made by Radiocentre and others. They are:
- Weekend information requirement scaled back: Ofcom has revised the local information condition so that stations must provide local information regularly on weekdays 06:00–19:00, but only during peak times 07:00–12:00 on weekends and bank holidays.
- Weekend obligations for VLT stations removed: Ofcom has amended requirements for stations with a Very Low Turnover to remove the requirement to broadcast local news on weekends or bank holidays.
- Extended implementation timeframe: Where a licensee has not previously been required to provide local news, Ofcom has extended implementation to two years; all other licensees have one year.
- Bank holidays treated as weekend-style pattern: Ofcom has clarified that bank holidays follow the weekend bulletin pattern for local news and local information (i.e. three suitably spaced bulletins between 07.00-12.00).
- Pre-recorded bulletins: Ofcom’s guidance has been updated to reflect that pre-recording is standard industry practice, with the expectation that bulletins are recorded close to transmission to remain relevant.