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Southampton Shrimper

Team Eggheads
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
1,787
Location
East Hampshire
I know Reading Shrimper has already posted some information about the four organisations bidding for the new licence for a radio station in Southend, but seeing as so many people on here are so fed up with coverage of the team on local radio, particularly Essex FM, I thought I'd look at the four applications to see what they are promising to offer in terms of local sports coverage, and this is what they have to say:


DIAMOND 105 FM

SOUTHEND SPORT
Our research shows there is a clear demand for local sports news in the Southend area with 24.8% of the total and 38.4% of men saying they would like to hear football results on any new local station. In particular, Diamond 105 FM's coverage will concentrate on unashamedly supporting Southend United. In the 2004-05 season, The Blues won the League Two playoff final to earn promotion to League One. Now the challenge is coping with the chairman's possible buy-out of fellow joint owner Delancey Estates' stake to boost The Shrimper's plans to leave Roots Hall and build a new ground at Fossetts Farm. We will also cover West Ham – anecdotally more West Ham supporters live in Southend than Southend supporters! We will therefore feature Hammers' results in our bulletins - though only after mention of
The Shrimpers.



ESTUARY FM

Coverage of local sports

As is often the case, our audience research has confirmed that football and other sports coverage is of limited interest to many listeners, particularly women, whereas for others it is an important ingredient. Getting the balance right is obviously crucial, and at Estuary FM we are confident that regular strands of sports-related programming with a local accent, complemented by a comprehensive weekend sports preview as part of '
The Big Southend Weekend' magazine programme, will be satisfying both to followers of sport and those with a more casual interest.

Local and national sport will be featured in short sports bulletins at peak times and within main news bulletins at other times, including evening football results of Southend United and Canvey Island FC (when Essex FM and Breeze are networked with no local content).

On Saturday afternoons during the football season we will keep listeners updated with scores and reports from our local clubs. We have developed a good relationship with Geoffrey King, the Deputy Chairman of Southend United Football Club who is also Chairman of Canvey Island FC, and anticipate his and the clubs' participation in our programmes and on-air discussion.




SEACOAST SOUND

Sports News
In our research, local and national sports news divided the sexes, proving to be a man’s thing and scoring lower than What’s On news. However, some sports are of national interest generally and will be covered, as will our local football team who are currently newsworthy as they continue to deliver. In fact, Southend United FC have offered us exclusive home and away game live commentary which we may prefer to offer as a service on our website with live updates on air. If we win the licence, we will probe deeper into this area in our proposed fine detail research prior to launch, to determine exactly which course to take.



SOUTHEND RADIO

Sport

Local sports news will be included in our news bulletins. In addition, we will feature local sporting activities within extended news and magazine programmes. Sports organisers and clubs will be invited as guests on programmes. Southend Radio will also operate co-branding arrangements with local sports clubs receiving promotional coverage in return for banner placement and branding. On Saturdays, the extended lunchtime news bulletin will have a sports focus on Southend United games and other local amateur and professional clubs. We have budgetary provision for licensing and expenses for live match reports from Southend United for home and away games.




So, any favourites for the licence based purely on the Shrimpers factor? If you feel strongly enough about any of the applications, you can contact Ofcom, this from their website:


Ofcom welcomes the views of the public about the local needs of listeners in this area and the type of service required. Opinions on these issues can either be emailed to commercialradio@ofcom.org.uk or posted to Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing, Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Please mark the envelope ‘Southend licence’.

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All sounds quite promising (apart from Estuary) but will these promises be kept if they do get the license? I wonder!
 
You can forget Estuary after a comment like this:-

We have developed a good relationship with Geoffrey King, the Deputy Chairman of Southend United Football Club who is also Chairman of Canvey Island FC, and anticipate his and the clubs' participation in our programmes and on-air discussion.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SUFCFARAWAY @ April 12 2006,13:21)]
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All sounds quite promising (apart from Estuary) but will these promises be kept if they do get the license? I wonder!
Yes, I'm not too sure on the comments like "If we win the licence we will probe deeper into this area" or "we have budgetary provision for.." when talking about commentary or live reports. Could be something that just gets forgotten about when they are awarded the licence!!
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]DIAMOND 105 FM

SOUTHEND SPORT
Our research shows there is a clear demand for local sports news in the Southend area with 24.8% of the total and 38.4% of men saying they would like to hear football results on any new local station. In particular, Diamond 105 FM's coverage will concentrate on unashamedly supporting Southend United. In the 2004-05 season, The Blues won the League Two playoff final to earn promotion to League One. Now the challenge is coping with the chairman's possible buy-out of fellow joint owner Delancey Estates' stake to boost The Shrimper's plans to leave Roots Hall and build a new ground at Fossetts Farm. We will also cover West Ham – anecdotally more West Ham supporters live in Southend than Southend supporters! We will therefore feature Hammers' results in our bulletins - though only after mention of
The Shrimpers.

There is not many W@nk-Ham living in the area these day, thank God for that & SUFC is slowly taking over, when you walk in Priory Park there is loads of kids with SUFC shirt which is good to see.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (londonblue @ April 12 2006,13:23)]You can forget Estuary after a comment like this:-

We have developed a good relationship with Geoffrey King, the Deputy Chairman of Southend United Football Club who is also Chairman of Canvey Island FC, and anticipate his and the clubs' participation in our programmes and on-air discussion.
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Yep. They are clearly bullsh*tting about their so-called relationship if they can't tell the difference between Geoff King and Jeff King.

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[b said:
Quote[/b] (shrimperman @ April 12 2006,14:30)]On the basis of what has been quoted above my vote goes to Seacoast Sound
It would certainly be good for us exiles if they could get commentary on their website, but as has been explained above it may not happen - and then I'm sure Blues World would make sure it doesn't happen as well!!
 
Good work Southampton - I emailed a few of the contenders a few months ago with questions about their coverage of S.U.F.C. - not one of them got back to me
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Where did you get the info from?

Southend Radio 105.1 looked the most promising to me - on balance between their programming and coverage of the Blues. Whilst Seacost looks good, you have to remember it is a station targeted at the over 50.s!
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (Reading Shrimper @ April 12 2006,14:46)]Good work Southampton - I emailed a few of the contenders a few months ago with questions about their coverage of S.U.F.C. - not one of them got back to me  
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Where did you get the info from?
All the application bids are downloadable from the Ofcom website.

The first document for each bidder is their bid document, the Qs and As is their response to questions raised by Ofcom having read through the applications.
 
Good stuff - hopefully Ofcom read some of the comments I (and others) sent in...
Do you know what the timetable is? i.e. when the winner will be decided, and when they expect the station to go on-air?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Reading Shrimper @ April 12 2006,14:53)]Do you know what the timetable is? i.e. when the winner will be decided, and when they expect the station to go on-air?
I haven't been able to find any information as to the timetable on the Ofcom site, but we might possibly be able to draw parallels with another application, for a new radio station down here in the Solent area.

The applications closed on 5 May 2005, and the licence was awarded 4 months later on 5 September 2005. However, seven months on and the station still hasn't started yet, although the other week the scanner on my car radio did stop at the new frequency but there was absolutlely nothing coming through, not even a test signal!

I think I'm right in saying that applications for the Southend licence closed on 12 January 2006. Looking at some of the other recent awards, they have been made three months after close of bidding, not four, which in the case of Southend would mean the decision would be due - TODAY!!!!! But nothing from Ofcom yet, although I would assume we would hear something within a month at the latest. Start date may be about a year away...
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (londonblue @ April 12 2006,13:23)]You can forget Estuary after a comment like this:-

We have developed a good relationship with Geoffrey King, the Deputy Chairman of Southend United Football Club who is also Chairman of Canvey Island FC, and anticipate his and the clubs' participation in our programmes and on-air discussion.
Lol, not so much shooting themselves in the foot, but shooting themselves in the head and dumping their own body off the burning pier....
 
Ofcom announced their decision today, the licence has been awarded to......





.....Southend Radio!

It will provide "a locally relevant radio station for Southend with news, information, engaging chat and great music from the 60s to today," according to the Ofcom press release.

Ofcom expects Southend Radio Limited to begin broadcasting at the earliest opportunity and no later than two years from this award date.
 
I will contact Southend Radio and advise them of SZ's existence and offer the services of our legion of members to assist them with any features.
Anyone know the contact address ?
 
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