UK media regulator has said it is considering further deregulation of the radio industry in order to help commercial operators to compete with the BBC. The proposed changes are in the area of radio ownership, which basically means OfCom is planning on allowing radio firms to own more stations in any one local market.
Lisa Kerr of the RadioCentre, which represents the commercial radio industry, welcomed that announcement, telling reporters: "It is an important signal from the regulator that ownership rules for radio are relatively more restrictive and complicated, and probably too complicated for the modern converging multimedia world we live in. Commercial radio is competing with other media that has an enormous amount of freedom in terms of ownership and the way they run their companies, and it is restricted by rules put in place when the world was entirely different. There are so many places you can go now for local news and opinion. The market is no longer media specific."