The Australian Communications and Media Authority has just tabled its Annual Report in Federal Parliament, with chairman Chris Chapman acknowledging in it that spectrum planning and administration continue to provide “challenges, particularly in meeting the needs of a broad stakeholder group.”
The report suggests the past year has been one of significant change and development for the regulatory agency:
“The year was not without its challenges but the ACMA has built, and continues to build, capacity and capability to respond with flexibility and resilience to whatever it faces,” says Chapman.
Some of the challenges for the radio industry include the regional ownership ‘trigger events’ which could cause staffing and programming to be frozen in the event of the sale of a regional radio licence. Trigger events are detailed in the annual report as:
> the transfer of a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence
> the formation of a new registrable media group where a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence is in the group
> a change of controller of a registrable media group where a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence is in the group.
Radio Broadcasters are hoping these much criticised rules will soon be changed and that Communications Minister Stephen Conroy may even announce something about them at the radio conference this week.
ACMA’s review of the 2.5 GHz band was also one of its key challenges. This band is identified internationally for wireless access services but is currently used in Australia almost exclusively by free-to-air TV broadcasters for outside broadcasting, including electronic news gathering. The government is proposing to take back the spectrum for other uses, but the tv industry has voiced some objections to that plan.
The regulator also finalised proposals for future arrangements in the 400 MHz band, released spectrum for wireless access services in regional and remote areas of Australia in the 3.6 GHz band, as well as spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band for public mobile telecommunications services.
Late in the financial year, an announcement by the minister, confirming the 126 MHz size of the spectrum ‘digital dividend’ from the analog television switch-off, paved the way for the ACMA to consult with potential spectrum buyers later this year.
The radio industry is also interested in this process, which should help identify spectrum for digital radio broadcasting in regional areas.
During the year, ACMA registered two major broadcasting codes of practice. The new commercial television industry code of practice and the Commercial Radio Australia Codes of Practice and Guidelines 2010 came into effect early in 2010. Both allow consumers to make complaints electronically for the first time.
Kyle and Jackie O also get a mention in Chapman’s forward to the report:
“The ACMA quickly responded to issues of concern raised by an episode of the Kyle and Jackie O Show which, together with our assessment of evolving radio formats, triggered the ACMA’s investigation into the adequacy of community safeguards for the protection of participants in live-hosted commercial radio. CRA is now also considering the development of a new code to take account of the outcomes of this investigation.”
ACMA received 170 complaints about the Kyle and Jackie broadcast. The follow up investigation found that:
> there is community concern about the treatment of participants in commercial radio, and that the concern is greater when the participant is a child
> the current codes do not adequately address the community concerns, particularly the treatment of child participants
> while industry does have in place practices that provide important community safeguards, these practices are not formalised in the industry codes.
The ACMA is working with the commercial radio industry to develop codes of practice that include specific provisions for addressing the issues raised in the investigation.
Chapman says ACMA restructured during the year, aiming to “put the organisation on an agile footing to address the pace of the challenges of our environment, as well as to better recognise the citizen aspects of our role.”
During the year, ACMA broadened its outreach and engagement with stakeholders by adopting Web 2.0 and other engagement methods. More engagement through social media is expected in the next 12 months.
To view the whole ACMA Annual Report 2009–10, click the link below.