There’s been an upsurge in community radio stations all over the UK in the last year, thanks to Ofcom. I’ve been involved in our local community radio Phonic FM for the past year. Before they got their license a year ago they were broadcasting as an RSL for one month each year as party of a city wide festival for 3 years. I know of a few others in Devon and Cornwall.

These local, not-for-profit stations have sprung up with support from Ofcom as commercial stations have become all the same and Ofcom seem to want to offer something as an alternative to the monopoly that is the BBC.

These new community stations are now broadcasting in many parts of the country. What’s your like?

Community radio licences are for small-scale, not-for-profit radio stations operated for the good of members of the public, or of particular communities, and in order to deliver social gain. Other types of radio licence may also be appropriate for community groups, for example restricted service licences, see Radio Restricted Service Licences (RSLs) | Ofcom for more information. For more information on community radio contact the Community Radio team at: communityradio@ofcom.org.uk.

taken from Community Radio | Ofcom