Radio: mixed signals

Oddly, despite the claims of commercial radio operators that listeners couldn't care less where their programming comes from, Ed Richards of Ofcom has told the Radio Academy that the opposite is true:

Richards said the research showed that listeners believed the "quality would suffer if [such content] was not made and produced by local people."

"They see a local presentation as a bedrock to local content," he added.

So, Ofcom have decided that people want their local stations to be local. And how do they propose to ensure that people get the local content they want?

Erm... by changing the rules to allow less local content:

Speaking at the Cambridge Radio Festival, the Ofcom chief executive said the it had already proposed reducing the amount of local content stations were required to produce, and would look to reduce it for smaller stations.

Brilliant work, Ofcom. It's like encouraging rare species by handing out shotgun licences.