§ Mr. Gorstasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will publish details of the listenership figures for each of the local radio stations run by the British Broadcasting Corporation, showing what their potential audiences are and what their actual listenership is.
§ Mr. ChatawayNo. This is a matter for the B.B.C.
§ Mr. Gorstasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1) what is the total annual cost of running the existing British Broadcasting Corporation local radio stations; and what is the annual running cost of each station at present authorised to broadcast;
(2) what was the capital cost of each of the British Broadcasting Corporation's existing local radio stations; and how much has been spent on other local stations that have not yet started transmissions.
§ Mr. ChatawayThe B.B.C. is unable to provide this information in the precise form requested. However, it tells me that the total annual cost of running the 20 local radio stations authorised by the Government will be some £2 million, at an average cost of £100,000 per station.
224WThe capital cost of the 20 stations will be some £1½ million, an average of £75,000 per station. Some £600,000 has been spent on the seven stations not yet fully operational.
§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what consultations he has had with local representative opinion in Wales in preparing his proposals for local sound radio.
§ Mr. ChatawayI have received advice from a wide variety of organisations representative of opinion throughout the United Kingdom as well as from sources in Wales.