Ofcom proposes relaxing local media ownership rules

Britain's media regulator Ofcom has proposed relaxing the rules around ownership of local media to support small groups hit by the advertising downturn and competition from the Internet. All media groups have suffered during the economic downturn but Ofcom said the pressures were most acute in the local media sector. Under the new proposals, all local commercial radio stations could be owned by one operator in a local area, alongside the local radio service from the BBC. Ofcom is also looking at changes to allow some regional stations to share programming in return for making the services available on digital radio.