An initial announcement of the scheme was made in September 1988, and was followed the next month by an invitation for interested parties to contact the IBA.
On 10 January 1989, the IBA advertised the first five of the twenty licences it planned to offer, in Manchester, Hounslow (West London) who wanted to serve local ethnic groups, and from bidders in Bristol, Rutland and Stirling who could propose any format.
The IBA had advertised a second batch of five licences on 6 February 1989, consisting of ethnic services in Coventry and Haringey, and any format for the Isle of Wight, Sunderland and Tendring.
[10] The London licence, for the AM medium wave band, was specifically designated for use by a number of different ethnic minority broadcasters who would share a single channel.
The IBA would act as a broker for these groups, bringing them together to form a management team that would run the station co-operatively.