Action Stations launched in House of Commons

A new Radiocentre report that highlights the public value of commercial radio has been backed by MPs and Peers at a launch in Parliament on Tuesday 18 October.

Action Stations includes information and case studies from commercial radio stations across the UK, focussing on local news and information, community and social action, music, technology and innovation, as well as the commercial radio business.  The foreword to the report was provided by the Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital and Culture.

Action Stations found that commercial radio stations:

• broadcast an average 13 hours 15 minutes of public service content each week (news and sport, travel, weather, charity appeals, local events)
• provide 25 news and sport bulletins each day on average
• attend more than 10,000 local events each year
• raise a total of over £25m directly for charity
• engage with listeners over one million times a day
• support live music (90% of stations) and unknown artists (83% of stations).

 Siobhan Kenny, Chief Executive of Radiocentre said:  “Action Stations details the many ways in which commercial radio is the lifeblood of communities, cities, towns and villages across the country.  The wealth of case studies in Action Stations provides a great reminder of how our medium continues to deliver all these things in spades, hence its enduring popularity.”

 Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital and Culture said:  “Radio remains as popular as ever and a strong commercial radio sector is central to this continuing success.  These services provide a fantastic range of choice and a public service contribution that is documented in detail in this latest report from Radiocentre.”

 Action Stations is available to read in full here.