In a very significant decision by broadcast regulator ACMA, Armidale Community Radio station 2ARM 92.1 has failed to have its licence renewed after 31 years on the air because ACMA did not think it had enough community involvement in its programming or management.

Armidale Community Radio Co-Operative Ltd has held the licence since 1976. It will expire at midnight on 3 October 2007, but ACMA has left an option open for broadcasts to perhaps continue under a temporary licence regime until the regulator decides what to do with the frequency in the long term.

It is only the second time ACMA has not renewed a community licence. The first was the Bankstown community station in suburban Sydney, which failed its renewal a few months ago.

2ARM is the only community radio service serving Armidale and surrounding towns. 2UNE, a student radio station based at the University of New England and known as TUNE FM, also broadcasts in the area, but its licence status is narrowcast rather than community.

ACMA has “invited the licensee to apply for a temporary community broadcasting licence” to start from the day after the licence expires, but if there are other broadcast groups which also want to get on air, the licensee “may have to share the frequency with other temporary broadcasters,” according to Acting ACMA Chair Lyn Maddock.

The community radio station licence renewal process takes more than a year, so the station would presumably have had much correspondence from ACMA over the past 12 months about the impending decision not to renew.

ACMA has also signaled its ‘get tough’ approach to community radio management compliance in another ruling today for a station in Young (see other story).

Maddock says: “While a decision not to renew is never taken lightly and is no doubt disappointing for the licensee and its listeners, it was arrived at after considerable deliberation and after taking into account both these objectives.

“ACMA considered evidence and the submissions in support of the Armidale Community Radio’s licence renewal application [but] has significant concerns about whether the licensee’s service meets the needs of the general community in the Armidale licence area, and also that the licensee has not satisfactorily identified and monitored the community’s needs.”

ACMA also has concerns about the licensee’s management capacity, and whether its governing rules adversely affect its ability to encourage members to participate in its operations, and select and provide programming.

“Encouraging members of the community to participate is a key obligation of community broadcasters and an inability to meet this licence condition is viewed very seriously… ACMA has therefore concluded that it should not renew [the] licence,” says Maddock.

Neither 2ARM’s Neville Graham, nor any one else from the station, were available for comment when contacted by radioinfo, but the station’s licence renewal submission paints a different picture from that portrayed by ACMA. In its submission 2ARM sees itself as an underdog which has climbed back from financial ruin to be a well listened to addition to the local listening area.

Part of the submission said:

The station was ‘broke’ even before all these other areas of competition commenced, but now, with this added competition, we are doing better than ever, because we have a program policy which aloows listeners still available after the other stations have grabbed their large audience share… It has taken several years for 2ARM to rise above the stigma pf the ‘community radio’ mentality of many people, the respected reputation we now enjoy.”

In another part of the submission the station says the high turnover of students in the university town of Armidale made it hard to keep high numbers of volunteers. 2ARM has one volunteer working on sponsorship sales, who takes a 15% commission on sales.

ACMA was not convinced by this submission however.

Acting Manager for Community Allocations and Renewals at ACMA, Kate Timbs has told radioinfo that the crux of the issue was that the station had not taken steps to open up its constitution to allow better voting participation at annual general meetings, and that ACMA was not convinced the station would be able to identify and respond to future needs in the community with its restrictive provisions that only ‘active members’ had voting rights.

Timbs says ACMA presented this critical ‘preliminary view’ to the station several months ago, but the station’s response was not enough to convince ACMA to change its mind. If it had responded with offers to open up its processes and to find ways to be more responsive to the community then things may have been different. As well as letting the station know in writing about the potential non-renewal, ACMA staff also visited the station to explain the implications of non-compliance, before making its final ruling.

There are not, at this time, any other players looking to use the spectrum that 2ARM has to give up, so the station may well be able to continue broadcasting under ‘temporary broadcasting’ provisions until it decides to fix up the perceived problems and reapply, or another competitor bids for the spectrum space.

The station has had ups and downs during its 30 years on air. 2ARM’s history page reports:

In 1972 the University of New England, Armidale, applied for and was granted a communications license in that year. The general community felt that a real “local” station, not just on the university campus was warranted… In 1974, a [test] broadcasting license was issued to the newly formed 2ARM FM92.1. In October 1976 FM92.1 started part-time transmissions…

Originally, the station shared premises with Radio UNE, firstly in their studio “B” before a separate studio was built for the express use of 2ARM FM92.1. The station later moved into makeshift studios in the town hall…

By 1988 the station had two full-time paid employees, a salesperson on retainer plus commission, and another salesperson on commission for special projects.

Originally, the station was funded predominantly by government grants and was permitted to sell what was termed ‘sponsorship’… With the decline of government funding, these limitations became very restrictive.

In the early nvarchar(15)ies, with the advent of the recession the station went into financial decline and the paid staff situation was cut back to a part-time station co-ordinator and paid breakfast announcer. The station was predominantly manned by volunteers.

For many years, classical music was well represented in the programme on 2ARM, and the station was enthusiastically supported by listeners. With the arrival in Armidale of the ABC Classical radio station, many classics lovers switched to the professional sounds of the ABC, (taking their financial support with them). At the same time, the city was linked to two additional commercial television stations, and many business houses felt that they could reach a far greater audience via television. As well, a second newspaper commenced local circulation. With the downturn in the economy – especially in “the bush”, advertising dollars, never in abundance, became a scarce commodity. 2ARM FM92.1 was in financial trouble, by this time having no full time paid employees, and in 1996 the Board of Directors could see little alternative than to close the station down.

A ‘last ditch’ attempt was made to find a station co-ordinator, and
Mr Neville Graham with over 30 years experience in radio and television was recruited in June 1996. With a total programming overhaul catering to all age groups and music tastes, the station (five+ years on) now has a huge listening audience, with sponsors approaching the station, wanting to advertise on FM92.1.

2ARM website at: www.users.nsw.chariot.net.au/~2arm

See the station’s original licence submission at the link below.