§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about split frequency broadcasting on local radio.
§ Mr. HurdAs noted in our Green Paper "Radio: Choices and Opportunities", published in February 1987, local radio services normally broadcast the same programme on medium wave and VHF/FM frequencies. Approval has, however, been given from time to time to the broadcasting of separate programmes on the two frequencies for a limited period to meet local needs, and in 1985 the Government approved an experiment in which selected BBC and independent local radio (ILR) stations undertook split frequency broadcasting for up to 10 hours a week. The experiment enabled the stations to address specialist or majority audiences, to provide alternative speech or music services and to offer a different emphasis in their programmes.
The experiment has been successful in achieving these aims, and listeners have welcomed the enhanced range of choice that it allowed. In the light of the experiment, the BBC and IBA have suggested that local radio stations should be able to split frequencies at any time at the discretion of the broadcasting authorities. This approach would be consistent with the proposals in our Green Paper, which were that simulcasting — the automatic 195W broadcasting of the same programme on two frequencies — should be phased out. I have therefore given my approval to the proposals from the BBC and IBA, and invited them to proceed with split frequency broadcasting.