The UK’s radio broadcasting landscape is at a crossroads. While Small-Scale DAB (SSDAB) has provided an important step forward in digital radio access, the continued constraints on AM and FM licensing are limiting opportunities for growth, innovation, and local media plurality. If Ofcom were to open the process of AM and FM licensing in a structured and transparent way, it could help rebalance the market, strengthen public interest broadcasting, and foster greater local and regional representation in UK media—all while complementing, rather than undermining, the rollout of SSDAB.
This approach aligns with the UK Government’s devolution and growth agenda, ensuring that the potential of local broadcasting is fully realised in supporting civic engagement, economic regeneration, and cultural development. It would also enable new market providers to diversify supply, innovate, and meet the needs of audiences who have been sidelined by the increasing centralisation of radio services under international corporate networks such as Bauer and Global.
Why AM and FM Licensing Still Matters
Despite the growing adoption of digital platforms, AM and FM continue to serve vital functions in the UK’s radio ecosystem:
- Wider Accessibility: Many communities, particularly in rural and economically disadvantaged areas, still rely on AM and FM due to gaps in digital radio penetration. FM remains the most cost-effective way to reach these audiences.
- Public Service and Emergency Broadcasting: FM and AM radio provide resilience in emergency communication, ensuring continuity of information in times of crisis when digital services may fail.
- Diversity in Local Media: The dominance of commercial radio giants has led to the homogenisation of local content. FM and AM offer opportunities for smaller, community-driven providers to deliver locally relevant content that reflects real audience needs.
A New Approach to Licensing: Flexible, Open, and Complementary
Ofcom can take three key steps to open AM and FM licensing without undermining SSDAB, ensuring that scarce spectrum is properly utilised while enhancing media plurality and market competition:
Implement a Demand-Led AM/FM Licensing Process
Rather than maintaining indefinite freezes on new analogue licensing rounds, Ofcom should introduce a demand-led application process where potential broadcasters can submit expressions of interest for AM and FM licences. These applications would be evaluated based on:
- Demonstrated community or market need (e.g., areas underserved by SSDAB or where local voices are absent).
- Technical feasibility and spectrum availability, ensuring efficient use of frequencies.
- Commitment to public interest principles, such as local journalism, community programming, and adherence to the Broadcast Code.
This process would not replace SSDAB but rather ensure that areas with limited digital penetration or clear analogue broadcasting gaps are given the tools they need to sustain local media ecosystems.
Promote Market Diversification and Innovation
By opening access to AM and FM licensing, Ofcom can break the centralised stranglehold of large commercial networks and foster a new wave of locally focused, independent broadcasters. This could include:
- New commercial entrants offering a wider range of speech, music, and specialist programming.
- Non-profit and community-led services that support civic participation, education, and cultural representation.
- Experimental and innovative broadcasting models, including hybrid digital-analogue formats that support audience engagement across multiple platforms.
This would follow the Distributionist Principle—that which can be done at the local level should be done at the local level—empowering regional and community-based media providers to take ownership of their own communications infrastructure.
Strengthen Public Trust in Information Services
In an era of rising misinformation and external interference in media narratives, a rebalanced UK broadcast landscape could serve as a bulwark against disinformation. By expanding locally accountable radio services that adhere to the Broadcast Code, Ofcom would help ensure that accurate, trusted, and public-interest-focused content is delivered to diverse audiences.
An expanded AM/FM framework could prioritise:
- Local journalism initiatives to counteract the erosion of regional news coverage.
- Partnerships with public institutions to support educational, health, and emergency response communications.
- Community-led fact-checking and discussion programming, fostering greater civic literacy and resilience against manipulative media practices.
This would challenge the growing influence of corporate-controlled media consolidation, where decisions about content and priorities are dictated by global headquarters rather than responding to the needs of local listeners.
Balanced Future for UK Radio
Ofcom has the opportunity to unlock the full potential of UK broadcasting by ensuring that analogue radio remains a viable and strategic component of our media ecosystem. By introducing a demand-led licensing process, supporting new market entrants, and strengthening the public service role of radio, Ofcom can diversify supply, encourage innovation, and ensure that all communities have access to relevant, accountable, and locally driven content.
Far from undermining SSDAB, this would complement digital radio’s growth, ensuring that the UK’s media infrastructure remains resilient, inclusive, and responsive to changing audience needs.
As the UK moves forward with its devolution and economic regeneration plans, local radio should not be left behind. If we want a media landscape that truly represents all voices, then what can be done at the local level, should be done at the local level—and that starts with giving AM and FM a renewed and strategic role in our national broadcasting framework.