Northampton radio station threatened with sanctions by Ofcom following a second warning over its broadcasts

A Northampton radio station has been warned and threatened with sanctions after "failing to fulfil” its key commitments.

Communications watchdog Ofcom says that Revolution Radio, in Abington Street, “failed to deliver” on its key commitment to “provide a service for marginalised communities in the town”.

Ofcom conducted an inspection by listening to a week’s worth of radio shows broadcast in March 2022.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "It should...be clear on air that this is a service for its target community, the diverse ethnic communities of Northampton, rather than a service targeting the general population of Northampton.

"We expect the licensee to work to rectify these issues immediately."

This is the second time that Revolution Radio Limited has been found in breach of licence conditions by Ofcom.

The watchdog reported in November 2021 that Revolution Radio “failed to deliver original output and serve its specified target community”.

Because of these two breaches, Ofcom has threatened Revolution Radio with sanctions, which could involve either a fine or the revocation of its license.

The Ofcom spokesman said: "We will monitor this service to ensure that Revolution Radio is complying with the key commitments."

Revolution Radio response

A Revolution Radio spokesman said they recognise “there is still work to do” and, following the inspection, the station has introduced “more programmes specifically targeted at marginalised communities”.

The spokesman said: "We recognise that there is still work to do with building direct relationships with our local communities so we can encourage them to approach us more formally and proactively with content and see us as a regular outlet for their messages.

“We would also like to be clear that as a radio station which has only been broadcasting for a little over a year, we are still developing our output as new presenters volunteer, are trained up and lead to new programmes going on air. In fact, we have introduced several more programmes specifically targeted at marginalised communities since our most recent monitoring.

“We have requested clarification on what would constitute compliance and Ofcom was unable to provide specific guidance as it is for the licensee to interpret key commitments.”

Revolution Radio has requested to have its key commitments amended to “provide a service which builds bridges through universal mainstream appeal”.

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