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Criteria and conditions for local commercial FM Radio Broadcasting Licences - Draft
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The draft criteria contained in this document are those as currently proposed by the Ministry of Economic Development and do not reflect official government policy.
Readers are advised to seek specific legal advice from a qualified professional person before undertaking any action in reliance on the contents of this publication.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information set out in this document is accurate, the Crown does not accept any responsibility whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise for any action taken, or reliance place on, any part, or all, of the information in this document or for any error in or omission from, this document.
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The Ministry invites comments on these criteria. Comments should be sent to radiospectrum@med.govt.nz before 27 July 2007.
Eligibility
The licence is to be held by natural persons, or a legal entity owned by natural persons, who are normally resident in the coverage area for which the licence is held. The inclusion of the owner(s) in the Electoral Roll for an electorate substantially within the coverage area will be acceptable compliance.
The owner(s) may not own any significant interest in (directly or through other holdings), other licences suitable for sound broadcasting in the area or elsewhere in New Zealand. Declarations of compliance or of other holdings shall be provided prior to acquiring the licence and thereafter as required by the Ministry.
Operations
The content broadcast from the licence is to be provided from within the coverage area and a suitable studio shall be established to effect this.
At least eight hours per day of programming within the hours of 6:00am to 8:00pm shall be originated with live continuity programming from or through the studio.
No more than eight hours per day shall be sourced from other broadcasting networks.
Daily local news and information services are to be broadcast at intervals of not less than one hour when live continuity programming occurs and not less than three hour intervals at other times.
The licensee shall establish and maintain working relationships with significant organisations within the community such as Territorial and Regional Government, emergency management, and educational institutions, to facilitate relevant material from such organisations to be included in programme material to the level of at least three hours per seven day period.
Compliance
The applicant is to indicate in the application for the licence how they will demonstrate compliance with each of the criteria.
The applicant must provide an annual compliance report within one month of each anniversary of the licence being granted that demonstrates that conditions are being adhered to.
The applicant must agree to make a copy of each annual compliance report available to MED and the general public for at least three years from the original publication date.
The applicant must agree to a compliance audit to be conducted at any time to demonstrate that allocation conditions are being adhered to.
The applicant must agree to commence broadcasting services within two years of obtaining the licence or face cancellation of the licence without refund.
Any transfer or sale of the licence must be approved by the Ministry of Economic Development. The potential buyer must meet the same criteria as the initial applicant.
If successful in obtaining a licence, the applicant shall indicate in each annual report a quantified plan for meeting the conditions in the next year.
Non-Compliance
The applicant may voluntarily relinquish the licence if it is no longer able to meet the eligibility and operational criteria.
If found to be non-compliant, the licensee will be served with a written notice (warning) with a requirement to be compliant within a specified period.
For continuing non-compliance licences may be revoked without financial compensation, and future licence applications from the same or any associated applicant may be refused.
The Ministry of Economic Development will retain the right to modify, transfer, or cancel the licence in terms of the Radiocommunications Act 1989.
