talkSPORT granted permission to turn off seven of its 18 transmitters

talkSPORT has been granted permission from Ofcom to turn off seven of its 18 transmitters.

The move will reduce its national AM radio coverage from 92% to 88.9% of the UK adult population.

The transmitter sites talkSPORT will close are; Clipstone (Nottinghamshire), Duxhurst (Surrey), Lisnagarvey (in County Antrim, Northern Ireland), Lydd (Kent), Stockton (Durham/North Yorkshire), Southwick/Brighton (West Sussex) and Rusthall (Tunbridge Wells).

During the consultation on whether or not to allow the request, Ofcom said it received one response agreeing with the proposal, one response questioning the rationale for the switch off of one specific transmitter and suggesting an amendment to one other, and two neither agreeing nor disagreeing to the specific proposals.

The reasons given by talkSPORT for these changes include declining listenership to its AM service as people turn to alternative platforms, considered against the ongoing viability of each transmitter site.

The 11 sites which remain consist of the following sites: Brookman’s Park (Hertfordshire), Droitwich (North Worcestershire), Moorside Edge (West Yorkshire), Westerglen (Falkirk), Washford (Somerset), Fareham (Hampshire), Dartford Tunnel (Kent), Wallasey (Cheshire), Boston (Suffolk), Wrekenton (Newcastle) and Postwick (Norfolk).

The station will remain available nationally on DAB and other platforms.

Absolute Radio, which held the only other national AM licence for commercial radio, switched off all its transmitters in January 2023 and was fined £25,000 for doing so.