Editing Independent Local Radio (section)

===Extension of ILR===
In the late 1980s, the expansion of ILR continued at a similar rate. Under the Broadcasting Acts, the IBA had a duty to ensure that any area it licensed for radio could support a station with the available advertising revenue. Therefore, many areas were not included in the IBA's ILR plans as it was felt that they were not viable.<ref name="tr81">Croston, Eric (Ed.) ''Television and Radio 1981 - Focus on Independent Broadcasting'' Independent Broadcasting Authority, London 1980.</ref> This did not prevent Radio West in Bristol getting into financial trouble and having to merge with Wiltshire Radio on 1 October 1985;<ref name="gwr">Rogers, Andrew [http://www.transdiffusion.org/rmc/commercial/radiowest.asp RW + WR = GWR] Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, retrieved 4 January 2006</ref> nor did it prevent Centre Radio going into receivership on 6 October 1983.<ref name="centre">Parry, Simon [http://www.transdiffusion.org/rmc/commercial/centre.asp Off Centre] Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, retrieved 4 January 2006</ref>

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, in several areas where ILR stations had not previously been licensed, new local radio licenses were issued in these 'white space' locations which, whilst not part of the historic ILR tranche, operated as the defacto ILR commercial radio services for their broadcast area. As these stations launched after the move to end AM/FM simulcasting (as detailed below), these newer stations were issued with only an FM license and had no AM frequency, precluding them from following other ILR licensees in splitting into younger FM/older AM services. These stations included [[Heart Oxfordshire|Fox FM]] in [[Oxfordshire]] (15 Sept 1989), [[Hits Radio Lincolnshire|Lincs FM]] in [[Lincolnshire]] (1 March 1992), [[Hits Radio Cornwall|Pirate FM]] in [[Cornwall]] (3 April 1992), [[Minster FM]] in [[North Yorkshire]] (4 July 1992) and [[Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland|CFM]] in [[Cumbria]] (14 April 1993). (With the exception of Fox FM (now owned by Global and broadcasting as Heart), these stations have now effectively been split in twain by Bauer to broadcast [[Greatest Hits Radio]] on their legacy FM frequencies, with a localised [[Hits Radio]] service offered alongside it on DAB.)