Radio: Industries (for exams from 2023) Typeit

Before the launch of Tony Blackburn’s Breakfast Show in September , the regulation of radio in the UK was much stricter than it is today. Popular music was rarely played and the number of hours in which music could be played was limited by time restrictions. Eventually, the BBC understood that it was losing a large share of its audience to radio DJs (such as Blackburn and Johnnie Walker) so the company employed some of these DJs to present shows on Radio 1. The BBC maintained its monopoly over UK radio until , when the government finally began to deregulate radio transmissions. Ofcom (the Office of ) is now the regulatory body that oversees the UK’s mass communications industry from broadcasting to telecommunications to postal services. Ofcom is responsible for setting the standards that all businesses are expected to abide by and for addressing any complaints raised by audiences. Any mass communications company that breaches set standards can receive penalties from Ofcom, ranging from large fines to broadcasting . Ofcom has the responsibility of regulating the BBC’s content. The organisation achieves this by setting out a framework of conditions that all the company’s content must adhere to. Ofcom states that content which is likely to harm or damage the development of people under the age of (physically, mentally or otherwise) should not be broadcast. Very much like the BBFC (British Board of Classification), Ofcom bases its judgement of potentially harmful content on the following factors: the featuring of drug taking or illegal substances, violent or dangerous behaviour, bad language, sexual acts, nudity, and, in the case of Ofcom, depictions of exorcisms and the paranormal. Radio or television containing content of this nature will be broadcast after the . This means it can only be broadcast between 9pm and 5am.