Affordable Small Scale DAB For Stoke And Newcastle
Licensing: OFCOM
DSP or C-DSP? That is the question!
Ofcom will require each station broadcasting on a SSDAB to apply for a broadcast licence. The licensing process takes up 2-3 months and so we’d advise stations to apply before setting a launch date. If your station has been carried on DAB elsewhere, you probably already know all about this. However, we’ve added more information below for new stations who are not be familiar with the process.
There are two types of broadcast licence available for DAB, Community – Digital Sound Programme licences (C-DSP) and Digital Sound Programme licences (DSP) . More details are provided below.
Licences Types:
– DSP licences are required by non-profit stations with studios outside of our transmission area and by all commercial stations. Ofcom use licensing to ensure that stations keep to the various broadcast regulations e.g. by not airing content that is illegal/offensive. DSP licences simply fulfil this purpose and so it’s a relatively short application form/process. If you already have a DSP licence for use elsewhere, you won’t need another to broadcast in Stoke and Newcastle, but it will need to be updated by Ofcom.
– C–DSP Licences are only available to non-profits with studios located within our transmission area. As well as carrying out the functions of a DSP licence mentioned above, C-DSP licences also entitle stations to extra benefits and discounts. Consequently, the application process is more detailed.
Most locations within Stoke/Newcastle should be eligible. However, as eligibility is decided by Ofcom (and not us) we’d recommend that you check with them directly. Particularly so, if you are based towards the edges of the map on our Technical page. (The map isn’t an indicator of areas eligible to apply for C-DSP licences.)
A C-DSP licence is all that is required from Ofcom for an eligible station to broadcast on our network. However, a licence issued for use in Stoke and Newcastle can’t be used elsewhere. An additional DSP licence would be required for a C-DSP station to be broadcast on another network.
Application Process and Cost: Each licence has an application fee (Payable to Ofcom) of £250 and an annual licence fee of £100 per year. (This applies to both sorts of licences.) Application forms and full guidance can be found at the links below.
C-DSP Licence Application Forms and guidance:-
Part A: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/file/0023/201875/cdsp-licence-application-form-part-a.odt
Part B: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/file/0025/201877/cdsp-licence-application-form-part-b.odt
Guidance: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/201876/cdsp-licence-guidance.pdf
DSP Licence Application Form and guidance:-
Application:- https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/word_doc/0020/10577/DSP-application-form.docx
Guidance:- https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/248051/DSP-notes-of-guidance-for-applicants.pdf
Even when granted a licence, stations have no legal or financial obligation to ABC until a contract is ‘signed’ with us. Even then, as mentioned above, financial commitments will be kept as low as possible.
Licensing: COPYRIGHt
In addition to the licences required with Ofcom, services that are intending to play copyrighted music will also be required to purchase licences from PRS and PPL. Licence costs vary according to the type of service being provided (e.g. whether it is commercial or not etc). More details can be found at https://www.prsformusic.com/ and https://www.ppluk.com/music-licensing/
get in touch
To find out more, get in touch using the contact details below:-
Phone
Mobile: 07771773981
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