With the Sonys and RAJARS out of the way everyone in radio land is now turning their attention to Birmingham where every major radio company is bidding for a new terrestrial radio frequency, the second biggest outside London - the deadline for applications is this week.
GWR, Emap, Capital, Chrysalis and Scottish Radio Holdings are among the dozen or so bids being made, many of the majors looking for terrestrial outlets for their digital stations. GWR hope to launch a Midlands version of its digital station The Storm, EMAP wants to launch a terrestrial version of its Kerrang! station, while Capital are looking for another outlet for its childrens station, a joint venture with Disney.
Gregory Watson, GWR's head of corporate development explains the importance of the licence: "It is the second major market outside London and, for GWR, it is a major goal for getting into the major metropolitan areas outside London. There are two important factors - the area and the opportunity to develop the format of our station, The Storm."
This licence will be one of the last to be awarded by the Radio Authority before it is merged with Ofcom. However the outgoing regulator has advised that the new authority should look into advertising a further 32 terrestrial licences in the next few years, despite the industry's hopes for digital and web radio to take off. The full list of applicants for the licence to date include:
Chrysalis - WBC (a Birmingham version of LBC)
Emap - Kerrang! (the group's digital rock station)
SMG - Virgin Radio (a regional opt out of the national rock station)
GWR - The Storm (the group's digital rock station)
Capital Group - Capital Disney (the group's digital children's station)
GMG - Jazz FM
Scottish Radio Holdings - 3C (a country station)
Celador - WMMR (a new rock station)
The Wireless Group (a new news channel from the makers of Talk Sport)
Sunrise Radio (an Asian station)
Absolute Radio - Jump (a new pop station)