Tony Blackburn slams Ofcom over Radio 2 spin-off rejection

Tony Blackburn has criticised Ofcom’s decision to block a proposed Radio 2 spin-off aimed at older listeners.

The veteran broadcaster called the decision “a disgrace” and said the regulator was “totally out of touch”.

Tony has publicly supported the idea of a second Radio 2 service throughout the consultation period, despite differing views from some in the industry.

Alongside fellow Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris, he reportedly wrote to Ofcom backing the proposal.

“I am really annoyed and think this decision is a disgrace and shows how out of touch the authority is,” Tony said.

Most responses to Tony’s post on social media have disagreed with him, with users pointing to existing services like Boom Radio, Radio Caroline and Greatest Hits Radio as already serving older audiences. See the replies.

Meanwhile, Boom Radio has welcomed the outcome. Co-founder Phil Riley said the BBC’s proposed station posed an “existential threat” to Boom. He added: “We always felt this BBC proposal lacked any real incremental public value but did conversely pose a critical threat to our future.”

Phil said Boom made it clear to Ofcom that a BBC service with similar output would split audiences and potentially force Boom to close. “No amount of archive repeats could reasonably justify that in our view,” he said.

Responding to Tony and Bob’s support for the new BBC service, Phil told RadioToday: “We sympathise with Tony and Bob… they were both no doubt part of the BBC’s future plans… If they ever want to come and join Boom Radio, the door is always open.”

Radiocentre has also responded positively to the final decision. Chief Executive Matt Payton said: “It is good to get final confirmation that the Radio 2 spin-off service has been blocked by Ofcom. The BBC’s plans should always have been a non-starter.”

However, he expressed concern about the other BBC spin-offs that have been approved, including Radio 1 Dance and Radio 3 Unwind, saying they lacked “distinctiveness or news output”.

Ofcom said in its final report that while the BBC can proceed with three of the five new proposed DAB+ stations, it could not approve the Radio 2 extension and 5 Sports Extra due to concerns over competition and a lack of clear public value.