Oxford Radio station attempts to shake youth, go older

FM107.9 in Oxford won its licence to broadcast on the promise of being a station aimed at the city's young and student population. It's decided that's a hiding to nothing.

At the moment, it promises to do this:

THE STATION WILL BE THE VOICE FOR YOUNG OXFORD THROUGH A MIX OF PRIMARILY NEW, CUTTING EDGE' AND CREDIBLE CHART MUSIC (eg URBAN, DANCE AND ALTERNATIVE) WITH NEWS, PHONE-INS, INFORMATION AND YOUTH CULTURE FEATURES TARGETING 15-29s IN THE CITY.

Of course it's in ALLCAPS. It does phone-ins.

Now, though, they want to do this:

THE STATION WILL BE THE VOICE FOR OXFORD THROUGH A MIX OF EASY-LISTENING SOFT MUSIC AIMED AT 45+ ADULTS WITH LOCAL NEWS, PHONE-INS, LOCAL INFORMATION AND CULTURE FEATURES TARGETING THE CITY

Management at the station suggest this would be a cosmetic change, just swapping one pile of CDs for another.

Ofcom isn't having that, pointing out that swapping from playing The Courteeners to Jim Reeves is a "stark" one. They're inviting responses from the public.