Atlantic FM - Our Commitment to Cornwall

As part of our responsibilities to listeners and to our regulator, Ofcom, this public file requires a summary of our approach to programming and localness.

Atlantic FM News

Atlantic FM provides a 7-day local news service with regular bulletins between 0630 and 1830 daily. On typical weekdays, Atlantic FM News containing a mix of local, national and international news is normally broadcast at: 0630; 0658; 0730; 0758; 0830; 0858; 0958; 1058; 1158; 1258; 1358; 1458; 1558; 1630; 1658; 1730; 1758 and 1830

On typical Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays Atlantic FM News containing a mix of local, national and international news is normally broadcast at: 0658; 0758; 0858; 0958; 1058; 1158; 1258 and 1358

In addition to our main news bulletins, we also broadcast locally produced Sports & Surf bulletins at 0740; 0840; 0940, 1140 & 1340 on Saturday and Sundays.

As well as scheduled bulletins, Atlantic FM provides regular brief updates in programming and important breaking stories are aired as soon as possible.

Local news is generated by our team of journalists based at our studios at Wheal Kitty, St Agnes, in the heart of Cornwall's World Heritage Status Mining Landscape.

From 1900 each weekday, we provide regular national and international bulletins sourced from Independent Radio News (IRN) in London.  From 3rd March 2009 IRN source their news from Sky News.

As an example of the type of local content featured in Atlantic FM News, in March and early April 2007 we covered stories including: The 10th anniversary of the wreck of the container ship Cita; Cornwall's fire brigade warning to boat owners; coverage of the Penhallow Hotel Fire in Newquay in 2007 including live special broadcasts from the scene, the debate over Cornwall's mooted unitary authority; pollution in the River Fal affecting mussel stocks; centralisation of fire service control; Health service issues including out of hours cover and A&E waiting times; A major data breach of personal details by a local organisation.

The Atlantic FM News team can be contacted by email (news@atlantic.fm) or by telephone (01872 554400)

Automation

Ofcom asks radio stations to state whether they automate any daytime hours of programming. We do not automated any daytime programming.  We do automate non-daytime programming at times.

Local Production

All our programming is produced locally (with the exception of national and international content sourced from IRN).

Ofcom Localness Guidelines

Ofcom provides the following general guidelines about localness.

Localness is not an issue for all stations, but where it is demanded within the format, it should be addressed directly as per these guidelines.

The extent to which local material is included in the service provided by a licensee varies by station and is specified in the station's Format. Ofcom regards the Format, as supported by the localness guidelines, as fulfilling the statutory requirement regarding the provision of an appropriate amount of local material and a suitable proportion of locally made programmes.

Localness can be both characterised and delivered in a number of ways (news, information, comment, outside broadcasts, what's-on, travel news, interviews, charity involvement, weather, local artists, local arts and culture, sport coverage, phone-ins, listener interactivity etc.), therefore precise definitions can be unhelpful.

Ofcom guidelines are not rules or demands as such. However, in its move towards 'output' rather than 'input' regulation Ofcom feels it is useful to outline the sort of considerations that may come into play if it becomes necessary to investigate a station's localness output. Many of these considerations are based on listener expectation.

It is the obligation of each station to deliver a suitable level of localness output as defined within the Format in whichever way it sees fit within its licence conditions. The guidelines set out the areas of issue that may be questioned by Ofcom if it has cause to investigate a station's localness output. The extent to which any particular guidelines have been considered may vary, dependent on the context of the complaint.

Local material - What it is

Station programming of specific relevance which also offers a distinctive alternative to UK-wide or nations - Service; Content drawn from, and / or relevant to, the area is often the major point of difference between stations, and therefore licensees should be able to identify a range of local aspects of their stations and how they are providing output specific to their area;

The feel for an area a listener should get by tuning in to a particular station, coupled with confidence that matters of importance, relevance or interest to the target audience in the area will be accessible on air; and programming likely to give listeners a feeling of ownership and / or kinship, particularly at times of crisis (snow, floods etc).

Local material - What it isn't

Localising news (e.g. conducting vox pop interviews in one area and playing them out as if from another or inserting local place names into UK-wide stories) without local news / information generation would not be regarded as a contribution towards localness; Pure promotional off-air activity such as station promotion in the area (vehicles carrying station logos, roadshows, etc.) are not in themselves substitutes for localness without on-air activity involving something other than self-promotion;

Competitions / promotions that invite and involve listener participation from outside a station area would not be regarded as a contribution to localness; and The Communications Act 2003 [Section 314] stipulates that advertisements are not regarded as local programming within the context of localness and Ofcom' s localness guidance.

These statements are guidelines which recognise localness can be delivered in many ways, which are neither mutually exclusive nor individually obligatory. For instance, regular featuring of local music or artists is not a pre-requisite ingredient for the delivery of localness, but would certainly be regarded as a contribution towards such delivery. Similarly, the organisation of roadshows and the presence locally of promotional vehicles are regarded by Ofcom as important aspects of radio station activity, but could only be regarded as a contribution towards the delivery of localness if such activity manifested itself constructively on-air, as Section 314 requires Ofcom to consider only what is included in programmes.

Local material - News provision, automation, networking, studio location, etc

In addition to the above general guidance we want to outline the sort of factors likely to be considered by Ofcom if the provision of local programming at a particular station is questioned. Such factors are guidelines only, but the extent to which they may appear to have been considered might influence Ofcom's findings in the event of Ofcom 'output' scrutiny.

For listeners, it is the quality, relevance, timeliness and accuracy of the news that matters, not where it is read from. Any group of stations may therefore operate news hubs in any way which makes operational sense for them.

However, in order to provide a comprehensive local news service in touch with the area it is covering, Ofcom believes each station should have direct and accountable editorial responsibility for covering its licensed area. It also believes that the appropriate provision of professional journalistic cover, based within the licence area, on days when local news provision is a Format obligation, is a reasonable minimum expectation.

Any individual station should have procedures in place to be able to react to and report on local news events in a timely manner. Therefore, while Ofcom understands the need to record news bulletins this should be as an exception rather than a rule.

Ofcom also draws the attention of licensees to the research findings and listeners' expectations that peak time bulletins should be live (or pre-recorded only shortly before transmission); an expectation we believe is reasonable.

It is up to each station to decide how best to produce its locally-made programming and so there are no restrictions on the amount of automation (e.g. using voice tracking) that a station may use. To the extent that such programming forms a part of local hours (as defined in the station's Format), any such automated programmes should be locally-made and to the extent it comprises part of the station's local material should take account of Ofcom's localness guidelines.

However, as with news, licensees are expected to take into account listeners' expectations and be able to react to events on a timely basis when it comes to automated and live programming; and while stations are free to network programmes outside the requirements regarding locally-made programming in their formats, and are free to use automation as they see fit, they are still expected to be able to respond to local events in a timely manner, providing live local programming in the way and at times that audiences expect.

Locally made programmes

Where a station is required to provide locally-made programming, its studios should be located within its licensed area, although Ofcom will consider requests for co-location on a case-by-case basis, taking in such factors as Format obligations, financial impact, output impact, operational needs, etc.

Station Contact Details

Atlantic FM, 10 Wheal Kitty Workshops, St Agnes, Cornwall TR5 0RD
Office telephone : 01872 554400 email : feedback@atlantic.fm
Studio telephone : 01872 554466 email : studio@atlantic.fm

Our main telephone numbers are normal geographic numbers allowing inexpensive access for listeners. For information on the cost of calling the 0870 and 0845 numbers used by many broadcasters see www.saynoto0870.com

Events, Community Involvement & Charities

Events: we broadcast "what's on" information regularly from 0600-2359, keeping Cornwall in touch with local events. We also attend a range of events to underline our involvement in the community and provide an opportunity for interaction with listeners.

Examples have included:

Delabole Carnival, Callington Carnival, Newquay Carnival, The Animal Beach Ball festival- Newquay, RNAS Culdrose Air Day, The Stithians Agricultural Show, The K-Festival, Newquay Lifeboat Day, St. Agnes Lifeboat day, A Mini Convention near Bude to coincide with a mini rally raising money for Children's Hospice South West, HMS Cornwall as she set sail from Fowey, The Eden Sessions at the Eden Project, Numerous Christmas Light Switch-ons across the county, including Nancegollan, Widegates, Newquay, THe RNLI Dragonboat Challenge in Falmouth (2006,07,08), Relay for Life in Penryn, St. Agnes and Liskeard, "Think you can drive" at the Royal Cornwall Showground 2007 & 2008, The White Stuff Surf Relief Beach Festival, Cornwall County Scouting camp at Stithians Showground.

Community Involvement & Charities:

As well as broadcasting what's on information and attending events, we provide a 'Bulletin Board' service within most daytime hours. This service focuses on charities, voluntary and generally non-profit organisations.

Examples of organisations benefiting:

St. Stythians Male Voice Choir, Cotehele House, Doubletrees Special School, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Western Terrace, Falmouth, Trewithen Gardens, Stoke Climsland Primary School, St Teath Village Lights Committee, Macmillan Cancer Research Cornwall, Cornwall Hydrotherapy Centre, National Animal Welfare Trust, Hayle, Newquay Lions.

The Atlantic FM Bulletin Board provides a daily service each weekday as an interactive source for listeners who need help or advice, and for organisations to make appeals for practical support.

Examples of Atlantic FM Bulletin Board content have included:

Cornwall Blind Association
Grampound Road Church
St. Agnes Surf Club
Cats Protection, Helston
Rainbow Animal Rescue, Redruth
Penwith Explorer Scouts
Breast Cancer Campaign
St. Frances Home for Animals, St. Columb
We also feature a homeless local 'Dog of the Week' on the More Music Workday with a high success rate of re-homing.
The station has also hosted Cornwall's Biggest Pub Quiz in aid of Cancer Research.

 

Atlantic FM Schedule

Monday to Friday
0500-1000 The Full Cornish Breakfast with Dom and Lara
1000-1500 More Music Workday with Tim Ley
1500-1900 The Home Run with Nigel Barker
1900-2100 The Breeze - presented by Victoria Leigh
2100-0000 Victoria Leigh
0000-0500 Atlantic FM through the night (extended to 0600 on Friday night)

Saturday
0600-1000 The Weekend Wakeup with Dom James
1000-1400 Victoria Leigh
1400-1800 Chris Lawrence
1800-0000 Hairbrush Divas with Matt Tidball
0000-0600 Atlantic FM through the night

Sunday
0600-0800 The Weekend Wakeup with Nigel Barker
0800-1300 Sunday Morning Chill Out
1300-1800 Matt Bunt
1800-2100 The Breeze - presented by Victoria Leigh
2100-0000 Late Night Music
0000-0600 Atlantic FM through the night

 

The Station's Playlist

Atlantic FM plays a daytime mix of classic and contemporary hits from the 1960s to the 2000s. We play songs like:

Otis Redding - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Bill Withers - Lovely Day
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Beautiful South - Rotterdam
Sugababes - Push the Button
Room 5 - Make Luv
Simply Red - Stars

Specialist Music

On weekday evenings The Breeze provide a more eclectic and less chart-led mix of 'easy but not cheesy' listening.

The Breeze features songs like:
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
Basia - Bruising For Bruising
Suzanne Vega - Luka
James Taylor - You've Got A Friend

Hairbrush Divas provides an upbeat mix of sing-along orientated music on Saturday evening.

How To Complain
If you are concerned about anything you have heard on Atlantic FM, please let us know by contacting the Programme Controller:

Tim Ley, Atlantic FM, 10 Wheal Kitty Workshops, St Agnes TR5 0RD
tim.ley@atlantic.fm
tel : 01872 554400

Or you can contact the regulator by writing to:
Radio Content & Standards
Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA
tel: 020 7981 3000
fax: 020 7981 3333
text phone: 020 7981 3043 - please note that this number only works with special
equipment used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Or read more online at www.ofcom.org.uk