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Australia: Media Authority Publishes Community Radio Research Findings

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of press release by the Australian Communications and Media Authority on 12 August

The Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA] has released research into the different services and operations of over 260 community radio stations across Australia.

"This is a comprehensive report that illustrates the diversity of this important sector of the radio industry, and the way in which community radio serves distinct communities," said Ms Lyn Maddock, acting ACMA chair.

The report, Survey of the Community Radio Broadcasting Sector 2002-03, includes information on programming, programme sources, music genres, numbers of staff, volunteers, subscribers, income and expenditure, broken down by station category and location. The information was provided by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA).

Music was the mainstay of many community stations (accounting for around 70 per cent of total programming) with a wide variety of styles on offer. Music styles included classical, hip hop, electronic, jazz, and ethnic music, as well as more popular styles such as rock/pop, easy listening, and country music.

Most programmes were put together locally by individual community radio stations. On average, three-quarters of all programmes across Australia were locally-produced. The remaining quarter was drawn from satellite services.

The sector relied heavily on community support, with more than 20,000 volunteers in total, or an average 80 volunteers per station across the sector. Fee-paying subscribers averaged 471 per station. Community participation in station operations was most evident in the ethnic, youth and fine music sub-sectors with high levels of both volunteers and subscribers.

Community radio stations across Australia reported income of 46.6 million Australian dollars, [1 Australian dollar = 0.76 US dollar] with sponsorship accounting for almost one-third of total sector income. Average income was 177,805 Australian dollars per station. As would be expected, non-profit community radio services spend almost all of their income on operational requirements.

"This research is a very useful comparative tool to assist the Authority in assessing community radio licensees at licence renewal time," said Ms Maddock.

The CBAA will be releasing the 2003-04 survey results later this year.

The full report is available from ACMA's website.

Source: BBC Monitoring Media

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