Forget about the Schoolies – Community Broadcasters are converging on Queensland’s Gold Coast this week for their annual conference.
Almost 100 community radio and television stations will be
represented at the Gold Coast International Hotel for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia’s Annual Conference.
The conference will include workshops, sessions and discussions about community broadcasting programming, management, youth involvement and more.
With the conference focussing on young broadcasters, some of those
schoolies may even be taking part.
The Queensland State Government is one of the major conference sponsors this
year.
CBAA President David Melzer told radioinfo: “The Government has long recognized the value for community radio
and television in terms of broad diversity of programs and participation.”
One aspect of broadcasting upper most in participants minds will be Digital Broadcasting as trials involving content from Melbourne’s
community stations have already began, and Sydney’s Digital Radio trials will be launched on December 17. Community radio stations will join with ABC and commercial radio broadcasters to simulcast some stations in digital format during the trials.
CBAA’s General Manager, Barry Melville says: “The Community Broadcasters of Australia believe that Digital Broadcasting will widen the listeners choice to become something of a … Dial Surfers Paradise!”
“Our stations were the pioneers of the FM band 30 years ago and now we are preparing to take on the challenge of digital radio.”
“We are keen to join digital trials in two capital cities and our Conference gives us the chance to discuss our strategies with the Giles Tanner from the Australian Broadcasting Authority – the agency that has authorised the trials.”
The gathering of Australia’s third sector of broadcasting is also
timely, with changes to media foreign ownership laws still on the political
agenda, the importance of local media in covering local issues still being
widely debated in the community for different reasons, and a new Federal
Minister for Communications now in charge.
At the conference CBAA members will also elect a new National President and hold their Annual General Meeting on Sunday morning.
Melzer told radioinfo: “With
indigenous, ethnic, religious, youth and local radio stations, services
for the print handicapped and community television, it is no wonder that
community broadcasting is now the biggest independant media sector in the
country.”
CBAA President David Melzor
There are 463 community owned and operated media outlets in Australia. Of these, 260 are long term licensed community radio stations; 36 are temporary community radio broadcasting licensees (TCBLs); 5 are Community Television stations; 36 are Religious radio stations; 21 are full-time Indigenous community radio stations and 12 are Radio for the Print Handicapped (RPH) stations.
70% of licensed community stations are located in rural, regional and remote areas. The community broadcasting sector has 25,000 volunteer broadcasters and support staff, with 5,000 people undertaking training in broadcasting skills each year.
Current turnover for the community broadcast sector is estimated at about $55 million per annum, with an additional estimated $145 million per annum in the value of volunteer work hours.