It passed quietly but February 2023 was the 10th anniversary of Jon Bisset taking over as General Manager, now Group CEO of The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). He’s also CEO of RPH which has branched into Powerd Media, but more on that launch later.
I read a testimonial about Bisset on LinkedIn calling him a unifier which I think is evidenced in the evolution of community radio over the past decade whilst dealing with life and death emergency situations, unprecedented pandemics, and the emergence of DAB+ and podcasting. As we head to Adelaide next week for the 2023 CBAA Conference and Awards, community broadcasting, at its heart led by volunteers for the community it represents, is in good health.
CBAA CEO, Jon Bisset
Jon Bisset:
“They saw in me a bringing of an industry association perspective and a community perspective to the job rather than just someone who had been in the sector forever, and recognised the that role of the organisation was as an industry body first and foremost and not a radio station. We’re there as an industry body to support the radio stations to become stronger and more successful.”
The last twelve months have been incredibly productive for the CBAA and the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF).
The CBAA forged essential partnerships with Volunteering Australia and The Centre for Volunteering in May and June respectively. Post pandemic, floods and Black Summer Bushfires, volunteer numbers dropped by 10% from 2019 to 2022, understandably, as people were all gifted out. Sometimes we who love radio to the point that it doesn’t feel like work forget that there are nearly 500 community stations and 20K volunteers working in the sector.
In August they launched the Community Radio Plus app audio campaign, using audio specialist agency Eardrum to promote the app to listeners.
Industry data and Insights have been another focus for the CBAA.
“We made a big investment in data 12-18 months ago. We went from zero staff to three staff, which for an organisation our size is substantial. We knew, the CBAA, that we could learn a lot from the data and particularly when you start matching it. We were beginning to tell a collective story. The next step is how we can start helping stations use and interpret this information? We’ve had a national listener survey for 25 years. How do we match it with our numbers where 80 to 100 stations are on our steaming platform and incorporate that amazing data too?”, Bisset said.
In another milestone for the sector DAB+ was launched for three community radio stations on the Gold Coast, making it the first region outside of the country’s capitals to do so, and trials continue in Launceston.
In recent weeks the CBAA released their annual review and financial report, as well as the landmark ten-year vision for the community broadcasting sector, Roadmap 2033.
Jon Bisset:
“The most important thing for us is that we now have a Roadmap for the next 10 years. A lot of what we are doing at the conference is themed around the Roadmap. Minister Rowland is coming back, after launching it two weeks ago, and addressing the conference, which is exciting and I think shows how important she thinks community broadcasting is.”
My thoughts on community radio five years ago, including my own paid and unpaid forays into the sector over the last decade, was that it was a starting and ending place for commercial radio announcers and for locals who wished to dabble. A community station on the edge of my hometown transformed me from ambivalent bystander to passionate advocate. Radio is the last provider of service in some emergency situations. Isolated and not so isolated regions of Australia are investing in their community stations like never before.
To that effect the sector knows that its news services need support and a very exciting announcement about community media collaborating more closely with public news outlets will be made at the conference.
There will also be the launch of Powerd Media by Minister Amanda Rishworth on Thursday. Powerd takes content by and for people with a disability beyond RPH and will include news, video, audio on demand, podcasts, and written content.
This year’s CBAA Conference wraps up this Saturday night November 4 with the 2023 Community Radio Awards, including the The Michael Law, Tony Staley Award and Station Leadership Award.
More nominations than ever before were received this year. There are also masterclasses in youth broadcasting and podcasting with workshops on disaster preparedness, connecting with local music and building capacity for funding. All areas which Bissett and I discussed as the points of difference between community and commercial, Bisset also mentioning the importance of fostering stations that are independent sustainable of the crutch of government or grant funding sustenance.
You can still register to attend until Wednesday November 1. Radioinfo will cover the launch of Powerd, the Awards and more. Please stop by to say hello.
