[cma-l] Review of the approach to community radio Key Commitments

Tue Oct 20 15:02:13 BST 2015

This is NOT a debate about the merits of RAJAR. It’s about using existing survey data to help community stations and Ofcom.

Kind Regards

Alan

From:  "transplanfm at hotmail.com"
Date:  Tuesday, 20 October 2015 14:55
To:  "cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk", 5Digital_010, "bill.best at commedia.org.uk"
Subject:  Review of the approach to community radio Key Commitments

Oh no!
RAJAR might be the only commercial survey available, but it's hugely expensive and has a worthlessly low sample size.
Advertisers are duped into believing it because there simply isn't anything else.
Persuade me I'm wrong.
I've never yet in 15 years in this Industry sector ever met anyone who has participated.

Ian Hickling
Partner

Office: 01635 578435  (7am-11pm UK time)
Carphone: 07530 980115 (only responds when driving)
6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS

Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:10:31 +0100
From: alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Review of the approach to community radio Key Commitments

Bill,

Isn’t the point that broadcasting must be the fundamental vehicle by which Community Stations deliver their Key Commitments? If a station chooses to deliver them by any other means then Ofcom shouldn't be concerned with that. I think that’s where they are heading – although it could be better expressed.

We know there are very many stations which have undertaken off-air activities to meet their social gain objectives which, although worthy, may have been achieved without the use of a radio transmitter. A factor is of course the need to chase grand funding, but sadly very little is predicated on access to a radio station. 

Surely the only data that matters is how many people in the target group listen to the station, after that qualitative data can be used to better target the group. 

I go back to my point that very few stations deem it necessary to survey their audience!  A radical thought; as RAJAR collect and collate data anyway, would it not be possible for community stations to pay a nominal fee to be part of an official survey, the remainder of the cost being met by DCMS? 

Kind Regards

Alan

Alan Coote

Hear Alan Every Week on Let’s Talk Business The UK’s Premier Radio Programme For Current and Future Entrepreneurs - Now Broadcast To Over 7 Million People  

Email - alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk

Phone - 0800 949 6655

Mobile - 07801 518858

Twitter - @TheAlanCoote 

Twitter - @LTBShow

Web - http://www.LetsTalkBusinessOnline.com

From:  <cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk> on behalf of "bill.best at commedia.org.uk"
Reply-To:  "cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk"
Date:  Tuesday, 20 October 2015 12:39
To:  "cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk"
Subject:  Re: [cma-l] Review of the approach to community radio Key Commitments

Hi

Having read through Ofcom's proposal several times, certainly any move to reduce the administrative burden of Key Commitments reporting for community radio stations would be welcome. However I believe that the proposal would reduce Ofcom's workload and significantly  increase the workload on individual stations.

The Key Commitments template is simplified and reduces much of the community radio reporting to a box ticking exercise around some quantitative statements about the number of original hours and the number of hours of locally-produced content broadcast.

A greater onus is going to be placed on stations to record their social gain outputs - from Section 3.13:

Under our proposed new approach to Key Commitments, each station would need to take greater responsibility for planning its own social gain, participation and accountability activities. 

I think the proposed new form of reporting is going to make it difficult for stations to know the level of detail they would need to go into to record their activities and some stations will end up over-documenting their activities and some might possibly under-record. There is an opportunity here for the CMA in conjunction with Ofcom to disseminate best practice and develop some training and education around Key Commitments reporting.

Furthermore the proposed new Key Commitments template places a lot of emphasis on quantitative data - and, unfortunately, replacing qualitative outcomes with quantitative information is not going to be the best method of measuring social gain objectives. In fact the Key Commitments template reduces explicit reporting on social gain to a mere three check boxes:
the facilitation of discussion and the expression of opinion,
the provision (whether by means of programmes included in the service or otherwise) of education or training to individuals not employed by the person providing the service, and
the better understanding of the particular community and the strengthening of links within it.
And stations will have to take responsibility for locally and privately recording their delivery of social inclusion, promotion of employment, cultural and linguistic diversity, and so on.

Delivery of social gain is what makes community radio unique and any steps to reduce the emphasis on such an important characteristic of community radio would be most unwelcome.

Best regards

Bill
-- 
Operations Manager
Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk
https://twitter.com/community_media
https://facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation

Canstream Internet Radio
http://www.canstream.co.uk
https://twitter.com/canstream

On 15 October 2015 at 20:07, Associated Broadcast Consultants <info at a-bc.co.uk> wrote:
This is massively key for the sector, but I don't see much conversation/energy on this forum about it.  

I wonder why?

Glyn
-- 
Glyn Roylance - Principal Consultant 
Associated Broadcast Consultants

On 15 October 2015 at 17:34, CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk> wrote:
Community radio services broadcasting on FM or AM provide social gain and other community benefits on a not-for-profit basis.

Each station is required to provide the service described in its licence, which is based on the proposals it made during the application process for the licence.

These service descriptions recorded in community radio licences are called ‘Key Commitments’.

This Ofcom consultation seeks views on a proposal to streamline and simplify the Key Commitments.

This will free up community radio stations, enabling them to focus on serving their target communities, adapt better to the changing needs of those communities, and deliver social gain.

Ofcom invites written comments on the questions raised in this consultation, to be submitted by 5pm on 21 October 2015. Ofcom strongly prefers to receive responses in electronic format and their web form will allow you to indicate your data protection preferences and send your views to the team responsible for this consultation.

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/key-commitments/

\\

Community Media Association
--
http://www.commedia.org.uk/
http://twitter.com/community_media
https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation

Canstream Internet Radio & Video
http://www.canstream.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/canstream

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