Community station RTR FM in the regional Victorian town of Corryong has gone off air after its founders decided to take extended leave as a result of “conflict” with the ACMA over a range of licence issues. Their reasons for going dark (listed in full below) draw attention to problems that some regional stations have with the approved codes of practice, including the insistence that specialist committees be formed for things like programming, even when the board and membership is very small and the station is in direct contact with most of its listeners. Another issue highlighted is the length of time a station must remain as ‘Temporary’ while seeking a licence, in this case over 11 years.
RTR FM had repeatedly applied for a permanent licence and had been refused each time. After its most recent application RTR received a letter from ACMA saying it had not addressed a range of issues raised after previous applications, and a full time licence was unlikely to be granted without significant modifications to its submission.
This appears to have been the final straw for Douglas and Carol Allen, who had been operating the station since its beginning. In a statement to radioinfo explaining the closure, the station’s founders said:
Reverends Douglas and Carol Allen, co-founders of Revival Time Radio 94.9FM in December 1993 (the then Upper Murray Community Gospel Broadcasters Association), have announced that as of 10pm Sunday 3rd July 2011, they will be taking extended leave from the operation and provision of Broadcasting Services by RTR94.9FM.
This decision is the direct outcome of the High Country Christian Broadcasters Association Incorporated (HCCBA) ongoing 11 year conflict with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), who maintain that :
1. There is No Need for a dedicated Christian Broadcasting Service in the Upper Murray & High Country Region.
2. The HCCBA’s high integrity, security & accountability constitution, does not allow for or encourage the possibility of Socio/Political manipulation and abuse, as required by the ACMA.
3. The consistent management, leadership and technical stability of the last 14 years, does not meet the ACMA’s requirement that a $200,000 Ministry Investment be placed in the hands of potentially Un-Qualified, Un-Trained & Un-Committed people on a regular basis. Who may or may-not share the long term vision of the Ministry.
4. The conduct of superfluous committees or review panels for broadcasting material and music must be carried out whether necessary or not, with no regard to the desires of members, and their availability to serve, or not.
5. The HCCBA Inc. does not represent the region’s Christian Community because the Orthodox Churches of the region are no-longer actively involved.
Full details and documentation may be obtained from the RTR94.9FM website www.corryong.net
Revival Time Radio 94.9FM currently operates on a Temporary Community Broadcasting Licence renewed to 6th June 2012 (18 Years of Service).
As a consequence of the Founders’ decision, there being no trained and/or qualified staff available to take responsibility, broadcasting of RTR94.9FM programs, will be suspended as of 10pm Sunday 3rd July until further notice.
A members newsletter further sets out the station’s objections to ACMA’s directions to the station.
The ACMA letter which triggered RTR FM’s very public actions says the regulator was not satisfied that:
ACMA’s letter (view it in full here) notes that the recent full time licence application is the same as the previous one, which was rejected in 2005. It also notes that it considers the licencee to be “unwilling” to address the issues raised by the regulator.
RTR is the only applicant for the one community frequency planned for allocation in the licence area.
On the issue of program committees, an ACMA spokesperson told radioinfo that it is common for stations to form a committee to address the compulsory requirement of being responsive to the community, but that formal committees may not be the only solution. “As long as a station can demonstrate to us that they are meeting this legislative requirement effectively we should be able to accept that, programming committees are just the most common way that a station shows that it is responding to the community, but there may also be other ways. They must explain how they do it.”