Nervous Wait For Community Radio’s Budget Fate

Community radio listeners and stakeholders are waiting nervously for tomorrow night's budget release as proposed cuts threaten to cripple the future of one of Australia's most prized broadcasting sectors.

No strangers to funding fights in recent years, the recent Commission Of Audit – which is considered a pre-budget hint into the government's plans – recommended the abolishment of community radio's funding, given that the government already pumps over $1 billion into the ABC and SBS.

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia [CBAA] President Adrian Basso, also General Manager of Melbourne's PBS station, admitted to theMusic.com.au that things are tense before tomorrow's reveal.

“Yeah, I'm a little bit nervous obviously, but I'm hopeful that come budget night the people who've made the decisions, that wisdom [has] come through and reject the recommendations fully.”

“Some stations would die slower; some stations would die more immediately” – Adrian Basso, CBAA

Clare Holland, Managing Director of Sydney's FBi station, told theMusic, “Obviously [the budget is] on all our minds but I'd prefer we deal with any cuts if and when they happen. For now we're getting on with the job of broadcasting new music, arts and culture to Sydney and making some noise about the value of community radio in our current media landscape.”

The thought of losing funding to the approximately 380 community broadcasters in Australia prompted the CBAA to kick their Commit To Community Radio campaign into gear again, and the cause' website has attracted over 50,000 people who've signed up – including those who signed up for their digital campaign.

“In the past we've had bipartisan support,” Basso said, “they've all been supportive – Labor and Liberal… If then recommendations was taken up it would be a complete turn around of over 40 years of support.

“I'm hopeful, that's probably a better word than confident.”

“There would definitely be a number of stations that would cease broadcasting” – Clare Holland, FBi

Basso hopes that the 20,000 emails who have been sent to federal offices, including that of the Treasurer, Finance and Communications Ministers, will sway opinion and rubbish the Audit's recommendation.

“The Commission Of Audit, a panel of five people, obviously don't understand what we do and that's quite clear in their rationale, that because ABC and the SBS get over $1 billion in funding that ours should be cut,” says Basso. “I haven't got an issue with ABC and SBS getting that funding, but by bundling us up with then they don't understand that we're quite a different media service.”

FBi has one of the bigger listener bases (250,000 per week) of the community radio sector, which has an audience of five million listeners each week. But ever with a strong financial supporter base they rely on government grants to hep with the $120,000 annual transmission costs.

“We also receive funding for a bunch of our content heavy flagship shows like BackChat and All the Best and we receive support from AMRAP and the CBAA to ensure we're online, on mobile and on digital radio,” Holland said.

“If all the recommended cuts were implemented, things would get really tough for us. At a minimum, we'd have to pull back on some of the most innovative content we're producing, and we'd certainly need our supporters and sponsors to get behind us more. More broadly widespread cuts would have a devastating impact on the sector and there would definitely be a number of stations that would cease broadcasting.”

Funding cuts would likely hit the future of community radio on digital platforms. While there is no slated 'analogue switch-off' like there was with TV services, digital is finally turning into a focus for modern radio listeners and community radio influencers.

“If there's any changes or complete abolishment, we'll have to re-assess,” said Basso. “If [funding] was completely abolished, then I don't think any station could afford to broadcast digitally.”

“[They] obviously don't understand what we do and that's quite clear” – Basso

The loss of AMRAP, which services local and independent new music to radio stations, “would hugely impact local culture and music.”

He also said stations that provide news services to the visually impaired community and ethnic stations would be in trouble.

In those circumstances he said, “Some stations would die slower; some stations would die more immediately.”

“Our sector receives a small fraction of the funding the government provides to culture, broadcasting and community development and for this relatively modest investment we deliver a service enjoyed by the 5 million plus listeners that tune in each week," Holland said.

"If value for money is what matters, the community broadcasting sector offers exactly the kind of efficient use of taxpayer dollars the government should be looking for.”

While the budget is, by now, surely locked in, Basso urged community radio listeners to continue offering their support.

“People can still sign up to the website, they can still make their views known to the Treasurer. I assume the [budget] booklet's been printed, but it would still be good to let the Treasurer, Finance Minister and Communications Minister know, to express the value of community radio… let the government know what we think.”