Absolute Radio owner faces fine for ending AM service

THE owner of Absolute Radio is facing a fine for shutting down the station’s AM service eight years before its licence ended.

Bauer Radio this month confirmed that it had stopped broadcasting Absolute over traditional AM transmitters in a move expected to save the company more than £1m a year.

The station will continue to be broadcast nationally on DAB.

But regulator Ofcom has written to Bauer to serve notice of revoking the licence, because the company had shut down the station before the end of its licence period.

Absolute Radio, which launched in 1993 as Virgin Radio, most recently renewed its licence for a period of 10 years from May 2021.

Broadcasting regulations state that Ofcom must charge the licence holder a financial penalty if it revokes a national licence. Bauer has five working days in which to respond to Ofcom’s preliminary decision.

If Ofcom opts to revoke the licence, it is understood that Bauer will request a de minimis financial penalty, citing the Government’s aim to end AM transmission by the mid-2020s and the cost and environmental impact of transmission.

Bauer, whose other stations include Kiss, Magic and Scala, has been gradually ending its AM transmission of Absolute in recent months. It has also begun to shut down some regional licences for Greatest Hits Radio.

The move comes amid a shift away from traditional radio listening, with the majority of audiences now tuning in through DAB or online, as well as rising energy costs linked to AM transmission.

AM radio now accounts for just 2pc of listening, but generates a third of transmission energy costs, according to figures from the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport.