[cma-l] Onwards and Upwards or Titanic and General Custer
Bill Best
bill.best at commedia.org.uk
Wed Jul 27 14:24:11 BST 2016
Many thanks for your email, Nick.
A few points however.
1) Yes, campaigning for an increased Community Radio Fund is what the CMA
does. It was increased to £400,000 from this year onwards but, we have
argued, that this is not enough to adequately support community radio.
2) Which restrictions do you think should be removed? We would not want
complete deregulation of community radio as that would end community radio
as we know it. Furthermore, significantly changing the parameters under
which community radio operates would require a change in legislation - the
earliest opportunity to effect such a change would probably be in the
Community Radio (Amendment) Order 2020.
3) As previously discussed, PPL and PRSfM will be consulting on bringing in
a new Joint Licence which will effectively be a fixed fee for 95% of
community radio stations.
4) Ofcom is not keen to licence power increases as changing transmitter
location is much more effective. Usually power increases mean that the
existing broadcast area is better served and it is not an efficient use of
spectrum to just boost power levels.
5) We have contacted the two new Ministers and invited them to the Community
Media Conference
<http://www.commedia.org.uk/news/2016/03/save-the-date-saturday-10th-september-the-community-media-conference-2016/>.
I am also contacting stations in their constituency to invite the Ministers
from the perspective of a constituent. Again, if there is a view that the
legislation for community radio requires changing then the earliest
opportunity to do that might well be in 2020 - I have a diarised note to
start looking at this in 2018.
We are separating the AGM from the Conference
<http://www.commedia.org.uk/news/2016/03/save-the-date-saturday-10th-september-the-community-media-conference-2016/>
this year which I think will please you and many members. We are still
working on the Conference agenda but will begin to release details for the
programme soon. Some highlights (there's much more going on) include a
presentation from David Holdsworth, Controller of BBC English Regions;
presentations
from PPL and PRSfM; an Ofcom workshop with Susan Williams and Graham Plumb;
and the British Library Save Ours Sounds National Radio archive. Sounds
good, yes?
Best regards for now
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
*Book your tickets now for the Community Media Conference
2016: http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf <http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf>*
On 27 July 2016 at 14:00, Canalside's The Thread <office at thethread.org.uk>
wrote:
> Update
>
> Dear All
>
> Whatever we do chaps, don't send an e-mail headed 'the future of Radio'
> to Radio Teesdale. (ie:- James weekly blog)
>
> Very sad indeed that yet another one of our fraternity keels over and goes
> belly-up AND STILL Uncle Nero at the DCMS fiddles away while the Community
> Radio sector scrapes along on its backside.
> We have our own fiddlers of course, people who can see what's going on, but
> they are without fire in their bellies ..guilty as charged I reckon and
> aiding and abetting. I don't necessarily mean our leaders or
> Council/Committee, I mean '''us''' the bums on the seats in the audience.
> Stand up and be counted for petes sake.
>
> I think we need to lay down exactly where we are heading, where we would
> like to be in 12 months time, 2 years time (unless of course we've all gone
> belly-up in the meantime) and this is why I suggested that Conference is
> for Networking but also getting Mandates and deciding Policy. The pecking
> away as got a result, and I'm glad about that.
> We can do AGM's in the Pub next door the following Day.
>
> The way forward is in a way quite simple providing there is will power from
> all sides. If we appear weak, we will be treated in a third fiddle manner.
>
> My thoughts have never wavered, they have never wobbled, they have never
> been kept quiet or hushed hushed and my beliefs in it all are exactly as
> they were 12 years ago. The only two things that have changed are
> ''when making points I've thrown complete caution to the wind'' ''coupled
> with the fact that my head hurts from banging it against a brick wall for
> so
> long''
>
> For the record let's try one more time :-
>
> 1) A Radio Fund that is at least '''reasonable''' as opposed to a
> complete joke. Payments being doled out equally each year to all licensed
> Stations. It could easily be ramped up by a couple of million if we dumped
> the white heffalump called community TV .....or at least split the funding.
> Also, have we asked the question yet as to why funding that could be coming
> into our Pot is going to fund journalists etc who work at money making
> racket newspapers ???
> 2) The removal of restrictions. If this isn't possible then the Fund
> 'MUST' be upped .surely this is common sense isn't it ?? and/or
> the removal of restrictions with a clause restriction at the top end as
> opposed to the bottom end. In otherwords we restrict or cap the top end
> (the
> spend) but not the earn. This way Commercial Radio is not affected.
> Personally I don't think this should even be a topic of conversation, but
> sadly we are saddled with it so I suggest a manoeuvring around the
> situation
> to solve the problems and REDUCE Bureaucracy and nonsense.
> 3) A 'FIXED' bottom-line reasonable fee from the PRS/PPL
> this inevitably would mean that the only necessary report each year would
> be
> 'how many songs an hour do we play' ?? period ! there could
> be an argument that if you are below 12 you receive a slightly lower rate,
> if you are above 12 you pay a slightly higher rate (ie:- the speech
> Stations pay less) Decisions on rates are not on the nonsense of
> Net
> Broadcasting which actually is not Net at all. Our Net at this end as much
> the same as every other Community Station is 'zero' so we actually
> make
> nothing, we are not-for-profit. It is written in policy, it is set in stone
> by Government. The concept is actually quite simple, and you guys need to
> understand that the reason authorities try to make it more complicated is
> because they baffle you with science in order to screw more lolly.
> 4) Slightly more power is permitted, providing it does not interfere
> with other operators .especially if other Stations have come on-air since
> the award of a licence and are on the same frequency. There simply has to
> be
> a clause for a 're-visit' to solve problems and issues.
> 5) The new Ministers to take a good look at the past 14 years, agree
> that the Politics of it have been a complete Horlicks and then have the
> guts
> to stand up and do something about the situation before more Stations fall
> over. Commercial Radio to do what they like to do and Community Radio to do
> what it is meant to do, without interference (pardon the pun) they
> effects on the BBC or Commercial Radio have no bearing on the matter at
> all,
> just like we should have no bearing on what they do.
> I will say it one final time. If the local listenership all tuned into the
> local Community Station and ceased listening to the Commercial Station, it
> doesn't matter how many restrictions we are saddled with, the end result is
> bon voyage, so it is a red herring . and enormous Red Herring ...sadly the
> Red Herring has been swimming around for 14 Years and is still in the
> water.
>
> Finally, I also do not think we should be writing letters to previous
> Ministers thanking them for their efforts and input especially when you
> look
> and see that pound for pound they have all been about as much use as a
> chocolate fire guard. If anyone has any doubts on this .. What have they
> done off their own backs nothing it has all been instigated from
> our lobbying. If people are doing thing correctly and fairly there should
> be
> no need to lobby.
>
> There is yet another Station that has fallen over, I expect this to be one
> of the topics at Conference please,,,,,,,,, included in the '''funding
> section'''
> I would also appreciate speakers who stand up and enlighten us on how we
> are
> going to tackle the ongoing issues and not wheel out folk who waffle for
> half an hour telling me everything I already know and then before any
> questions they have gone to catch a Train because they have be in Penzance
> by 6pm.
>
> Apologies for the abruptness again, but I feel things are very important
> and
> must not be taken lightly. Dare I say that to prove the point, over the
> past
> 12 Years we have tootled along nicely, we haven't made mega bucks, but
> we've
> survived. We ain't tootling anymore, we are scraping our backsides along
> the
> bottom and the majority of the issues are a result in failure to sort out
> the above mentioned problems.
> Grants both locally and nationally are drying up, the businesses who
> supported us originally are all slowly disappearing due to internet
> shopping
> and out of Town outlets .. More competition from the internet etc etc
> in fact, someone made a good point a few weeks ago --- this is where
> Commercial Radios woes come from .. The Internet, not us.
>
> 14 Years this nonsense has been going on, it is time it was stopped by the
> powers that be. Failing that, perhaps we have to try and stop some of it
> ourselves as a collective body that is over 250 strong.
>
> Discuss by all means ---------- especially at Conference. Let us have some
> 'real' Policy by mid-September and guidance along the way from our experts.
> At the end of the Day, half-wits like me should not be trying to lead the
> charge from the back and across a message board. I am just trying to do my
> best with the tools that I have at my disposal. Unfortunately I don't have
> a
> lot to offer apart from Passion and Loyalty ...
>
> Thank you
>
> Rt Honourable Sir H Dumpty / Chairman of the Macclesfield and District
> going
> around in circles Society
>
>
> Do we have an agenda yet for the AGM ???
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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