Southampton Shrimper
Team Eggheads
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’.
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’.