[cma-l] Community Radio Fund & the CMA

[Richard Hilton]

The text about the new contestable public service content fund is as follows:-

‘The Government will also consult in the Autumn on a new contestable public service content fund that will allow other broadcasters and producers to make more public service content in areas that are currently underserved, such as programmes for children and for black, Asian and minority ethnic audiences.

It will be worth £20 million a year. It will be paid for from unallocated funding from the 2010 licence fee agreement.’
One question and one point comes to mind:-


1)      How much was the unallocated funding from the 2010 licence fee agreement that allows £20 million a year.  And , by implication, how long will it last for?

2)      The CMA needs to lobby very hard to ensure that community broadcasters, of all types, get our fair share.

And I’m sure there will be many more points and questions…..


Richard


From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Steve Buckley
Sent: 13 May 2016 13:44
To: CMA-L
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Community Radio Fund & the CMA

Dear all
It is disappointing to hear DCMS stopped supporting CMA after over 10 years of funding across two different governments. It is not an unreasonable demand that this funding should be reinstated.
Meanwhile the CMA and its members should surely be doing more to press for an increase in public funding for the sector as a whole. With the DCMS announcement yesterday that the government plans to establish a £20m contestable public service content fund, and the BBC's announcement that they will fund the costs of 150 journalists in private local commercial newspapers at a cost of around £8m per annum, why not also replace the current Community Radio Fund with a better mechanism to fund public service content and local news carried by community radio stations?

Culture Secretary statement on the BBC reforms
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/culture-secretary-statement-on-the-bbc-reforms

BBC and the News Media Association announce ground-breaking plans for new partnership
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/bbc-nma-partnership
Best wishes
Steve
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