Not everyone in Plymouth seems to be that excited by the "quicken-your-pulse" radio station being promised by the radio company owned by Australian bank Macquarie and former EMAP radio exec Tim Schoonmaker. As previously reported, Macquarie became the second non-UK based company to own a British radio station after OfCom awarded their Diamond FM station the new Plymouth licence earlier this month. But that decision has met with opposition among Plymouth city officials, who were hoping one of the other three bids - all from Devon based companies - would win.
According to the Guardian, business leaders in the city have written to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell (who is, despite everything, still Culture Secretary) claiming that OfCom's decision has "provoked astonishment and anger, way beyond the boundaries of this city". The city's Chamber Of Commerce claims to have the support of "every single private sector organisation" in the city, and is calling on Jowell to overturn the decision, (which I'm not entirely sure she has the power to do), otherwise, they say, they will fight to have Macquarie's licence revoked "through to the highest authority in the land".
It's not completely clear how strong resentment to the new station in Plymouth really is, though the local MP and newspaper are backing the Chamber Of Commerce's campaign (though the local newspaper has been good enough to admit that it isn't entirely unbiased given that its parent company, Daily Mail And General Trust, was backer of one of the other three bids) - but let's just say I wouldn't want the ad sales job that involves approaching Plymouth businesses with Diamond FM's rate card.
Schoonmaker has defended his plans for the new station, telling the Guardian: "Diamond is looking forward to offering a great rock music radio station to the people of Plymouth. The radio station won't be just for people who have 100 rock albums in their CD collections, but for people who have just three. The research we conducted showed there are a lot of people would who give our radio station a try and the music will range as far back as Pink Floyd and as far forward as Green Day. We will also run a fully-staffed newsroom that will give a new viewpoint in news and issues in Plymouth".