UK radio group Scottish Radio Holdings has rejected accusations that radio stations have a monopolistic hold over advertisers at the Competition and Consolidation in Commercial Radio Forum in Westminster.

Concerns over future consolidation in the radio industry were voiced at the Forum, which was dealing with the impact of the Communications Act and the Enterprise Act on radio mergers.

The report criticized “price discrimination” which some advertisers had encountered after radio mergers, and pointed out ”the power wielded by merged radio groups over advertiser choice.”

Lord James Gordon, chief executive of Scottish Radio Holdings denied the accusation that radio groups had been given free reign to create monopolies, and accused the Competition Commission of living “on a different planet.”

He said: “If advertisers don’t like radio, and what it is offering, they can say ‘we’ll go to television’. The idea that a monopoly position gives you power over advertisers, is frankly a joke.”