Bristol radio station gets 'Yellow Card'

UK regulator Ofcom has issued a Yellow Card warning to GWR in Bristol for operating outside the music obligations of its Format.

GWR Bristol is a 'contemporary and chart music and information station', but an Ofcom Content Sampling Report shows the station playing only 47% of contemporary music (that is music from within the last two years).

The report is available at
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/
contentsampling/gwrfm.pdf

If we find that these issues have been addressed when we monitor the station again, after Monday 23 March 2009, then the Yellow Card will be lifted. If GWR does not come back within Format within the week we will move to sanctions, which could involve a fine or shortening of licence.

This warning concerns GWR Bristol, but we received similar complaints about a number of Global stations and we advise the licensee to take this finding into account for programming across all its ‘contemporary hit radio’ (CHR) stations.

Ofcom has had conversations with the licensee about content on its CHR stations in the past.