Section on radio regulation from the Ofcom roadmap this February

This part of the Bill removes a number of longstanding regulatory duties applying to licensed FM and AM commercial radio services and national and local radio multiplex services. Specifically, to reflect the wide range of services now available to listeners, there will no longer be requirements on local stations relating to where they make their programmes and what music they play. Ofcom’s role in regulating which radio stations are carried on DAB will also end.

The Bill retains requirements for local commercial radio services to provide local news and information, introducing a new requirement for ‘locally gathered’ news. It also introduces new requirements for multiplex licensees to publish information about their costs and to provide Ofcom with information about the radio stations they carry.

There are also provisions which will allow for all local analogue licences to be renewed and for the UK digital licensing regime to be extended to radio stations based overseas.

Bill doesn't deal with community radio legislation. The analogue renewals for commercial radio will be if they are also transmitting a local digital service or if they plan to do so on a named multiplex.

Ofcom had previously said, it was in their proposals that the DAB licencing of stations licensed overseas will start with the Republic of Ireland. This was part of the 2017 agreement between RTE, the Irish government and Irish in Britain on the closure of longwave.

It said they would use small scale DAB mulitplexes in area with a large Irish expat population to relay RTE Radio 1 as well as produce specific programmes for UK expats, all prior to an announced closure date for longwave, All held up by the delay in changing UK legislation. Not sure whether they will now do that.