Statement: Kiss East – Request to change Format

Statement published 11 July 2023

A commercial radio station’s Format sets out the type of broadcast output it is required to deliver, and forms a part of its licence. Formats may include requirements relating to a station’s music output, news provision, other types of speech content, its target audience, the volume and origin of locally-made programmes, and any programme sharing arrangements. Taken together, these elements encapsulate the nature and overall character of a licensed service.

On 31 January 2023, Bauer Radio Limited (‘Bauer’) submitted a request to Ofcom to make changes to the Format of its analogue (FM) commercial radio licence for the East of England, under which it currently broadcasts its national ‘Kiss’ service on all four transmitters – 105.6 MHz (Cambridge); 106.1 MHz (Norwich); 106.4 MHz (Suffolk) and 107.7 MHz (Peterborough).