DevonAir face challenge
Battle of the air waves
ONE of the casualties of the franchise battle between TSW and Westcountry TV is hoping to return to his roots in radio.
Presenter David FitzGerald lost his TSW job in January when the independent franchise shifted to Westcountry.
Since then he has been hard at work drawing up proposals on behalf of Bay City Radio for a new station to cover South and East Devon.
“DevonAir Radio, Exeter based but with studios in Torquay as well, are currently licenced by the Radio Authority to broadcast to South and East Devon.
However, their franchise expires in December 1994 and they face competition for renewal from Bay City Radio, 1980s-1990s etc. (rest of sentence partly unclear due to fading/scan marks).
“DevonAir have done a good job since 1980, but we have some very exciting proposals of our own,” said David.
“We plan to bring radio back to the people so our audience will be getting the best possible radio service.”
For the time being Bay City Radio’s plans are being kept under wraps, along with details of the application.
But everything will be out in the open once the company files its application.
The franchise will be advertised during May and Bay City Radio will have until late August to submit their bid.
Unlike TSW, the Radio Authority does not award the licence to the highest bidder, but Bay City Radio will have one more chance to prove themselves.
