the community radio toolkit

The Radio Academy has today marked the launch of the 2012 Sony Radio Academy Awards with a new website – www.radioacademyawards.org – giving full details of the Award Categories and the terms and conditions of entry.

2012 marks the 30th anniversary of the Sony Radio Academy Awards – the most prestigious awards in the radio industry’s calendar and the only event that brings the entire sector together to celebrate outstanding content and creativity – nationally, regionally and locally.

This year, there are 34 Award Categories, each identifying a specific aspect of radio production and presentation and providing an opportunity for programmes, production teams, individuals and stations to be recognised.

John Myers, CEO of the The Radio Academy and Chairman of the Sony Radio Academy Awards Committee said: “I am delighted to launch the 2012 Awards and look forward to seeing who will walk away with the most prestigious awards in the industry. Everyone wants to win a Sony.”

The deadline for entries is Wednesday 8th February 2012 and the Nominations will be announced early in April.
The Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday 14th May at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London where the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be revealed.

Note to entrants: Submissions into either of the Breakfast Show of the Year categories and all of the Station of the Year categories will be required to submit output from either Thursday 24th November, Friday 25th November OR Monday 28th November 2011.

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Drawing on the recent Guardian article (quoted below) the Community Radio Toolkit has spoken to local community stations for their thoughts on the difficulties of the economic climate.

“Tough economic climate hits community radio as average income falls 19%. The tough economic climate is taking its toll on community radio, with nearly half the stations who returned financial results to Ofcom reporting a deficit.

“Community radio has been flagged up by both the government and the radio industry as a central part of the medium’s future, filling the void left by commercial operators who have dumped local stations for national brands. However, the average income of community radio stations in the 12 months to the end of March 2011 fell 19% on the previous year to £63,000. Average expenditure was also down, but did not fall as fast as income. Some 71 stations – 44% that returned financial data to Ofcom – lost money in 2010/11. Of those, more than half – 39 – reported a deficit in excess of £10,000, with one station losing £90,000, according to Ofcom’s annual report on the sector.”

“Despite the financial difficulties being encountered by many community stations Ofcom said it would no longer publish an annual report on the sector because it was now “relatively mature”"

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1 Comment | In: News | tags: 96.9 fm, 99.7 fm, all fm, community radio, dave mcgealy, deficit, financial results, jason cooke, ofcom, oldham community station, radio teesdale, tough economic climate. | #

Ofcom has published its Community Radio Annual Report. Each station that has been broadcasting for more than a year is required to complete an annual report. The reports, which cover the period of April 2010 to March 2011, detail how each station has performed against its key commitments and identifies its sources of income and expenditure.  These are used by Ofcom to compile its annual report on the sector.

Comments Off | In: News | tags: april 2010, Community radio annual report, march 2011, ofcom, sector, tuesday 29th november 2011. | #

The 1st CMFE Conference and General Assembly will take place in Nicosia from today and until 19 November, marking the first major event organized directly by CMFE with the the support of the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme, co-organised and hosted by the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC), with the organizational support of the World Association of Community Radio broadcasters (AMARC) and International Media Support (IMS) for the Community Media and the Arab Spring panel.

The event is now glad to welcome new supporters for the initiative: apart from  European Union under the ‘Europe for Citizens Programme 2011′, European Commission Representation in Cyprus and the United Nations Development Programme, Action for Cooperation and Trust in Cyprus (UNDP-ACT), we have the pleasure to add the Goethe Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus, the World Association of Community Radio broadcasters (AMARC) and International Media Support (IMS) who will respectively provide another venue for the conference in the Buffer zone and financial support for the Community Media and the Arab Spring panel. …

Comments Off | In: News | tags: ccmc, cmfe, community media, conference, cyprus, nicosia, salvatore. | #

BCB106.6fm working in partnership with BBC Radio Leeds

Over the last three months BCB106.6fm in Bradford has been working in partnership with BBC Radio Leeds. (This has been a long time in the making as it’s probably 5 years since I did the week long ‘job-swap’with Radio Leeds Managing Editor at the time, John Ryan!).  It took a long time and a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to work out what a partnership would look like, and crucially what each side wanted to get out of it.

We finally arrived at an agreement that we have put into action over the summer.  The project has included some excellent training sessions for BCB volunteers and staff, focusing particularly on creative radio  production and speech based programming. …

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The second round for funding applications in 2011/12 opened on 19 October and will close at 5pm on 16 November 2011. The Community Radio Fund Panel will meet to consider applications on 30 January 2012. Grants can only be made to community radio licensees who are broadcasting under a community radio licence (and not an RSL, for example).

The latest application form and guidance notes are available here. Please also see statements detailing the outcome of previous Panel meetings before writing your application as this contains useful advice.

The Community Radio Fund end of year report: 2010/11 is available here (pdf) which details recent grants made and feedback from recipients. It also highlights the grant reduction over the next 4 years which sees the grant reduced from £465,000 in 2007/08 to £430,000 for the financial year 2014/15. This is despite the sector continuing to grow. Ofcom cite that “at the end of the 2010/11 financial year there were 187 stations broadcasting with a further 23 preparing to launch. This compares to 137 broadcasting in 2008/09 and 175 in 2009/10.”

Comments Off | In: News | tags: community radio fund, cuts, DCMS, Funding, grant, grant reduction, ofcom. | #

Ofcom are continuing to pay close attention to music playlists and their compliance to generally accepted standards. The latest Broadcast Bulletin features repeated breaches by Rinse FM and ONFM for broadcasting songs which featured very strong language at a time when younger listeners were likely to be tuned in.

In the case of Rinse FM, they cited the need to vacate the building due to the riots during early August. In the volunteer’s haste they scheduled podcasts suitable for night time broadcasts only to play during the day. It contained a song with seriously adult content performed by an unsigned artist. In response to Ofcom …

1 Comment | In: News | tags: adult content, broadcast bulletin, generally accepted standards, in breach, ofcom, OnFM, repeat warning, rinse fm, the f-word, unsigned artist. | #

Nick Wright and Heidi Reid collect the Positive Action Award

At a red carpet Positive Action North West 2011 awards ceremony, on Thursday, October 20th, Canalside Radio picked up a prestigious Positive Action award.

Against stiff competition Canalside, who were nominated by Cheshire’s David Lewis Centre, scooped the Positive Action award in recognition of their inclusive and supportive practice in the workplace for people with disability.   In his acceptance speech our Station Manager Nick Wright humbly said:

“We didn’t think we were going to win anything, we just came along for the free meal!”

Heidi Reid Presenter and Fundraiser at Canalside said:

“We’re very proud of the work that we do with disadvantaged people and are really chuffed to have picked up this award, but we do feel that inclusive employment is something that should be happening as standard, not just something that happens in special instances.”

Canalside Radio is an inclusive environment offering volunteer opportunities and free radio training to anyone in the Cheshire/Derbyshire region regardless of ability.

Comments Off | In: News | tags: canalside community radio, ccr, free radio training, heidi reid, nick wright, positive action awards. | #

Tom Besley, assistant manager at London community radio station Resonance104.4fm, was today honoured by The Radio Academy as one of their “30 under 30.” The list of high achievers, in its inaugural year, identifies the “thirty young people who don’t just do their job well, but go the extra mile” and recognises “the industry’s youngest stars.”

Facing competition from across the UK, with over 200 entries by under-30s, an independent panel chaired by Paul Robinson recognised people in a variety of roles within today’s radio industry, including production and management, technical environment, sales and marketing. Tom was one of only two nominees on the list who work within the still emerging community radio sector. …

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From recently, anyone needing evidence on issues concerning the voluntary sector can search the new Third Sector Knowledge Portal.

The Portal was launched recently by the Third Sector Research Centre, at an event held at the British Library to showcase the first three years of work by the Centre. It has been built in partnership with the British Library and funded by £200,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. It can be found at: http://www.tsrc.ac.uk.

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