THE media company behind the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? quiz show hopes to clinch a new commercial radio licence for the North-East.

Celador Radio Broadcasting - whose board of directors includes veteran broadcaster Chris Tarrant - said it was bidding for the new FM frequency for the region.

The new station, which will be officially advertised to bidders next month, will cover an area across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Hexham and Alnwick.

The frequency is being made available by the Office of Communication (Ofcom), which is seeking the use of two FM frequencies for this service.

Coverage will be similar to that of existing North-East services operated by 100-102 Century FM and Galaxy 105-106, although it will not extend to listeners in Thirsk or into the North York Moors.

Celador, which has already bid for frequencies in Belfast, Edinburgh, Manchester and the Solent without success, feels it is only a matter of time before it wins a licence.

Celador hopes to set up a commercial radio station similar in format to BBC Radio 2.

A spokesman said: "We feel we have got a strong chance here. We are busy doing research in the North-East, talking to focus groups to find out exactly what people want from a radio station and chatting to potential board members from the region.

"There is definitely room for more commercial radio stations in the region. We are hopeful about this bid - we are very serious about it and we want to get it right.

"Radio 2 will always have a presence because it is a good station. However, what it can't provide is the local news and information as it happens."

The cost of preparing the bid reaches six figures and to submit it costs an additional £8,000 at least. Other companies expected to submit bids, although neither was able to confirm this to The Northern Echo, include GCap Media Plc, which owns Classic FM and the Century and XFM networks, and Virgin Radio.