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

Tue Oct 20 16:37:00 BST 2015

Alan

The Community Radio Order 2004 and subsequent Amendment Orders make
absolutely no reference at all to audience size - so, I would strongly
disagree that the only data that matters is how many people in the target
group listen to a station. Audiences are indeed essential for a radio
station but social gain objectives are a different, yet important, metric
altogether.

Regarding DCMS subsidising RAJAR subscriptions, that would be nice but
might fall foul of state aid regulations and the commercial lobby wouldn't
be at all supportive of it..

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 20 October 2015 at 14:10, Alan Coote <alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk> wrote:

> 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
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>
>
> Email - alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk
>
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>
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> 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 <http://www.a-bc.co.uk/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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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>>
>>
>>
>> <http://www.a-bc.co.uk/index.html>
>>
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