The Competition and Markets Authority has approved Bauer’s acquisition of local radio groups, Wireless, Lincs FM and UKRD.
The decision comes following an in-depth investigation into the purchase of almost 50 radio stations.
The CMA said that due to the “very unusual circumstances of this case” that it was not requiring Bauer to sell off any of the radio stations it has bought.
That’s despite worries about competition within certain regions, including the West Midlands. However, the CMA said it no longer had concerns about this.
Instead it concentrated on First Radio Sales (FRS), which currently provides more than 100 independent local radio stations with access to national advertisers.
The acquisition means that Bauer controls 50% of FRS, which had led to competition concerns, in relation to the future viability of the sales house.
“Bauer’s purchase of the 4 radio businesses will take away over half of FRS’ business, leaving it unviable,” it stated.
“If FRS were to shut down, independent local radio stations would have only 2 options for sales representation: Bauer or Global (the largest commercial radio group in the UK). This would leave stations with insufficient choice when trying to sell national radio advertising airtime and potentially lead to them paying higher commission rates.”
Instead, Bauer will be required to provide advertising representation to independent radio stations, on the same terms as the stations were receiving from FRS, for 10 years.
“It’s really important that independent radio stations have good access to representation for national radio ad sales as it is an important source of income for those stations. Without the CMA’s remedy, it’s likely that these stations would have to pay over the odds for national advertising representation,” said Stuart McIntosh, CMA Panel Chair.
Dee Ford, Bauer’s Group Managing Director, Radio added:
“This is great news for listeners and for commercial radio, and we are looking forward to welcoming Lincs FM, Celador Radio, UKRD and Wireless to Bauer. Audiences love and trust radio because of its compelling quality content and those stations joining Bauer will benefit from greater digital coverage and better access to national advertising. We are also looking forward to working with the independent stations currently represented by FRS and will be working closely with the CMA to implement the agreed remedy.”
