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2 September 1997
Gareth Grainger
Vice Chairman
Australian Broadcasting Authority
PO Box Q500
Queen Victoria Building
Sydney NSW 1230
Dear Gareth,
The CBAA recently received the attached cassette tapes from our member station 4CBL in Logan City in Southern Queensland. They are recordings of the programs of the local low power Narrowcaster, 88FM.
As you know, the ABA recently found 88FM in breach. 4CBL makes the point that nothing has changed, and that the Narrowcaster continues to operate as before - as a local commercial broadcaster.
We have listened to the tapes which appear to confirm that the station broadcasts music of a general kind, interspersed with advertisements which in practically all cases could only be of interest to local residents. It stretches credulity to the limit to believe that a station licensed as a tourist service covering the Logan City area would he able to maintain a radio station based entirely on income derived from advertisers catering to the tourist market alone.
As you know, the CBAA is very concerned about the potential for a proliferation of low power Narrowcasters throughout the country, seeking to emulate commercial and community services, either because they believe they can flout the rules with impunity, or because they are not aware of the limitations of their licenses. Many of our stations are struggling for survival, and even more than commercial stations, cannot afford to have the very limited pool of potential sponsorship dollars siphoned off by others who are not entitled to operate the services they do.
We recognize that the narrowest provisions of the Act make it hard to set effective boundaries, but we believe it is time the ABA addressed the issue, set down a clear set of programming rules for open narrowcasters, made them public if that is possible, and policed those rules so that narrowest licensees and everyone else knows where they stand.
Many of our stations are chafing under the four minute limitation which applies to community broadcasters, and are far from impressed that others appear to be able to circumvent the rules. We would like the ABA to take up the matter with a view to finding a solution to a problem of considerable concern to our members.
Yours sincerely,
MICHAEL
THOMPSON
General Manager
Level
3, 44-54 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015
Telephone:(02)93102999 Facsimile:(02)93194545 Email:
cbaa@peg.apc.org
ACN 003 108 030