Newstalk licence bid makes next stage

Newstalk 106 has been invited by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) to participate in an oral hearing on its application…

Newstalk 106has been invited by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) to participate in an oral hearing on its application for a new quasi-national radio licence.

The station currently has a licence to broadcast in Dublin city and county.

This quasi-national licence is expected to give the station about 85-90 per cent coverage in the Republic. The BCI said there were no other application for this licence either.

The public oral hearing will be held on Monday 24th April. The commission said in a statement today it was satisfied that the application was of sufficient standard to qualify for this second phase in the licensing process.

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It added that it felt an oral hearing was appropriate to further test concepts and propositions within the application.

The oral hearings provide a forum for applicant groups to present their case for a licence in public in addition to providing the board of the BCI with the opportunity to clarify aspects of the licence.

Details regarding the time and venue for the oral hearing will be announced in the coming weeks.

It was also announced today that Today FMhas been awarded a further ten-year licence in principle.