https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/254052/annex6-talkSPORT-proposed-changes-number-of-transmitters.pdf
TalkSport has 22 transmission sites of which five are high-powered and the rest infill.
TalkSport requests permission to close the four sites listed “immediately”, but OFCOM have put it out to consultation requiring a response from stakeholders by 23rd March 2023, after which they will make a decision. Additionally, TalkSport suggests that the 13 other infill sites will become “unviable in the next two years”.
This would leave a “core network” of the five high-powered transmitters at:
Brookman’s Park, Hertfordshire, 1089kHz, 400kW
Droitwich, Worcestershire, 1053kHz, 500kW
Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire, 1089kHz, 100kW
Westerglen, Stirlingshire, 1089kHz, 100kW
Washford, Somerset, 1089kHz, 80kW
Compared to the high-power sites, most of the 17 infill transmitters are rated at only a few kilowatts, the largest being 18kW. The four that have been requested to close are 1kW each, except Dumfries which is 10kW (all powers are according to the WRTH 2022 edition).
In their submission, TalkSport say this five-site network “will remove AM coverage in Northern Ireland, the Scottish Borders, the North East and East Anglia”, with possible later closure of these five high-powered sites.
OFCOM comment that the Government’s “Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport” recommend that the “industry should begin planning for the … migration from AM services to take place some point in the mid-2020s”, so they are consulting (partly) because “holders of other analogue commercial radio licences, and particularly those holding AM licences, might be interested in the approach that we are minded to take in this case”. This “approach” is OFCOM’s provisional decision to permit the closure.
(BDXC)
SW Central post from 17 Feb 2023
Will this affect the four frequencies, listed in the Global Radio Guide listings on 1053, 1071, 1089 and 1107 kHz
Ofcom has launched a consultation after receiving a request from talkSPORT to reduce its AM coverage.
The station wants to switch off four of its 22 transmitter sites immediately. This will would reduce the coverage of its AM licence from 93% to 89.9% of the UK adult population.
talkSPORT says the reason for the proposed changes include declining listenership to its AM service, as more people are using alternative platforms, as well as the costs involved in maintaining AM transmitter sites because of current high energy prices.
The proposal includes closing four sites immediately because they may already be unviable. These are Dumfries (Dumfries and Galloway), Kingston upon Hull (East Riding of Yorkshire), Fern Borrow (Bournemouth), and Greenside Scalp (Tayside).
talkSPORT also wants to work towards closing thirteen further sites gradually over the next few years when they become unviable. These are Fareham (Hampshire), Stockton (Durham/North Yorkshire), Lydd (Kent), Southwick/Brighton (West Sussex), Dartford Tunnel (Kent), Clipston (West Northamptonshire), Duxhurst (Surrey), Wallasey (Cheshire), Lisnagarvey (County Antrim, Northern Ireland), Boston (Suffolk), Wrekenton (Newcastle), Postwick (Norfolk), and Rusthall (Tunbridge Wells).
Ofcom doesn’t have the power to give permission for a rolling programme of transmitter site closures on dates to be decided, so will only consider talkSPORT’s proposals to close four transmitter sites immediately.
It says it is minded to approve the request, but before reaching a final decision, is giving affected and interested parties an opportunity to have their say.
The consultation will close on 17 March 2023.
https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/02/talksport-submits-request-to-reduce-its-am-coverage/
One can infer that this decision will be of interest to TalkSport and others for future AM closures, although each decision has to be made in the light of the specific situation and OFCOM’s statutory duties.
