RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

chains , but they were constrained by the ‘public service' constraints specified above , but apart from a nationally-synđicated news bulletin , they were obliged to produce their own programming . Much of this has , of course, been recorded music , but the conditions for the award and retention of a broađcasting contract from the IBA was and is that the franchisers must also produce voice programming with a recognizably local content . The conseguence of this regulated environment meant that although there had initially been more than 400 companies eager to enter the new mar Ket, by 198 8 only 4 6 out of the 60 available geographical slots are filled, despite considerable re)axation in Кеу provisions. The commercial sector, overall, turned out to be less than the little gold-mine that it was expected to be . 4 ) There have been a series of wrangles between the IBA and the Association of Independent Rađio Contractors (AIRC - the station-owners trade f ederation) over guestions of rental for transmitters, program content and station ownership . On the other hand , there has been a steady stream of criticism of the stations for failing to take their ЧосаГ and l community' programming duties-, which are very costly forms of programming compared with recorded music , at all seriously . (Local Radio WorKshop , 1982 ) 5 K This unsatisfactory state of affairs has leđ to two pressures on radio broadcasting . One is the commercial thrust whi,ch looKs towards the relaxation of controls in order to allow the creation of genuinely and permanently profitable stations . The other is the demand for forms of programming which correspond to the more accepted versions of the ЧосаГ and 'community' broadcasting remit, providing services for anđ a voice to groups otherwise excluded from the airwaves . The IBA has been increasingly prepared to relax restrictions on the local stations in order to help them achieve profitability . Thus , in 1986 the AIRC won a long struggle with the IBA over the level of rental charges for transmitter services , succeeding in gaining a 26 per cent reduction (CricK . 1987: 9-10). The regulations against the constructions of chams of services have also been interpreted increasingly flexibly , leading to increasing interest in radio station ownership and program production by large and medium sized leisure compames . An example from the field of ownership is 'Ređ Rose Radio' m Lancashire , owned and run by the provincial entrepreneur Owen Oyston 6 >. From a base in Lancaster his ruthless attitude towards promoting 'popular' mainstream programming and reducmg staffing and running costs has enabled him , with IBA approval, to taKe over ailing stations liKe Cardiff and buy substantial holdings in others liKe Liverpool and Manchester (Anon B.1988). The emerging chain was then floated on the 'Unlisted Secunties

152