The past week has been a frantic one for several Dutch commercial radio stations as they dealt with the fallout from the licence decisions announced on 26 May. There were some high profile casualties in the bid to secure licences for the next eight years, effective on Sunday 1 June. But with just hours to go, Radio 10 FM - which had lost its terrestrial FM frequencies to rival Sky Radio - saw itself reprieved when Sky Radio agreed to buy it. Radio 10 FM will now occupy the frequencies awarded to the planned Golden Oldies station.
Dutch radio listeners are used to finding their favourite station on different frequencies, depending on whether they're listening via cable or to a terrestrial transmitter. But even they have had a hard time keeping track of the changes that took effect on 1 June, when the final stage of the Zerobase project, a nationwide reshuffling of FM frequencies necessary to make room for additional commercial stations, came into effect. This has also affected the public broadcasters.
Mixed emotions
Predictably, applicants for commercial licences reacted with either jubilation or consternation to the outcome. There were some surprises, even a shock or two. At least one unsuccessful applicant told Media Network that it is 'already starting a court case against the government's decision.'
Among the high profile casualties was Radio 10 FM, which has been around for 15 years and employs a staff of 35. Its bid for a national FM licence lost out to Sky Radio. Radio 10 FM said on its Web site that it received 30,000 protest E-mails in the first 24 hours, and by the end of the week the number of protest messages had risen to 125,000. The station said it would remain on the air via cable systems, but the loss of audiences on the move and in the workplace was a savage blow that would have resulted in a huge drop in advertising revenue, and inevitably job losses.
Programme Director Tom Mulder described the feeling as "like losing an old friend." As for its presenters, Peter Holland summed up the mood when he told the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that, while he wanted to remain loyal to Radio 10, ultimately as a broadcaster he wanted to reach the largest possible audience. He wouldn't rule out moving to the new oldies station if invited to do so.
Last-minute talks
Late on Saturday, just hours before the changes were due to come into effect, it was announced that, following discussions, Sky Radio had agreed to buy out Radio 10 FM, and would put it on the frequencies reserved for its oldies station. The directors and staff of Radio 10 reacted with understandable emotion to the news that they will be able to continue broadcasting to their 2 million existing listeners, and Sky Radio Director Tom Lathouwers says he wants to work with the Radio 10 team to make the station *the* oldies station in The Netherlands. The deal provides Sky Radio with a ready-made oldies station with a high profile, solid listener base, and a portfolio of regular advertisers.
Arrow Classic Rock
Radio 10 FM wasn't the only station to get a reprieve. Arrow Classic Rock, which had been on 828 kHz mediumwave, failed to get a licence. However, after talks with Music Country b.v, who had been awarded the licence for 675 kHz in place of Radio 10, Arrow Classic Rock is now operating on 675, at least until Music Country is ready to commence its own service.
Other stations
No licence for mediumwave 1332 kHz was awarded. Radio 192, which had been operating on that frequency, remained on the air until 1000 UTC on 2 June. It is now only available on cable. 1 June marked the end for Radio 
Nationaal, which had spent a considerable sum hiring airtime on a high power mediumwave transmitter in the UK for several months in 2002 in order to raise its profile and enhance its chances of getting a licence. Owner Ruud Hendriks is, naturally, very disappointed that his efforts and expense over three years have been to no avail. The station had been broadcasting only on cable in recent months.
An unanswered question is what will happen to each station at the end of the eight year licence period. After what almost happened to Radio 10 FM, nobody can afford to be complacent. Certainly there should be no need for further changes in the distribution of frequencies. The Zerobase project was a one-off exercise designed to correct shortcomings and anomalies in the piecemeal expansion of FM services in recent years. But for the people who work at the radio stations, job security only lasts as long as the licence. For the shareholders, too, investing in a business which can suddenly be crippled by a decision in The Hague is not the most attractive prospect.
Sting in the tail
A sting in the tail for the unsuccessful applicants is that the mediumwave frequency of 1008 kHz has been awarded to a station which doesn't even plan to broadcast primarily to The Netherlands, but instead to the UK! Essex based Radlon Media Limited plans to use the frequency to re-launch the former pirate radio station Radio London (Big L) and other programming formats. The transmitter will be used at its full power of 400 kW using a single mast at Flevo, which should cover a population of 20 million people in the South east and east of Britain as well as much of The Netherlands. Currently, Flevo uses 160 kW on both 747 and 1008 kHz with both masts in use to create a directional pattern towards the south east. The transmissions of public network Radio 747 on 747 kHz will be transferred from Flevo to Lopik. For the moment, 1008 kHz is silent.