According to the 2012 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue for the month of February 2012 grew in all metropolitan radio markets except Sydney, with strong growth recorded in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Brisbane grew 6.28% to a total of $8.570 million in the month of February compared to the same timeframe a year earlier; Adelaide grew by 5.14% to a total of $5.011 million; Perth grew 1.25% to a total of $7.158 million; Melbourne grew 0.36% to a total of $15.412 million and Sydney fell 1.8% to a total of $15.622 million.

The Deloitte figures report actual revenue received by metropolitan commercial radio stations for the calendar month and include all metropolitan agency and direct revenue.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said despite a stronger February for most markets, the figures highlighted the tougher trading conditions with the Sydney market particularly patchy over the past several months.

“Adelaide continues to perform well, and Brisbane has had a good month in February, but the past several months show the overall trading environment is generally tougher, “Ms Warner said.

The eight months financial YTD figures released today show a slight increase of 0.01% for the five metropolitan markets combined to a total of $449.774 million.

“These figures highlight that the industry must continue to work hard to promote the benefits of radio and its ability to deliver for advertisers in tighter economic conditions,” Ms Warner said

Radio news feed, Wednesday 7 March 2012

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There are 20 new items today.

Alan Carr to leave Radio 2
From Media Guardian. Posted March 6 2012, 1.54pm
Host of Saturday evening show is latest departure to follow Zoe Ball and Alan Titchmarsh out the door… (more)

Andy Gray: I considered killing myself after Sky sexism row
From Media Guardian. Posted March 6 2012, 1.34pm
• 'I would be lying if I said I didn't,' admits Gray… (more)

Bee jock changes name after UKRD success
From Radio Today. Posted March 6 2012, 3.02pm
Paul Winstanley is now called NumberOne Mid-sizedcompanytoworkfor ThebeepartoftheUKRDgroup… (more)

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Comedian Alan Carr leaves BBC Radio 2
From Radio Today. Posted March 6 2012, 2.25pm
Carr quits the national station to spend more time on his television show. (more)

How audio survived the digital revolution
From Media UK editorial pick. Posted March 6 2012, 5.31pm
Radio is in the midst of an exciting renaissance – and all renaissance movements are marked by versatility and big ideas. There’s no shortage of either in radio land. (more)

Community Radio Fund, First Round 2012/13
From Community Media Association. Posted March 6 2012, 6.40pm
The first round for funding applications in 2012/13 will open on 9 April 2012 and close at 5pm on 11 May 2012. The Community Radio Fund Panel will meet to consider applications on 25 June 2012. (more)

Bauer launches search for student talent
From Radio Today. Posted March 6 2012, 1.06pm
The Hits Radio teams up with SRA for second annual competition to look for presenters. (more)

UK moves towards “three strikes” internet policy
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 6 2012, 5.20pm
British Web users face having their internet connections throttled or suspended if they are found to have downloaded music or movies illegally after internet service providers (ISPs) BT and TalkTalk lost a court appeal today. (more)

IRN Awards day speakers confirmed
From Radio Today. Posted March 6 2012, 2.12pm
Commercial radio news conference and awards take place on 27th March in London. (more)

Student rejects Limbaugh apology as sponsors flee
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 6 2012, 10.52am
A law student branded a “slut” and a“prostitute” by US radio host Rush Limbaugh in an on-air rant about contraception rejected his apology on Monday as more sponsors abandoned the right-wing icon’s show. (more)

Steve Lamacq unveils 6 Music Family Tree for 6 Music 10th Anniversary
From BBC Media Centre. Posted March 6 2012, 10.22am
BBC Radio 6 Music celebrates its 10th Anniversary this month and to mark the occasion will bring listeners a jam-packed weekend of treats on 10 and 11 March. (more)

Jaime Alguersuari joins Radio 5 live to complete BBC F1 line-up
From BBC Media Centre. Posted March 6 2012, 10.12am
Jaime Alguersuari will join Radio 5 live’s Formula 1 commentary team as an expert summariser, completing the experienced BBC presentation line-up that will bring the 2012 season to fans through a mix of live coverage and highlights, across TV, radio, red button and online. (more)

UTV Media buys Simply Zesty social media agency
From Media Week. Posted March 6 2012, 1.25pm
UTV Media, the channel three licensee in Northern Ireland and owner of UK radio station TalkSport, has bought Irish social media agency Simply Zesty in a deal that could be worth up to£5m. (more)

Have you ever been lied to by a PR?
From Press Gazette. Posted March 6 2012, 12.25pm
The PR industry has got off pretty lightly during the current round of phone-hacking inspired media soul-searching. But does it deserve more scrutiny? PRs nowadays probably outnumber journalists and their output is increasingly shaping the national debate. (more)

6 Music animation draws on 10 years of eclectic radio | Media Monkey
From Media Guardian. Posted March 6 2012, 11.44am
There has been no shortage of incident in the history of BBC Radio 6 Music, so Steve Lamacq should have plenty to talk about when he marks its 10th birthday with a special programme, 6 Music Family Tree, on 11 March. (more)

Rush Limbaugh brands law student 'slut' and 'prostitute' – video
From Media Guardian. Posted March 6 2012, 1.46pm
Conservative US radio host Rush Limbaugh has apologised to Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, after calling her a slut on his radio programme last week.(more)

Radio 2 receives record number of entries for children’s writing competition 500 WORDS
From BBC Media Centre. Posted March 6 2012, 10.22am
A staggering 74,075 entries have been submitted for this year’s BBC Radio 2 500 Words competition – exceeding more than double the number of entries received last year. (more)

South Korean teenagers accused of cyber attack
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 6 2012, 2.32pm
Seven South Korean teenagers have been questioned over a cyber attack on the website of a government agency partly in protest at restrictions on playing Internet games at night, police said today. (more)

Conflicting reports on fate of popular Egyptian FM radio station
From Media Network Weblog. Posted March 6 2012, 4.32pm
There were conflicting reports today regarding the decision taken by Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ahmed Anis to terminate the popular radio station Nogoum FM, frequency 100.6. (more)

Ed Miliband branded an 'unelectable laughing stock' during BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in
From Daily Mail. Posted March 6 2012, 6.22pm
The Labour leader (pictured) was confronted by a string of negative personal assessments from listeners during a BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in who said he should step aside if the party wanted to regain power. (more)

“I could see some of the horses getting tired, and I thought ‘Well gee, I’m getting more tired than them’.” Listen to Jimmy’s call AUDIO

The issue of regulation is of vital importance to radio stations and their presenters – who say the rules are costly to enforce and overly prescriptive – and ACMA, which must monitor compliance and manage public complaints.

But it is clear the public couldn’t care less. In the past decade, there have been just nine complaints to ACMA about advertising, disclosure or compliance standards and just five of those have been upheld. In an industry comprising 260 stations, one guy stepping out of line each couple of years is hardly a threat to the world as we know it.
Read the entire article The Australian

Public broadcaster SBS and Melbourne commercial broadcaster Pacific Star have launched music stations this month, the first anniversary of full-time radio broadcasts on the DAB+ format.

Broadcasters with AM or FM licences have up to 128 kilobits per second of data to pump out over the airwaves using the DAB+ format. It gives them the flexibility to reassign a data stream into smaller chunks allowing it to broadcast more stations, or to allocate a higher bitrate to fewer stations for better sound quality Full article here

The Broadcasting Services (Commercial Radio Advertising) Standard 2000 (advertising standard) prohibits commercial radio stations from presenting an advertisement in a manner which would prevent the reasonable listener from being able to distinguish it from other program content. The advertising standard is a licence condition for all commercial radio licensees.

The ACMA’s investigation considered whether the paid appearances of the Mayor of Cairns Regional Council, Ms Val Shier, on the Ask the Mayor segment of the John Mackenzie Show, constituted an advertisement. The ACMA found that a substantial purpose of the paid appearances of the Mayor was to promote the Cairns Regional Council’s products and services. As payment had been provided by the Council for the appearance, it ‘crossed the line’ from the promotion of its community services to rate payers, to paid advertising.

In response to the breach finding, the licensee has implemented a policy to broadcast explicit statements, such as ’this has been a paid presentation on behalf of…’ to acknowledge all paid appearances.

As the licensee is undertaking remedial measures, the ACMA will not take any further action in relation to this investigation. A copy of the Investigation Report 2302 is available on the ACMA website.

The ACMA is considering the paid on-air radio appearances as part of its current review of the commercial radio standards. The Issues Paper relating to the review was released on 23 February 2010.

Races 10 and 11 from Elwick last Sunday were not broadcast, though dividends were announced after each race.

Station manager and local football show host Steve Adermann is standing by his decision not to broadcast races after 9pm and said measures were being taken by Tote and Tasracing to have no races scheduled after 9pm.
Full item The Mercury

When an elderly female caller called up to protest, saying he should go back to 2GB with that kind of comment, he didn’t back down and said “or barbecue them”.

Commercial Radio Australia chief executive, Joan Warner said the first regional trial of DAB+ is the next step in making digital radio services available to all Australians.

“The radio industry is committed to ensuring all Australians are able to access free to air radio broadcasting via digital technology. People living in regional Australia must have the same rights of access to digital radio as do those living in the five big cities. We do not want to see a nation of metropolitan digital ‘haves’ and regional digital ‘have nots’.” Ms Warner said.

Through a digital radio trial many Canberra radio listeners will be able to experience digital quality audio, robust transmission and significantly improved functionality as part of digital broadcasting including more audio services, text and graphics on screen, plus pause and rewind on some receivers.

“The Canberra trial will provide valuable firsthand experience for regional radio broadcasters in working with the DAB+ signal and increased functionality, while we continue to work to get the Federal Government to commit to allocating spectrum so that regional Australians will have the same right to digital radio as Australians living in metropolitan areas. The trial will also allow us to test how to ensure a signal can be received in a building such as Parliament House, a structure with both man-made and natural barriers,” said Ms Warner.

SBS and commercial radio broadcasters, Capital Radio, ARN and Austereo will jointly fund a trial that will transmit from the Broadcast Australia transmission tower on Black Mountain. Although the signal will be at relatively low power for the trial, it is still expected to cover a large part of the Canberra area.

The second phase of the Canberra trial will be a retransmission of the trial signal into Parliament House to allow Federal politicians to experience digital radio first hand.

SBS Managing Director, Shaun Brown said: “SBS radio is pleased to be part of such an important trial and to showcase the additional in-language services available on digital radio to SBS’s Canberra listeners.”

Supporters of the regional trial include; broadcast transmission infrastructure company Broadcast Australia, and multiplex infrastructure providers and systems integrators UGL Infrastructure/Radioscape as well as digital radio receiver manufacturers who are all keen to fast track the roll out of digital radio into regional Australia.

Permanent full power digital radio services began in Sydney, Melbourne Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth last year and the industry recently released figures indicating there are already nearly 500,000 people listening to digital radio across those markets.

“In 2009, Nielsen research showed 32% of commercial radio listening occurs in the car. In order to ensure rapid integration of digital radio into cars, the automotive industry needs a clear signal from the Federal Government that DAB+ digital radio will roll out across the country. The ability to advertise and promote the sale of digital radios in all markets is also important to ensure the ongoing support of the retail sector,” said Ms Warner.

All sectors of the radio industry have made detailed submissions to the Federal Government’s Digital Dividend Green Paper requesting the allocation of vacated VHF Band III spectrum for digital radio as analogue TV switches off and that this allocation take precedence over the reallocation or sale of this spectrum for new services such as wireless internet or mobile telephony.

Stations that will be available on the DAB+ digital radio trial transmission:

• 2CA – Capital Radio Network
• 2CC –Capital Radio Network
• Capital Radio Network – 2 additional commercial services to be announced
• Mix 106.3 FM – Canberra FM (Austereo/ARN)
• 104.7 fm – Canberra FM (Austereo/ARN)
• Canberra FM (Austereo/ARN) – 2 additional commercial radio services to be announced
• SBS Radio 1 – News & Information Network
• SBS Radio 2 – News & Information Network
• SBS Pop Asia
• SBS Chill

Another trial is in the planning stages for Darwin and two other areas currently being considered are Townsville and Hobart.

He worked at the Adelaide News, 5DN, 891 ABC Adelaide, Fiveaa and Channel 7 Adelaide. In the mid 1980′s he replaced Mark Day on 3AW drive and later took over from Derryn Hinch for the all important morning slot. Below is a transcript of his Ash Wednesday report.

It was in the 1983 Ash Wednesday Fires that he became a household name across Australia. Live to air on 5DN & 3AW, then part of the Macquarie Radio Network, he described his house burning down. The audio of that event soon spread right across the world. For his effort he went on to win a Walkley Award.

At the moment, I’m watching my house burn down. I’m sitting out on the road in front of my own house where I’ve lived for 13 or 14 years and it’s going down in front of me. And the flames are in the roof and—Oh, God damn it. It’s just beyond belief—my own house. And everything around it is black. There are fires burning all around me. All around me. And the front section of my house is blazing. The roof has fallen in. My water tanks are useless. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.[

The blaze was sparked just after midnight, when an unknown person set fire to three wheelie bins outside the radio station.

Hitz FM DJ James Speed said he was alerted to the crisis by a telephone call saying station 4BU had gone off air.
Full story here

The seven radio stations are NX FM, KO FM, New FM and 2HD in Newcastle and Sea 101.3 FM, 2GO FM and Star 104.5 FM on the Central Coast. Airplay data is available now in almost real time and 24 hours a day

AirCheck provides independent proof of performance on all 52 commercial radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Central Coast, Newcastle, Adelaide and Perth, plus Triple j and FBi-FM in Sydney. AirCheck also monitors pay TV channels MTV and Channel [V].

The Managing Director of AirCheck, Keith Williams said today, “The Newcastle and Central Coast are highly competitive radio markets and this new service will give radio and its advertisers, media agencies and record companies, transparent and independent airplay verification. Both markets have welcomed the introduction of AirCheck’s market intelligence and competitive analysis.”

The DMG Radio Australia station has released a recorded off-air phone conversation in which Bruechle can be heard telling Ashlea which song to call in for just moments before she did.

Listeners became suspicious after the caller said she’d been listening to the station all day, but then contradicted herself by saying she’d completed a university exam and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

The station says the $10,000 prize will be donated to charity.

In each episode, try-hard British DJ Captain Blow (Hansen) picks a classic year in rock and examines the making of a landmark (but fictional) album.

It’s laugh-out-loud radio comedy; completely silly and absurd, in the British tradition. Taylor says he has found it a liberating experience after the confines of television.

‘‘Radio and theatre of the mind suit absurdist comedy better than television,’’ he says.
Full item SMH Sue Javes

Chief executive of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said this year the winning acts would receive a longer period of guaranteed commercial radio airplay – six weeks – to ensure maximum exposure.

“This year, ten finalists will be selected with two winners being announced. Winners will have the chance of 6 weeks guaranteed airplay, across the day, on the major metropolitan and regional commercial radio networks valued at $1.3 million – a fantastic opportunity for new and emerging bands or artists,” Ms Warner said.

With the offer last year, for the first time in the program’s history, of access to 4 weeks guaranteed airplay across the day she said last year’s winner, Finabah was the most successful NA2R winner so far, gaining impressive chart success with its single “Everyone Jump”, including debuting at #9 on the Air Independent Singles sales chart and peaking at #5 in the Australian artists Top 20 airplay chart.

“The NA2R initiative is just one of the many ways in which the commercial radio sector helps to nurture and support Australian musical talent,” Ms Warner said.

“This is an industry-wide initiative which has helped launched some very successful music careers since its inception including artists like Faker, Cassie Davis, Delta Goodrem, Sarah Blasko, Thirsty Merc, Jade McRae, The Sunpilots and Ashleigh Mannix,” Ms Warner said.

This year two acts will perform at the NA2R showcase event to be held in Melbourne on October 15 in front of key music and program directors from the commercial radio sector.

All finalists will also attend a radio workshop with leading program and music directors and music marketing professionals.

The NA2R workshop offers invaluable insight about how to maximize commercial radio airplay and exposure – a popular feature of the program aimed at helping all finalists. The workshop will be held in Melbourne on September 10.

This NA2R entrants will be in the running for:

• Six weeks of airplay on the Australian Radio Network, Austereo, DMG Radio, Southern Cross Media, ACE Radio, Prime Radio, Grant Broadcasters, and Super Network worth around $1.3 million.

• A digital single distribution deal with MGM Distribution submitted to ARIA & AIR for chart survey.

• Advice from VGM (Media & Marketing) regarding mainstream media, electronic and digital marketing and artist management as well as design of their single cover for digital radio servicing.

• Opportunity to perform live in front of key people from the commercial radio and music industries.

• Full page advertisement feature in The Music Network magazine and online

“Unearthing new Australian talent has always been one of the key roles played by commercial radio and this initiative now provides some fantastic tools for unsigned artists to help them break into commercial radio and the music industry,” Ms Warner said.

Artists and bands can enter online at www.na2r.com.au by uploading two of their best commercial radio ready tracks, a biography and photo. Entries will be accepted until June 4.

Submissions will be judged by a panel of commercial radio network program and music directors, based on commercial radio play potential.

Media contact: Jenny Stevenson Ph: (0402) 214 039
For more information on NA2R visit www.na2r.com.au

The pair, who were both columnists for The Sunday Times at the time, had a much publicised fallout seven-years -ago over an article that appeared in the paper.

The former Nova presenter has teamed up with radio and TV personality Myf Warhurst for the show about architecture, which is in early development stages.

Ross says he can’t say too much about it just yet, but has confirmed it’s not a comedy program. Read the entire article here

On April 25, a very special 24 hour-only digital radio station will be broadcasting – ABC ANZAC Day – collaboration between ABC Radio National and ABC Local Radio showcasing their best ANZAC Day content.

In addition to the event coverage, ABC Radio has searched through its extensive archival material and ABC ANZAC Day will include replays of the Boyer Lecture by General Peter Cosgrove, a special Speaking Out program hosted by Rhianna Patrick and the documentaries Going Back to Vietnam, Changi Diary, Narelle, Nursing for an Empire and Gallipoli Voices.

ABC ANZAC Day Schedule
Midnight: Boyer Lecture by General Peter Cosgrove
12.33am: Gallipoli – New Voices
1.25am: Music of Gallipoli
2.15am: Gallipoli Submarine
2.32am: Going back to Vietnam
2.50am: World War One Nurses
3.10am: Sydney-Gallipoli
4.05am: Martin Place Dawn Service
5.28am: National Dawn Service
6.05am: The Broken Years
6.23am: Timor – Debt of ’42
7.16am: Narelle – Nursing for Empire
8.08am: Changi Diary
8.30am: Anzac Day March from Melbourne
10.00am: Anzac Day March from Townsville
11:00am: Anzac Day March from Sydney
12noon: Speaking Out Special
12.30pm: Live Coverage of the Dawn Service from Anzac Cove
1.30pm: Live coverage of the Anzac Day Dawn Service from Villers-Bretonneux, France
2:30pm: Anzac Music
4.00pm: The Story of the Sword
4.52pm: The Gunditjmara Garrison
5.31pm: Military Service of Aboriginal Men
6.11pm: Korea – the Forgotten War
7.01pm: Different Voices – Four Reflections for Anzac Day
7.49pm: World War One Correspondents
8.10pm: Gallipoli – New Voices
9.00pm: ANZAC Music
10.32pm: Sydney-Gallipoli
11.27pm: Boyer Lecture by General Peter Cosgrove

Check out their new website MTR 1377 for further details and to listen online. 1Radio will have an icon online soon so you can listen via that website. MTR will soon have links for their yet to be launched Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Press release : Melbourne Talk Radio Started Talking Today

MEDIA RELEASE Monday 19th April 2010: Melbourne Talk Radio went live at 6am this morning on AM broadcast frequency 1377, with Steve Price presenting the station’s inaugural breakfast program, followed by The Steve Vizard Show.

Steve Price was thrilled with his first on-air appearance at the new station this morning, “It’s great to be finally up and running. It is great to see that all the efforts of our great team here at MTR, both behind the scenes and in front of the microphone, paid off today. Now the real hard work begins as we give Melbourne a new station with great content, contributors, guests and breaking news.”

Steve Vizard followed Price with The Steve Vizard Show, “I had a great time. It was wonderful that Julia Gillard, Justin Madden, Ted Ballieu, Daryl Somers, Molly and a host of our regulars helped us through the first show. I’m confident it will get better and better, especially when we learn what the different buttons are for.”

Pacific Star Network CEO, Barrie Quick said, “It has been an exciting start for MTR 1377 this morning, but today is just the beginning. Whilst we have been able to bring this exceptional team together in a relatively short space of time, we now intend to take time out before formally measuring MTR’s performance.

“The next ratings survey will be out on May 11th, but will not provide a full survey for the new station. MTR’s first full survey will be survey four, which will be released on June 22nd. We will only be using the ratings as a tangible tool for measurement once we have a year-on-year benchmark. By mid next year, we will have an idea of how we are performing in the short-term.

“We have no intention of setting abstract ratings targets, we are committed to Melbourne for the long term and that means getting the content right, attracting listeners and retaining listeners.

“We are pleased with the level of support we’ve received from advertisers. MTR 1377 launched today with a truly high-calibre line-up of commercial partners including Peugeot, Harvey Norman, Channel Nine, and Hyundai to name a few.”

Chris Moyles won’t be back on Radio 1 breakfast tomorrow due to lack of flights, and it’s thought Steve Wright may miss his return to Radio 2 on Monday.

Elsewhere, talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham is reportedly stuck in New York and missed Saturday’s Match Day Live programme, and Colin Kelly is in Orlando, tweeting that he’s trying to find a radio studio to broadcast his daily Clyde 1 mid-morning show back to Scotland on Monday. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

The six new radio ads form the next phase of Commercial Radio Australia’s (CRA) digital radio awareness campaign and begin on Monday 19 April running on high rotation for three weeks in the lead up to Mother’s Day on Sunday, 9 May.

Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer, Joan Warner said recently released digital radio research** commission by CRA showed 63% of Australians were aware digital radio had launched in Australia and 69% would buy a digital radio for all the new features.

“The aim of these new ads is to target the 40% of people that in our research said they would buy a digital radio in the next 12 months by highlighting three of the digital radio features; new DAB+ only programming, sound quality and the pause and rewind feature available on some digital radios,” said Ms Warner.
The ads were written by the award winning radio specialist agency, Eardrum. Creative director Ralph van Dijk said: “Radio is a great medium for demonstrating a product’s relevance to a specific audience. We made sure we focused on the benefits of digital radio, not the functions.”
In addition to the ad campaign a DVD showcasing the new DAB+ only stations and point of sale signage featuring logos of the new services will be sent to all retail stores stocking digital radios.

Retailers stocking digital radios include; Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Clive Peeters, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Big W, JB Hi Fi, Target, Retravision, Radio Rentals, Rick Hart and specialist audio retailers.

There are more than 50 DAB+ digital radio models available for sale at around 600 stores throughout Australia. An entry level digital radio costs around $80 with the average unit price at around $154.

All the commercial radio stations in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne are simulcasting in analogue and digital. In addition, when you buy a new digital radio you get new DAB+ only stations in each market – playing everything from dance music, comedy and unsigned artists – to chill out, country and choose your own music. Plus there are special event or pop up stations for sport, festivals and concerts, that run for a short period of time and then transform into another concept – like the recent Radio GaGa.

New commercial DAB+ only stations include; Zoo Super Digi, Gorilla Super Digi, NovaNation, Koffee, Choose the Hits, Radar, Classic Hits Plus, Classic Hits Live, The EDGE , MY Perth Digital, Hot Country Perth Digital, The Buckle, Sky Sports Radio 2 and The Crack.

Following the purchase of certain Southern Cross Broadcasting commercial radio licences, Fairfax Media Limited (Fairfax) failed to provide details to the ACMA of a directorship held by a Fairfax director, Mr David Evans, in another media controller, Village Roadshow Limited.

An accurate notification by Fairfax would have highlighted that Mr Evans fell into contravention of the rule against being a director of two companies which between them are in a position to control more than two commercial radio licences in the same licence area.

Mr Evans resigned from the board of Fairfax last year, after the ACMA drew his attention to the matter.

The procedures implemented by Fairfax include detailed disclosure procedures for its directors and cross-check procedures relating to the appointment of any directors to its board and any appointment of its directors to other boards.

While disclosure obligations are the responsibility of the relevant media organisation, the ACMA is nonetheless in the process of enhancing its own IT mechanisms to enable it to more readily identify any director of a licensee or of any of its controller companies who may be in breach of directorship limits in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA).

The incident is a useful reminder to all commercial radio and commercial television licensees and their company controllers that they must have in place sound procedures to comply with the change of control notification requirements of the BSA and to ensure that their directors are not in breach of the ownership and control directorship limits in the BSA.

The ACMA has decided to take no further action in this case, noting the particular facts of the matter, Mr Evans’ resignation and the new measures put in place by Fairfax.

Oh, you missed those warnings?

Here’s one: “Redneck radio has never worked in Melbourne. And never will.”

Here’s another: “Unfortunately, MTR has done little to improve the diversity on our airwaves … All its presenters are men (apart from Women’s Weekly editorial director Deborah Thomas).”

Yet one more: “MTR is just … more ranting, Right-wing rabble rousers.”

And then there’s the gleeful report that some main-chancer tried to register MTR’s name first, and so on. Read the entire Herald Sun ARTICLE

Mr Bevan, his show and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will stand trial for defamation next week.

They are being sued by former Labor Party powerbroker Nick Bolkus over a March 25, 2009, broadcast about his appointment as a South Australian Jockey Club lobbyist

The federal government has called for submissions to its review of regional commercial radio local content requirements. But community broadcasters are beginning to question Senator Conroy’s stated commitment to protecting ‘‘local content’’. Read the entire SMH article

ZOO will feature a very different music genre to any other Sydney Radio station and will offer a real alternative for 30+ listeners with a “Smooth Rock Variety” format

Supernetwork Digital Content Director James Yelland said “We’re extremely excited to be launching another DAB+ Digital radio and online station for the Sydney audience ….first off we got Sydney dancing to the beat of the Gorilla last year, now we’re providing a service that won’t bombard listeners with screaming guitars or the same old boring classic rock songs they’ve heard thousands of times, instead the ZOO will be all about “Smooth Rock Variety”

Additional features will be to promote and feature great Australian Rock artists and bands and feature music tracks from around the world not heard on any other radio station. ZOO will also run live news on the top of the hour between 6am to 6pm on Monday to Friday from the Supernetwork News Centre, a first on Digital radio and online in Sydney

Bill Caralis has always been known to operate outside of the square, be his own man and most definitely a little different from the norm; early indications are that the ZOO will be no exception.

Caralis says “I might have to call in the RSPCA to look after all the animals that are running around on our new stations before they take the monkey out of me, now there is a name that I could use on my next station. One thing for sure is that we are going to have a lot of fun and give our listeners something that is different ……..go the ZOO!”

ZOO Super Digi is broadcast on DAB+ Digital radio and online at www.zoosuperdigi.com from the Supernetwork’s Pyrmont studios, 24 hours a day Monday to Sunday.

Digital radio is free to air – all you will need is a new Digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in.

The successful applicants are: Coast Community Broadcasters Inc (Today’s Country) to operate on FM frequency 94.1 MHz to serve the country music community interest in the Gosford RA1 licence area; and Radio Yesteryear Inc (Radio Yesteryear) to operate on FM frequency 97.3 MHz to serve the nostalgia music (1930s-1960s) community interest in the Lake Macquarie RA1 licence area.
Today’s Country currently provides a temporary community broadcasting service in Gosford. Radio Yesteryear currently provides a temporary community broadcasting service in Lake Macquarie (and previously provided a temporary community broadcasting service in Gosford).

The ACMA received applications for the Gosford licence from Today’s Country and Radio Yesteryear, both proposing to serve the country music community interest.

Having had regard to statutory merit considerations, the ACMA decided that Today’s Country would be better able to provide the proposed service. In addition, Today’s Country has established solid links with the country music community and demonstrated an active engagement with the country music community interest in the licence area.

There are already three long-term community broadcasting services available in Gosford: 2CCC serving the general community interest, 2GCB serving the Christian community interest and 2SNR serving the community interest of people aged 50+.

The ACMA received one application for the Lake Macquarie licence from Radio Yesteryear, proposing to serve the nostalgia music (1930s-1960s) community interest.

As Radio Yesteryear met the statutory merit criteria and was the sole applicant for the licence, the ACMA allocated the Lake Macquarie licence to Radio Yesteryear.

There are already three long-term community broadcasting services available in Lake Macquarie: 2NUR serving the general community interest, 2RFM serving the Christian community interest and 2RPH serving the print handicapped community interest.

According to the 2010 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the first quarter of 2010 show growth of 7.71% compared to the same timeframe last year, to a total of $151.1 million.

The strongest growth for the March quarter was in Sydney, up 11.23% to $47.5 million, followed by Perth, up 10.62% to $20.77 million; Brisbane up 5.5% to $24.2 million; Melbourne up 5.44% to $44.3 million and Adelaide up 3.45% to $14.2 million.

Figures for the month of March for the five metropolitan markets show an increase of 15.58% compared to the same timeframe last year, to a total of $59.2 million. Sydney recorded the strongest growth of 21% to $18.95 million; the Perth market grew by 20.97% to $7.87 million; Adelaide was up by 16.07% to $5.578 million; the Melbourne market grew by 12.5% to $17.3 million and Brisbane grew by 6.9% to $9.4 million.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said this was good news for the industry, which was performing well in a very competitive media market.

“The strong start to 2010 is great news for the industry and reflects improved economic conditions and also the resilience of radio in attracting advertising dollars when marketing budgets are tight,” Ms Warner said.

“The market has now recorded growth in advertising revenue each month since November, which obviously followed a challenging 2009, and this augurs well for the year ahead.”

Ms Warner said the growth and take-up of digital radio, would also provide new opportunities for increased advertising and this was an area currently being explored by the industry.

Media contact: Jenny Stevenson. Ph 0402 214 039.

The two-year partnership is the first major marketing initiative for Classic Rock 95.3fm since it launched on 12 March.

The sponsorship will include significant on-field signage at all Bulldogs home games at ANZ Stadium and logos on all Bulldogs trainers’ uniforms.

Classic Rock 95.3FM branding and music will also feature prominently on the big screen at all home games providing added exposure of the station to football fans.

David Borean, Classic Rock 95.3FM General Manager said: “The Bulldogs have been one of the most successful and well-followed teams in the NRL and is now recognised as the one of the leading and most progressive clubs of any code in Australia.

“We are delighted to partner with the Bulldogs and look forward to developing the brand and audience association over the coming 2 years,”

Todd Greenberg, Bulldogs CEO said: “This partnership brings incredible opportunities to both organizations. The music, promotions and entertainment activations from Classic Rock 95.3FM will provide a timeless, energetic and friendly overlay to Bulldogs home games, aligning perfectly to the Bulldogs brand and our overarching family demographic.”

The finalists include some of the best known advertising agencies in Australia including DDB, Clemenger BBDO; Leo Burnett; GPYR and JWT as well as smaller agencies like US Sydney, The Brand Agency in Perth and Eardrum Australia in Sydney. Radio stations represented among the finalists include DMG Radio Australia in Brisbane, Southern Cross Media in Perth, Radio Station i98 in Wollongong and Austereo in Perth.

An overall winner, who receives the Gold Siren, as well as a winner in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft, will be announced at a breakfast on May 7 in Melbourne. The breakfast will feature the finalists for the past twelve months and will be hosted by Ant and Becks, the new drivetime duo on ARN’s Mix101.1 in Melbourne and Mix106.5 in Sydney.

The winner is decided by a panel of industry experts, known as the Siren Creative Council. The 2010 winner will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and its writer will also win two tickets to attend the festival.

Last year’s Gold Siren winner, a controversial advertisement called “21st Birthday” for Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA), written by Steve Dodds from agency, Whybin TBWA in Sydney, was one of five Siren winners shortlisted for the Radio Lions at the Cannes Advertising Festival last year.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and had grown in stature each year.

Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality. There have been nearly 600 entries again this year – a fantastic result which shows how important this Award has become,” Ms Warner said.

The breakfast will be followed by the Sirens Workshop, a one-day, hands-on workshop that will include advice from Raph van Dijk, creative director at Eardrum and a panel session of radio directors and sound engineers. There will also be a special focus on digital radio and how best to write ads for the new technology using many of the new features like text and images.

Both the Sirens breakfast and Workshop will be held at The Point, Melbourne. The breakfast will run from 7.30am to 9.30am and the Workshop will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $65 for the breakfast and a table of ten is available for $595. Tickets for the workshop start at $159 and packaged prices are available. For a booking form and more information visit the Sirens website, www.sirenawards.com.au.

Media contact: Jenny Stevenson. Ph: 0402 214 039.
Media note: List of 2010 Siren Award Finalists is attached (see next page)
To listen to the ads click here.

SINGLE
Austereo, Perth, Ryan Yip, The Bose Store, Noise Cancelling Headphones
Austereo, Perth, Ryan Yip, Black Tom’s, Knock Off / Kick On
Clemenger BBDO, Adelaide, Matt O’Grady and Paul Stratton, Motor Accident Commission, Pilot
Clemenger BBDO (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin, Tena, Clothes
Clemenger BBDO (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Nick Kelly & Quentin Miller, NGV, Directions 1
Clemenger BBDO (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Ant White & Russel Fox, Mars Pet Care, Fetch
Clemenger BBDO (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Nick Kelly & Quentin Miller, NGV, Directions 3
DDB, Sydney, Ed James & Jakub Szymanski, McDonald’s, Valet
DDB, Sydney, Ed James & Jakub Szymanski, McDonald’s, Window
GPYR (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Simon Bagnasco, Noodle Box, Chris in a Box – Part 1
i98, Wollongong, Rob Sharples, Johnnys Meat and Seafood, Random
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Andrew Woodhead, 7-Eleven, Summer’s Getting Hotter
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Andrew Woodhead, 7-Eleven, Fire Warning
Network Ten, Sydney, Andrew Garrick, Network Ten, Glee – Sue Sylvester
Southern Cross Media – Hot FM/RadioWest, Perth, Josh Langley, Main Roads WA, Snore
The Brand Agency, Perth, Des Hameister, RAC Roadside Assistance, SOS
The Brand Agency, Perth, Mitch Mitchell & Warrick Sears, Drug Aware, Paranoid
US Sydney, Nigel Clark & Adrian Ely, SBS, Madison Avenue Cookware
US Sydney, Danny Wehbe & David Roberts, SBS, Back to Back

CAMPAIGN
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin, Tena, Feel Free To Laugh
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, Ant White & Russel Fox, Chum, Car Ride / Fetch / Mailman
Clemenger BBDO (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios) Melbourne, Nick Kelly & Quentin Miller, NGV, Directions 1 / Directions 2 / Directions 3
DDB, Sydney, Ed James & Jakub Szymanski, McDonald’s, Valet / Window / Waitress
DMG Radio Australia, Brisbane, Cindy Donato, Greenbank RSL, Anger Mismanagement
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk & Simon Hills-Johnes, Foxtel, Movie Deal Campaign
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk & Simon Hills-Johnes, Foxtel, TV Promo
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk & Simon Hills-Johnes, Thredbo, Are You In?
GPYR (on behalf of Flagstaff Studios), Melbourne, Simon Bagnasco, Noodle Box, Chris in a Box – Part 1 / 2 and 3
JWT, Melbourne, Chris Andrews, Harsh Kapadia & James Orr, Skills Victoria, Piece of Paper
JWT, Sydney, Ben Clare & Steven Iannello, Nestle, Lifesavers Summer Shame Campaign
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Paul Spelman & Tom Hazledine, Energy Australia, Whatever You’re Digging For
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Andrew Woodhead, Slurpee, Full Pool / Fire Warning / Sweden
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Andrew Woodhead, Seek.com.au, If It Exists
Lifelounge, Melbourne, Daniel Pollock & David Ponce de Leon, Noodle Box, Lighten Up
Network Ten, Sydney, Andrew Garrick, Network Ten, Glee Launch Campaign
The Brand Agency, Perth, Mitch Mitchell & Danielle Glenister, RAC Insurance, A Lot of Help
The Brand Agency, Perth, Josh Edge & Rikki Burns, The Sunday Times, Good Books
US Sydney, Josh Moore, Danny Wehbe, Adrian Ely & David Roberts, Hachette, The Problem Fixer

CRAFT
Australian Radio Network, Melbourne, Ray Peters, Melton Toyota, Sharks
Best FX Adelaide, Pete Best & Scott Illingworth, Uniting Church, Loneliness
Best FX Adelaide, Scott Illingworth, Port Adelaide Football Club, It Starts Here
Best FX Adelaide, Pete Best & Scott Illingworth, Motor Accident Commission, Creepers – Work
Best FX Adelaide, Pete Best & Scott Illingworth, SA Government, Don’t Cross The Line “Girls Night Out”
Best FX Adelaide, Pete Best & Scott Illingworth, SA Government, Don’t Cross The Line “Texting”
Brainestorm, Perth, Marty Braine, Dorsonga, Fishing
Brainestorm, Perth, Nick Gallaghar, Central Institute of Technology, Focus
Eardrum, Sydney, Rod Enright, KIA, No Two Souls
Eardrum / Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Paul Taylor, Sunday Times City2Surf, Morning Run
Eardrum / Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Paul Taylor, Sunday Times City2Surf, Beach Run
Eardrum / Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Paul Taylor, HBF, Passenger
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, DDB Melbourne, Announcement
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Tena, Marry Me
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, NGV, Directions 1
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Mars Pet Care, Fetch
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Mars Pet Care, Car Ride
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne, Paul Le Couteur, Noodle Box, Chris in a Box – Part 2
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Sandy Milne, Victoria University, Save the World
Risk Sound, Melbourne, Dylan Stephans, Save the Children, Reaching Five
Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Lukas Farry & Barry Stewart, Ikea, Kitchens
Sound Reservoir, Sydney, Barry Stewart, Air New Zealand, Big Shout Out
Soundbyte, Perth, Brad Habib, Office of Road Safety, Keep Breathing

Actual Nielsen results Canberra Survey 1 2010

Source SMH: New Melbourne talkback station MTR is going to be ‘‘in your face, confrontational and opinionated’’, says its marquee host and program director Steve Price.

Price, backed up by such personalities as Sam Newman, Steve Vizard and TV reporter Martin King, has thrown down the gauntlet to Melbourne’s dominant radio station 3AW.

The new station comes on air on April 19 with Price kicking it off at 6am (AEST) and taking on 3AW breakfast kings Ross Stevenson and John Burns, parlaying into heavy hitter Neil Mitchell.

Price asked why should Melburnians have to wait to hear the top news stories of the day until 8.30am when Mitchell starts his shift.

MTR is targetting the over-40s market and is frank about being to the right of centre in its views.

‘‘The most successful talk stations occupy right of centre, with politics in particular,’’ Price told reporters at the station’s launch today.

He said the station’s talkback hosts will be given free rein to voice their opinions.

‘‘We will be in your face, there’s no point in having people sitting on the fence,’’ Price said.

MTR, a joint project by Macquarie Radio News and Pacific Star Network, will take over the broadcast frequency currently occupied by 3MP at 1377 on the AM band.

It will be light on sport with Newman and Western Bulldogs star Jason Akermanis as contributors but there will be no allotted sports shift.

Price explained that its sister station SEN, which calls AFL games, will carry the group’s sporting element.

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with most of Melbourne tuning into an AFL call, MTR listeners will be digesting six hours of chat with former Sale of the Century host Glenn Ridge.

The on air team has been announced today

MONDAY -FRIDAY
0600 – 1000 Breakfast with Steve Price includes John Sammy Newman, Andrew Bolt
1000 – 1300 Mornings with Steve Vizard
1300 – 1600 Afternoons with Chris Smith
1600 – 1800 Drive with Martin King
1800 – 2000 Money Matters with Ross Greenwood
2000 – 2100 Highlights TBA
2100 – 0000 Melbourne Tonight with Luke Grant
0000 – 0330 Jim Ball
0330 – 0600 Wake Up Australia with Andrew Moore

SATURDAY
0000 – 0500 Mid Dawn with Mike Williams
0500 – 0600 The Fishing Show with Michael Guest
0600 – 0900 The Gardening Clinic
0900 – 1100 Mornings with Scotty Cam
1100 – 1200 Real Estate with Mark Moraza
1200 – 1800 Weekend Afternoons with Glenn Ridge
1800 – 0000 Saturday Nights with Glen Wheeler

SUNDAY
0000 – 0600 Mid Dawn with Mike Williams
0600 – 0900 The Gardening Clinic
0900 – 1000 Home Handyman with Simon Stevenson
1000 – 1200 Health and Wellbeing With Deborah Thomas
1200 – 1800 Weekend Afternoons With Glenn Ridge
1800 – 2000 Medical with DR Malouf
2000 – 0000 Sunday Nights with REV. Bill Crews

Very soon the 3MP as we know it will be replaced by a brand new station. Quite a few years ago a page about 3MP appeared on the Jingle Shrine. We have dug deep into our archives and found that very article. The article was written in 2001,enjoy

By Andrew Baudinette
with Wayne Browne & Paul Ramsden.

The licence for 3MP, the first licence granted for a metropolitan commercial broadcasting station in the Melbourne area for 41 years, was granted on 1 June 1976 and the station commenced broadcasting on 22 July 1976 with the positioner “Bay City Radio”. At the time the station was operated by Mornington Peninsula Broadcasters Limited, a private company (later to go public with shareholders including Ansett Transport Industries, the Beaurepaire Family and 3XY), established largely on the idea of two friends; (the late) Norm Spencer and Alan Miller.

Norm Spencer took the initiative and working on the assumption that applications would be invited for a licence for a commercial radio station in the Mornington Peninsula area decided to discuss a possible application with three close friends with whom he had been associated in the entertainment industry. These three persons where Joff Ellen, Brian Rangott and Graham Kennedy.

Other local persons also joined the Board of Directors of the new company. Five months after the incorporation of the company Graham Kennedy resigned from the board, (14 March 1975 via telegram), citing his on-going conflicts with the Australian Broadcasting Control Board and him not wishing to harm the bid by MPL to win the licence.
He was quickly replaced on the Board by another national television identity Mike Walsh.

It should be noted somewhere that at the time of the licence application the licensees of the Melbourne commercial stations strongly objected to the granting of the licence to Mornington Peninsula Broadcasters citing that Melbourne was presently well catered for in regards to radio programming other than in formats tailored for Jazz, Religious Programming, Community Affairs and Eduction. Mr James Gobbo QC, (later Knighted and now Governor of the State of Victoria), acted on behalf of the 6 stations who at the time where 3AK, 3KZ, 3AW, 3XY, 3UZ & 3DB.

But back down to Frankston. The first station Manager was to be Ray Bean, his appointment was confirmed by the Board on December 7, 1975 along with those of John Lloyd as Sales Director and Frank Avis as News Director. (Lloyd commenced employment immediately to build revenue and a sales team, Bean and Avis commenced employment on Feb 1, 1976. Murray Korff (later long time Manager 6PM and PMFM) was appointed engineer and set about building the station in consultation with shareholder and Board member Tom O’Donohue.

The initial on-air line up was Breakfast – John Burgess (2UW, 3AK, 6PM, HSV 7 & GTV 9), Mornings – Brian Bury (TV – TCN 9, 2SM, 2UW and 2UE); Afternoon – Richard Coombe; Drive – Dean Matters, Night – Richard Perno, Mid-Dawn – Glen Knight; Floater – Gary Newton. Harry Wilde was in Production. The Program Director was Geoff Charter. All up Day One staff totalled 34.

It all came together at 6am on July 22, 1976. After a number of speeches from Norm Spencer, Joff Ellen and The Right Honourable Phillip Lynch, Burgo span up “Howzat” by Sherbet and they were away. For trivia buffs the second track was also Sherbet – “Slipstream”.
Want to hear it ? We’ve got it here !!!

Ray Bean departed as GM in the early 1980′s and was replaced by Norm Spencer himself. (Bean ended up Managing Mike Walsh’s station in NSW for many years). Spencer stayed in the role for many years well supported by Wayne Browne, as Assistant General Manager. Browne was originally appointed to 3MP in 1980 as Promotions Manager.

1984 saw the station taken over by Associated Broadcasting Services and Wayne Browne elevated to the position of General Manager. ABS was based in Ballarat and operated the regional television licence of BTV 6 and a three-station regional network comprising 3YB Warrnambool, 3UL Warragul and 3SR Shepparton. (The editor was working at 3YB Warrnambool at the time).
Chief Executive at the time was Gary Rice who eventually went on to head up the Seven TV Network nationally. The purchase by ABS of 3MP was at the time (as seen by them), their foray into the big league of metro media ownership.

This was a difficult period for the station although they did pull off a coup in securing the radio rights to the Simon & Garfunkel one-off concert at the MCG in 1985. Eighteen months after paying several million dollars to the original owners ABS departed – selling out to Wesgo Limited.

As with most ownership changes in radio, this one resulted in a Management change. Wayne Browne (who most had considered had done an exceptional job under very trying circumstances), was out; in came Paul Ramsden or Rambo as General Manager. Well suited to his nickname, Rambo (originally a jock at 2CC and with a station management pedigree forged in New Zealand and at 4TO), got stuck into the now struggling station and worked to reposition the brand and relevance of 3MP to the greater Melbourne metro market.

Says Ramsden “AWA took control of 3MP 16th January 1985, after paying in total $11.2m. I remember signing a cheque for $10.5m on that day. AWA was at the time and had been for many years the first and the largest commercial radio network in Oz.

This acquisition was in association with a similar purchase in Perth 6KY at the same time. This gave AWA metro stations in Sydney 2CH, Melbourne 3MP and 6KY Perth, the maximum limit of metro stations allowed at the time….”

Ramsden quickly assessed the situation and discovered that the station was bleeding and was a forerunner in the exercise of “toe cutting” by “letting go” over 15 people on the Friday fortnight hence. “I have to tell you the first couple of months was character building. I got the expenses down to a realistic level but we still carried a large newsroom which fed the majority of Victorian rural stations. This is one area that maintained it’s credibility and we actually grew the business despite the fact that 3AW was the news station. We put to bed Bay City within a couple of days and went into holding pattern. We hired a brand new agency and in fact was their first client, Box Archer Emery; who positioned us with “The Way You Are Today”.

It was a very well researched by Shanahan and Archer from Sydney but like most things one gets involved in it was a bit ahead of it’s time even though it was designed to put us in holding pattern…”

“The Way You Are Today” chugged along during calendar year 1985 and as you would expect we were making no agency revenue but we did restructure the local sales area with an all female sales team and actually kicked arse locally. I think we were averaging about 5% 10+ share but great in the region”.

Come Christmas ’85 3AK pulled Beautiful Music and went feral. (A news talk format networked between Melbourne & Sydney – the late Brain White was GM and the positioning was “Building the biggest sound in Australian Radio).

“I got the call from Bruce Rogerson Boxing Day ’85 you will change format and get it on the air within 2 weeks. This was the most incredible 2 weeks you have ever seen. We had to keep the existing on the air, re-cart a whole music library, change all the internal marketing and livery and importantly change staff. We managed to get a whole new team in place on air within that time from 3AK. It wasn’t hard as they knew the “new” 3AK was a dud and were glad to move. Although can you imagine Easy music jox at one station for nearly 10 years and within a matter of a couple of days making a decision to move to a station that was one a beach and bayside station.”

The new line up was :

Andrew McLaren Breakfast
Margret Peacock Mornings
Grahame Braddy Afternoon
Ward Everaardt Drive
Ray Lawrence Evenings
Brad Story Mid dawn & weekends

It worked !

The station went to Number One in the first survey in 1986 from 4.2% 10+ (10). It was a record then. The format WAS NOT beautiful music but a real Easy Listening format which they developed in Frankston and was a world leader. Of course the detractors at the time said the station was only successful because of the 3AK debacle but it was a new format and the first time 40-54 became a prominent demographic. “Good Local revenue for the first 9 months and then we started to become tops in the agencies and really made some serious money. We turned around a $1M loss to a break even in Year 1 and in the second year made a profit of over one million dollars. AWA was in 1987 going through it’s usual fuck ups and in November they sold the only real money making asset to Wesgo for over $55M. (ie the AWA network minus 2CH).

The Wesgo boys were delighted with their country stations from AWA but had problems understanding 3MP. To their credit they left us alone and we made money for them” – Paul Ramsden.

In August 88 Rambo was head hunted by the 2SM group to run 3XY and Steve Robinson was appointed as the new 3MP General Manager. Ramsden was (and still is) the longest serving GM at the station. Robbo headed for Adelaide in 1992.

The station carved itself a niche in the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne quickly becoming accepted across greater Melbourne, and for a period in the late 80′s/early ’90′s (with an Easy Listening format), was again the Number 1 station in Melbourne. Noel Crowe was station Manager through that tumultuous period. Over the years ownership of the station changed several times with Shepparton based broadcaster Goulburn Valley Broadcasters currently holding the licence and at the October ’99 re-launching with a slightly younger skewed AC format.

Ogilvy Group Melbourne, which includes a host of agencies, will oversee the launch of MTR, which is expected to begin broadcasting at the end of April.

Badjar Ogilvy will handle the main creative work, with Yello overseeing branding and naming. Neo will work on media planning, with DT Digital charged with developing digital work. Related article at B & T here

The Sea FM morning crew of Paul Gale and Moyra McGregor were cheered on last Thursday as they ran up Q1′s steep 77-storey staircase to raise $70,000 for Tony Webb and his son 14-year-old Corey — both of whom are fighting sarcoma, a malignant tumour. Read the entire item at www.goldcoast.com.au

Beating a staggering 1,065 bands that entered the competition through www.novafm.com.au , The Touch won $10,000 as well as national airplay on Nova stations to help them along their journey to stardom.

Combining interlocking riffs of television with the electronic dance sounds of Bloc Party, The Touch was shortlisted by an industry-judging panel as one of the top ten bands in Australia.

The public then voted for their top five bands which played special shows and encouraged as many fans to sign up to their profile page at www.novafm.com.au to help them win.

The Touch frontman Josh Moore says that the win will help open a lot of doors for the band and the money may go towards the release and distribution of an upcoming untitled EP.

“We’re very thankful for the opportunity that Nova gave us, you don’t often get a launchpad into the general public like that so we’re stoked – we’d like to thank everyone who voted and got behind us for the competition,” he says.

“We’ll now get the exposure that we want and it gives us a little bit more freedom to do what we want music wise.”

Nova 919’s Adelaide Show DJ Troy J Been says Adelaide might not have the population of Sydney or Melbourne, but the city had the talent and creativity to take on the best in the country.

“There’s really something going on in Adelaide! We’re absolutely ecstatic that The Touch has been recognised at a national level,” he says.

“You’ve only got to see Josh and the boys live once to see they’ve got what it takes! You’ll definitely be hearing a lot more from The Touch – we love ‘em!”

Jamie gave 4BC management an on air spray in relation to a quote that appeared in one of the newspapers. The paper quoted 4BC general manager David McDonald saying the star was “still learning talk radio”.

“Jesus, you know, God I am offended,” he told his listeners at the start of the show.

“Truly, what do you want from me? I swear I will be going into talks with management straight after this show today to get this ironed out and straightened out. Either you want me here or you don’t. Make your friggin’ point.

“I have had a gutful, so if you want me off, ring in now and get me off. I don’t care.”

He meet with David McDonald after the show and things seem to have now been smoothed out.

Video sourced from Donkeyshines

Jenny also performed the role of Acting General Manager at 2DAYFM and Triple M for eight months in 2009.

In her 12-year career with Austereo, Jenny has also held various Sales Manger positions within the group and prior to that, she commenced her media career with News Limited and BRW.
Cathy OʼConnor, CEO for DMG Radio Australia said today: “We are thrilled to have attracted such a well regarded and talented radio professional to the Group Sales Director role.

“Jennyʼs experience and passion for radio and her proven track record, make her the right person to lead the DMG sales effort at a time of dynamic change for the company.”

Jenny Parkes said: “ Iʼm really excited about taking on the role of Group Sales Director. Itʼs a rare opportunity to shape the future sales direction for DMG, at a really exciting time in the companyʼs evolution.”

Jenny will be based in Sydney and starts with DMG on 1 July 2010.

If you’d like to help out with the music, you can join their online music team, simply click here.

To those who rumoured here that Peter Harrison would be joining the station, no truth to that one at all. Classic Rock have no plans at this stage to add any announcers to the station.

Judge and previous round winner, Mitch Mitchell from agency, The Brand Agency in Perth said: “I think ‘Back to Back’ is the clear winner in the single category, it stood out a mile to me as being professionally executed with some great character reads and a nice idea too.”

Writer, David Roberts said the agency was able to cast the real narrator of the show, Mythbusters in the ad.

There were two highly commended ads in the single category. They were both for 7-Eleven promoting slurpees and were called “Summer’s Getting Hotter” and “Fire Warnings”. Both ads were written by Andrew Woodhead from agency, Leo Burnett in Melbourne.

Winner of the campaign category was three ads promoting slurpees for 7-Eleven. The ads, called “Fire Warning, Sweden and Full Pool” were written by Andrew Woodhead from agency, Leo Burnett in Melbourne.

There were two highly commended ads in the campaign category. They were an ad for Foxtel called “Movie Deal Campaign” written by Ralph van Dijk and Simon Hills-Johnes from Eardrum Sydney and a campaign for Chum dog food called “Car Ride, Fetch, Mailman” and written by Ant White and Russel Fox from agency Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.

Winner of the craft category was an ad for Port Adelaide Football Club called “It Starts Here” with sound engineer, Scott Illingworth from production studio, Best FX Adelaide.

There were two highly commended ads in the craft category including an ad for the Motor Accident Commission called “Creepers – Work” , produced by sound engineers, Pete Best and Scott Illingworth from production studio, Best FX in Adelaide. The other was an ad for the Central Institute of Technology, called ”Focus”, produced by sound engineer, Nick Gallagher from production studio, Brainestorm in Perth.

The national Siren Awards are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. This year’s Gold Siren Winner, equivalent to the best radio ad in Australia, will be announced in Melbourne on May 7, at The Point, Albert Park. The winner of the 2010 Siren Awards for creative excellence in radio advertising will be announced at a breakfast, hosted by Ant and Becks, the new drive time duo on ARN’s Mix 101.1 in Melbourne and Mix 106.5 in Sydney.

This week and next, Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee are giving listeners the chance to win a “Man Trip” away with the boys from the Nova breakfast team: Merrick, Dools and Nova’s sports reporter, Marto.
Eight winners and their mates will get to join the three boys on the man weekend filled with blokey activities: fishing on chartered boats, go-karting, aqua golf and wakeboarding, followed by lunch at Penrith Panthers and topping the weekend off with a private corporate box at the Sydney Football Stadium to see the Sydney Roosters take on the Canberra Raiders. After the footy the guys will be crashing out at the Novotel… in Manly!
So that the ladies aren’t missing out, Ricki-Lee will be taking the winners’ sheilas out to lunch far away from the male shenanigans.
To score an invite to the “Man Trip” Nova 969 listeners will need to prove that they’re more of a man than Ricki-Lee – by beating her in a Man Quiz. If the listener gets the question right before Ricki-Lee they will be deemed man enough to go along… get the answer wrong and all they’ll get is a stubby holder.

“Honestly this is a thinly veiled attempt at me getting a leave pass and using work as an excuse. It’s pathetic but it’s worth it. I can’t wait!” said Merrick Watts.

Andrew “Marto” Martin can also hardly believe his luck, “So let’s get this straight – there’s fishing, go-karting, golf and a night at the footy right? Well, I was meant to be looking after the kids but… I’m in baby.”

The Digital Radio Industry Report released by CRA includes data from the official radio industry audience measurement survey company, the Nielsen Company, consumer electronics market research company, GfK, and market researcher, the Hoop Group.

Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer, Joan Warner said: “The market information in the Digital Radio Industry Report has exceeded the industry’s initial expectations. Initial predictions were up to 50,000 receivers sold in the first 12 months. Permanent high power digital radio services have only been on air for a short time and we are very pleased with these initial results,” Ms Warner said.

“The report gives us a basis on which to work for the continued marketing, promotion, development and growth of digital radio across Australia,” Ms Warner said.

The main findings from recent consumer research** commissioned by CRA show:
• 63% of Australians are aware that DAB+ digital radio has launched in Australia
• 38% of people in metropolitan areas are likely to purchase a digital radio in the next 12 months.
• 80% of people who own a digital radio would recommend it to a friend
• 69% of people who own a digital radio believe it has delivered on expectations
• 74% of people are willing to spend between $50-$200 for a digital radio device
• 71% of digital radio owners purchased for the digital quality sound

Platform of listening was introduced to the industry’s radio audience measurement system in January 2009 to track listening on analogue radio devices, DAB+ digital radio devices and via the internet.

In Survey 1, 2010, in an average week nearly 95% of people in the five state capital cities listened to radio. Of those, 3.7% people listened to radio via the DAB+ digital radio platform and radio listening via the internet was 4.2%.

Radio listening on the internet attracted a slightly higher cumulative audience (504,000) than digital radio but the time spent listening on the DAB+ digital platform is higher at 8 hours and 16 minutes each week, compared to the internet listening at 5 hours and 31 minutes.

“We have to remember digital radio is a new technology, the internet has been available as an alternative way to listen to broadcast radio for many years and already digital radio time spent listening is greater than time spent listening via the internet platform,” Ms Warner said.

The report also shows that radio broadcasters have launched up to 16 new DAB+ only services in each market. Of all the people listening on the DAB+ platform, 20% were listening to the new DAB+ only stations launched by broadcasters.

“This industry data is obviously being made available very early in the life of digital radio but the industry is keen to ensure that data in relation to digital radio was measured from the outset of the technology so that we can look back in ten years and see how far we’ve come,” Ms Warner said.

“There are areas for further work like the introduction of digital radio into all cars as standard and the roll-out of digital radio to regional areas so all Australians can access this great medium. The industry will work hard to ensure these next steps come to fruition,” Ms Warner said.

Garvin, well-known in Melbourne a decade ago for his weekly religious radio broadcasts, is an evangelist who founded a youth program called Fusion in the 1960s. It now has branches throughout Australia and overseas.

Just months after receiving the award, the 68-year-old was displaying his medal and boasting about it at the bedside of a young woman who had tried to kill herself, allegedly to escape his sexual advances.

A few months after that, the spiritual leader quietly ”retired” from the youth and community network he had built, after Fusion Australia’s national executive found him guilty of ”inappropriate behaviour” and ”errors of judgment” with ”a vulnerable young woman”.
Read the entire article

‘We feel this is a positive outcome for the Geelong community,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman

‘GECC has provided a temporary community broadcasting service since 2004 and it is quite evident that GECC has benefited from this experience.’

GECC will use the 56 kW licence to provide a community broadcasting service to meet the general community interest in the Geelong RA1 licence area.

GECC was the only applicant for the long-term community broadcasting licence. There are already two long-term community broadcasting services available in Geelong: 3GPH serving the print handicapped community interest and 3GGR serving the Christian community interest.

Today on the Mitchell Program, Neil announced he is surveying Melbourne to obtain a snapshot of what you really think on Law and Order.

This mornin

If you said when Bert Newton was in charge of 3DB you would right.

Between 1986 and 1988 the station was known as Melbourne’s own 3DB, the new beginning. Of course 3DB went on to become 3TT, later TTFM and now known as MIX 101.1.

Sky Sports Radio’s new schedule includes enhancements to the racing stable with the expansion of racing coverage due later this month, while its sports team will be laden with premiership talent.

“2010 is massive for Sky Sports Radio. We’ll have more races, improved coverage and the biggest names to ensure our focus on racing and sports is number one for fans,” said Sky Sports Radio Chief Operating Officer Brendan Parnell.

The changes to Sky Sports Radio’s programming are:

•Racing HQ will air 9-10am (Tuesday to Friday) leading the racing news and setting the agenda in racing information and entertainment. The first edition of Racing HQ, to be hosted by Andrew Bensley, will air on Tuesday 30 March.
•The popular Punters Post Mortem program (Mondays 9-10am) will have a new host from Monday 29 March with Terry Kennedy joining experts Ron Dufficy and Deane Lester (current Raceday presenter Greg Radley will move to Sky Racing as a television host on the expanded Sky Racing television channels).
•Sports Sunday will become the year round fixture of sports and racing from 7am each week. Jimmy Smith will host the upgraded program which will now feature racing, sports, news and talkback. There will be a dedicated racing segment from 7:30-8am with Daily Telegraph Racing Editor Ray Thomas, while during the NRL season there will be a rugby league focus from 8-10am with Peter Peters and Greg Hartley. Tommy from Campbelltown will also be a regular fixture. The new Sports Sunday kicks off from this Sunday 14 March.
•To cater for the expanded coverage of international racing, the National Racing Service will commence weekdays at 10am from Monday 29 March and be extended from 9pm to midnight on Sunday and Monday nights from 4 April. As a result, Football Fever will no longer be part of the Sky Sports Radio line-up.
In January, Racing HQ host Andrew Bensley celebrated 30 years in the media starting with radio in the western Queensland outpost of Charleville.

The respected racing news hound promises a fast moving hour of latest news, views and previews on Racing HQ.

“All of the key players – owners, trainers, jockeys and administrators – will tell it first on Sky Sports Radio,” Bensley said.

Greg Radley has viewed his switch from Sky Sports Radio to the expanded Sky Racing channels as “changing gait”.

“Having been ensconced in radio since 1989, it is a whole new challenge to be part of this exciting concept of expanded and innovative race telecasting,” Radley said.

“I am ready and raring to go.”

Jimmy Smith’s graduation from a decade long top grade rugby league career to the media takes another sizeable step when he hosts Sports Sunday.

Jimmy’s career included stints with the Roosters, Magpies and Rabbitohs and he has since made the transition to radio and television.

“I am really looking forward to working with experts in their specific sports field,” Smith said.

“It will be particularly interesting covering thoroughbred racing with Ray Thomas, who is so well respected.”

Sky Sports Radio today also confirmed its premier line-up of guest experts for the Big Sports Breakfast in 2010.

“Sky Sports Radio is continuing to give its audience the biggest and best names, presenting the biggest and best news in sport and racing,” Mr Parnell said.

Members of the premiership winning line-up join hosts Michael Slater and Terry Kennedy on the Big Sports Breakfast to offer the views that matter on sport.

New regular guests include Wallaby great Mark Ella, Australian hooker Cameron Smith and former Sydney Swan Jared Crouch.

The complete Big Sports Breakfast premiership winning team of guests for 2010 is:

CRICKET: Stuart Clarke, Geoff Lawson, Simon O’Donnell, Mike Coward, Brad Haddin

RUGBY LEAGUE: Gary Freeman, Paul Vautin, Brad Walter, Josh Massoud, Cameron Smith, David Middleton

TENNIS: Rodger Rasheed

RUGBY UNION: Mark Ella

AFL: Jared Crouch

GOLF: Brett Ogle, Paul Gow

CYCLING: Mike Tomalaris

FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Andy Paschalidis, Mark Schwarzer

MOTOR SPORT: Greg Rust, Cameron McConville

USA SPORT: Dick Fain

BOXING: Dan Rafael, Mat Brooks

RACING: Rod Gallegos, Richard Freedman, Andrew Le Jeune, Greg Radley

BASKETBALL: Steve Carfino

TAB SPORTSBET: Glenn Munsie

While racing is the backbone of Sky Sports Radio, the station provides its audience with a variety of niche sporting programs with associated sports betting information.

The flagship of these programs is the Big Sports Breakfast with Terry Kennedy and Michael Slater.

The program goes to air each weekday morning from 5:30-9am and is the state’s only all sports breakfast show.

In addition to its Sydney footprint, Sky Sports Radio has more than 104 narrowcast transmitters around NSW ensuring a total statewide coverage.

Sky Sports Radio has been broadcasting the very best of thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing to its state-wide audience for over 34 of its 84 year history.

Each week more than 1500 races are now broadcast live, as well as the corresponding prerace and post race form and TAB betting information.

This unique blend of high calibre racing and general sports coverage broadcast statewide has made Sky Sports Radio one of the leaders in sporting coverage in NSW.

Formerly vega, Classic Rock 95.3FM will be Sydney’s only dedicated Classic Rock station, totally focused on this music 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

DMG Radio Australia Assistant Group Program Director Dan Bradley said, “The timeless quality, the energy, the raw passion for Classic Rock music warrants a radio station dedicated to it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For those who grew up listening to AC/DC, INXS, Zeppelin and Chisel, Classic Rock 95.3FM is a station they’ll love.”

DMG Radio developed the new station after an extensive strategic review of the Sydney market in recent months.

DMG Radio Australia CEO Cathy O’Connor said, “In building this new station we knew we needed a simple, focused music concept that would appeal to the 35-54 audience. Classic Rock 95.3 FM provides exactly that and will be a celebration of an era of music which evokes enormous passion from adult listeners.”

Classic Rock 95.3FM’s clearly defined music position, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, will be a compelling new offering in the Sydney radio landscape.

Classic Rock 95.3FM switches on at 6am on Friday 12 March 2010.

“Mr Newman is entitled to his personal views on controversial matters. But his expression of them while he remains head of the ABC damages public confidence in the national broadcaster’s independence.

“Just as worrying, Mr Newman’s comments look to be an attempt to influence ABC programming to be more favourable to global warming scepticism.”

Should problems arise with the ABC’s reporting on any matter, it is the managing director who should raise them with staff. The MD is the editor-in-chief and responsible for the ABC’s journalistic standards, not the chairman.

“Mr Newman needs to explain why he took the step of criticising the media’s coverage of global warming and why he addressed that criticism to ABC staff.

“It is difficult not to consider Mr Newman’s comments in the light of him being a former director of the right-wing Centre for Independent Studies. Together, they most certainly highlight the importance of legislation presently before the Parliament for a new transparent and merit-based process for appointing the chair and members of the ABC Board,” said Glenys Stradijot

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the idea to call for expressions of interest for speakers was simply to explore broader ideas and ensure a fresh mix of content for the one day conference.

“This is a great opportunity for people to speak to the Australian radio industry. We will as usual be inviting a number of experts to speak on specific topics and sourcing a keynote speaker, but we wanted to canvass the broader media, academic and business communities to see who might have information, ideas and opinions relevant to the media industry,” Ms Warner said.

“This worked well last year with a number of interesting speakers and topics put forward so we have decided to repeat the exercise this year.”
Previous keynote speakers at the annual radio conference have included Sir Michael Parkinson, Nigel Lythgoe, Imran Khan, John Cleese, Harry Shearer and Sir Bob Geldof.

The deadline for speaker proposals, which will be considered by the conference committee, is Friday 23 April. People interested can access more information and details at: www.commercialradio.com.au

The program which premiered on 9 February 2010 is also hosted by Denise Drysdale, Yumi Stynes, and Gorgi Coghlan. Chrissie is the standout amongst the four girls and she seems quite at home in the relaxed format of this new morning chat show.
It also features all the normal advertorials we have come to expect from morning TV handled by people such as 2UE’s Ed Phillips and 3AW’s Pat Panetta just to name two.

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We need to take a step back to the late 1980′s when Neil Mitchell took over 3AW drive and Price joined the station as his producer, the pair had previously been together at the Herald newspaper.

While Mitchell was to soon take over mornings from Derryn Hinch, Price became the 3AW Program Director and it was in this role that he had the uncanny ability to sniff what the Melbourne talk audience were looking for.

He helped play a major role in shaping the 3AW we know in its current form such as securing Ross Stevenson from a dying 3AK, installing a 2 hour daily sports show and hiring Mansfield and Brady to fill the evening slot.

Besides radio this battle no doubt will involve Melbourne’s two daily newspapers, the Herald Sun and The Age. Fairfax owns The Age and 3AW while MTR 1377 is a joint venture between 2GB’s Macquarie Radio Network and Pacific Star, owners of 1116 SEN and 3MP. It is plain to see what side of the fence the Herald Sun will take.

Figures for the month of February 2010 show growth of 2.74% in the five metropolitan markets to a total of $48.36 million, with the strongest growth in Perth of 6.28%, and growth in all markets except Adelaide. According to the 2010 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the month of February 2010, the Sydney market grew by 5.52% to $15.18 million, the Melbourne market grew by 1.15% to $14.21 million, Brisbane grew by 2.3% to $7.72 million, Adelaide fell by 4.71% to $4.63 million and Perth grew by 6.28% to $6.61 million.

This follows consecutive growth each month since November last year, and a good performance in January which saw growth of 3.69% in the five metropolitan markets.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the radio industry was performing well in a very competitive media market, although Adelaide remained a challenge.

“This is another strong indicator that the market is improving across the board following a challenging 2009 and is a good sign for the year ahead,” Ms Warner said.

“The industry is working hard to promote the medium as a cost effective and efficient way to advertise and recently launched the “Smart marketers use radio” ads as part of it ongoing multi- million dollar brand campaign,” Ms Warner said.

DMG Radio CEO Cathy OʼConnor said today: “We have identified an opportunity to better support our clients and also grow our business by introducing more flexibility into our ad break structure. This will allow us to collaborate with advertisers and agencies in new ways.”

The new model sees Nova continue to offer a reduced clutter environment and maintain an inventory position of 40% less ads than its main competitors. The network will retain a commitment to short commercial breaks of two ads
in peak sessions while at the same time expanding the offering to other sized breaks across the week.

“This is an exciting next step in the evolution of the Nova brand,” Ms OʼConnor said.

“In addition to our new flexible ad policy, the Nova network will continue to invest in providing ground breaking creative solutions for advertisers, including the recent launch of a range of new and innovative online offerings.”

Goldfields Community Radio Cooperative Ltd (Fresh FM) for a higher power (1kW) licence to operate on FM frequency 101.5 MHz to serve the general community interest within the City of Greater Bendigo, with a focus on sport;
Central Victorian Gospel Radio Inc. (Gospel Radio) for a 150W licence to operate on FM frequency 105.1 MHz to serve the Christian community interest within the City of Bendigo; and
Central Victorian Community Broadcasters Inc. (Phoenix FM) for a 150W licence to operate on FM frequency 106.7 MHz to serve the general community interest within the City of Bendigo. ACMA press release here

Steve Price, one time 3AW program director and later day 2UE broadcaster, will return to Melbourne where he will play a key role in establishing the new radio entity. Price who will be program director is also expected to be part of the on air team. Last week radionews.com.au heard whispers that the new station was keen to secure the services of 3AW newsreader David Armstrong.

It appears that the new talk station which will be on air early in the second quarter of the year will not provide a live AFL coverage.

Macquarie Radio Network Chairman, Russell Tate, who will also Chair the joint venture company, said in a statement that MRN had been interested in introducing a second commercial talk station to Melbourne “for some years.”

“We’ve always believed that there is a place in the Melbourne market for two commercial talk stations, and that there is a real opportunity to present to Melbourne a broader choice of listening alternatives,” he said.

There have also been rumours that Ernie Sigley may join the new station, surely to god who ever put this one out was only gagging.

If you’re part of an emerging band or know someone who’s in one, they can enter

I Am With The Band online at www.novafm.com.au by simply registering and submitting their original song.

Ten shortlisted bands will be selected by an industry expert judging panel to receive radio airplay on Nova nationally exposure and a $50,000 marketing campaign that could help launch their career.

After a gruelling self-driven marketing campaign thanks to Street Press Australia, MySpace Music and Access All Areas, one band from each state will be chosen via public vote. The band with the most fans registered on www.novafm.com.au by April 2010 will score $10,000 cash.

A number of inspirational Australian bands and singers – including Evermore, The Rogue Traders, Bluejuice, Kisschasy and Ladyhawke have come on board to endorse I Am With The Band, reflecting on their careers and the role Nova has played in propelling them into the mainstream.

Nova’s I Am With The Band launched, Monday January 25. Entries close Sunday February 14.

Figures for the month of January 2010 show growth of 3.69% in the five metropolitan markets to a total of $43.61 million, with the strongest growth in Brisbane of 7.2%, and growth in all markets except Adelaide. According to the 2010 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the month of January 2010, the Sydney market grew by 5.64% to $13.36 million, the Melbourne market grew by 1.51% to $12.77 million, Brisbane grew by 7.2% to $7.12 million, Adelaide fell by 1.62% to $4.07 million and Perth grew by 3.96% to $6.29 million.

This follows growth in both December and November of last year, compared to the same time a year earlier. Overall for the month of December 2009, revenue generated was $54.15 million – up 4.67% on the same month in 2008 – and followed growth of over four per cent in November.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the radio industry had performed well in January in what was a traditionally slower time for advertising.

“Growth in January is good news for the radio industry and augurs well for 2010. The market has been challenging over the past twelve months but the recent three months of consecutive growth is a very positive sign for the year ahead,” Ms Warner said.

Ms Warner said the radio industry was focused on continuing to promote the medium as a cost effective and efficient way to advertise and had recently launched the “Smart marketers use radio” campaign.

”Overall the start to 2010 is very promising for the radio industry and hopefully will continue to build as advertisers realise the great results from advertising on radio,” Ms Warner said.

The radio station’s website said that “Blackers” called in the content director Russell Clarke complaining of pain in his chest, with “tingles” in his arms.

Staff at the station immediately rushed the 52-year-old to Sir Charles Gairdner hospital.

He was in a stable condition in intensive care last night.

The website has a message, “We’re extremely proud of Blackers for acting so quickly and identifying the seriousness of the situation… otherwise it could have been a far worse outcome.”

In his nine years as afternoon presenter on the top-rating station, Smith has never held back from casting judgment on others. He is from the John Brennan school that believes there is no room for equivocation if you want to succeed in commercial talk radio. Strong opinion and moral outrage win the ratings. In the world espoused by Chris Smith, the internationally acclaimed Bill Henson photographs were disgusting and pornographic. Tiger Woods’s marital infidelities were disgraceful. Read the entire article from the source SMH

“It makes good sense for the ABC to establish a 24/7 TV news channel. The community has come to expect and rely on timely news. Importantly, the ABC can be depended on to provide independent news and analysis.

“But investigating, reporting and analysing news costs money. And while the Rudd Government has delivered extra funds for new ABC services like a children’s TV channel, the broadcaster’s existing news services continue to suffer from inadequate resources.

“News and current affairs is an essential service and a key responsibility of the national broadcaster.

“The Rudd Government must increase funding to the national broadcaster so it can deliver quality 24/7 news and current affairs,” said David Risstrom.

Nova 969’s Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee will be giving away US$20,000 during the OB in The Piazza at Castle Towers shopping centre in Castle Hill.

They’ve lined up a stack of special guests and there will be free brekky and coffee during the show as well as a chance to win thousands of dollars in prizes including a $1,000 Castle Towers shopping spree, a Fitness First Membership and an Event Cinemas 12-month pass.

To cap it all off Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee will be revealing The Chosen One and winner of US$20,000.

The *US$20,000 will be in a glass safe, in a glass room located in the Piazza at Castle Towers from 8am the day before the OB (Thursday Jan 21) and unlocked Friday at 8am (January 22) during the live broadcast by The Chosen One.

The five finalists (who have been selected after a two-week online application period) in the glass box will have no access to the outside world and will be given only 24-hours to decide unanimously who out of the five will be The Chosen One and win the cash. Crowds will be able to gather around and watch the deliberation for the whole 24-hour period.

The twist – if a decision can’t be made then no-one in the box will win and the first caller through on 13 24 10 will be crowned The Chosen One and become US$20,000 richer!

Tune into Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee all this week to meet the five finalists; and listen from 8am Thursday to hear discussions and negotiations from inside the box.

Released today, the ACMA’s report on its investigation into the adequacy of community safeguards for participants in live hosted entertainment programs identifies that there is community concern about the treatment of participants in such programs—and that the concern is greater when the participant is a child.

’The ACMA recognises that commercial radio needs the flexibility to provide attractive and innovative programming to attract and retain audiences. However, the industry must also be responsive to issues of community concern and address them as and when they emerge,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

’The changes to the commercial radio codes that the ACMA has suggested are designed to ensure that new practices are introduced which specifically and meaningfully address these concerns, especially in relation to the treatment of children participating in commercial radio programs,’ Mr Chapman said.

The ACMA is now calling on the commercial radio industry to develop new codes that include provisions:

seeking to prevent the exploitation of participants in commercial radio programs
ensuring the radio industry has practices and processes in place that provide safeguards for participants in commercial radio programs and are transparent to the public; and
dealing with children as participants in commercial radio programs, including the requirement that the best interests of the child are a licensee’s key consideration, irrespective of any consent given.
If these community concerns are not addressed in a timely manner under the co-regulatory scheme enshrined in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA), the ACMA retains its power to determine a program standard, under section 125 of the BSA.

“You would have to be an ice queen not to cry about everything that happened, but you can only cry so much before you pick yourself up and say: OK, what can I learn from this?” she tells New Idea, out today. “Many times I’ve thought it’s not worth it, many times I’ve been tempted to walk away.”

However Nova have released a statement confirming Ash still is very much part of the station. “Co-host Ash Bradnam is still on break from the breakfast show and Nova 106.9 continues to support him on his road to recovery,” it said.

Ash Bradnam went into rehab for an alcohol problem after being pulled over for drink driving around two hours after finishing work in October 8 2009.

Figures for the month of December 2009 show growth of nearly five per cent (4.67%) in the five metropolitan markets, with the strongest growth in Sydney of 8.19% and growth in all markets except Perth. According to the 2009 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the month of December 2009, the Sydney market grew by 8.19% to $16.55 million, the Melbourne market grew by 2.14% to $15.8 million, Brisbane grew by 8.16% to $8.9 million, Adelaide grew by 6.36% to $5.25 million and Perth fell by 1.96% to $7.62 million.

Overall for the month of December, revenue generated was $54.15 million – up 4.67% on the same month in 2008 – and followed growth of over four per cent in November.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said despite a challenging year for all markets, and particularly Sydney, the year had ended strongly with two months of consecutive growth in November and December of 2009.

“This is positive news for the commercial radio industry and augurs well for 2010. While I will not speculate about advertising revenue forecasts for the upcoming year, the consecutive growth in the last two months of 2009 is good news for the industry and particularly the Sydney market, which recorded growth of eight per cent in December,” Ms Warner said.

Figures released for 2009, show metropolitan commercial radio stations generated advertising revenue of $626.23 million in the calendar year – a fall of 2.7 per cent compared to the previous year. Figures for the full year of 2009 show falls in all markets except for Melbourne. According to the 2009 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue, as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the twelve months ending December 2009, show the Sydney market fell by 6.18% to $194.5 million, the Melbourne market grew by 1.32% to $189.9 million, Brisbane fell by 2.27% to $100.5 million, Adelaide fell by 1.11% to $59.9 million and Perth fell by 4.78% to $81.4 million. Overall revenue generated for 2009 was $626.2 million – down 2.71% on 2008.

Ms Warner said 2009 had been a challenging year, but the radio industry would continue to work hard in 2010 to promote the medium as a cost effective and efficient way to advertise.

”Overall the 2009 figures are better than expected in what was a tough trading year for all media, particularly in the Sydney market,” Ms Warner said.

Commercial radio continued to attract a strong audience in 2009 with an average cumulative audience of 8.94 million or 76 percent of Australians tuning in each week during the year. This was 146,000 more people than in 2008, when 8.79 million people listened on average each week, and also up from 8.74 million people in 2007. On average, Australians spent nearly 17 hours per week listening to commercial radio during 2009, or 2hrs and 24 minutes per day. *

Rank Title Artist Dist Spins

1 You Found Me The Fray Sony 13552
2 Gives You Hell The All-American Rejects Universal 12411
3 Rock & Roll Eric Hutchinson Warner 12190
4 Foreign Land Eskimo Joe Warner 11864
5 Her Diamonds Rob Thomas Warner 11747
6 Please Don’t Leave Me Pink Sony 11340
7 Use Somebody Kings Of Leon Sony 10956
8 I Gotta Feeling The Black Eyed Peas Universal 10769
9 Breakeven The Script Sony 10623
10 Second Chance Shinedown Warner 10466

AirCheck monitors the airplay of songs and commercials on all 45 commercial radio
stations in the six biggest markets, plus Triple j and FBi-FM in Sydney.
“The number one song from The Fray occupied a whopping 922 hours of radio
airtime over the year” Keith Williams, Managing Director of AirCheck said today.
“Fox Fm in Melbourne played it more than any other station with Sydney’s Nova 969
a very close second making a combined total of over 1600 spins.

We are producing this type of market intelligence of songs and commercials everyday with AirCheck”,he continued.

AirCheck is the only company publishing weekly airplay charts for the radio and
music industries, using real time data to compile national and local market based
music charts for competitive analysis..

Cathy O’Connor, chief executive of DMG Radio Australia , said today that the new joint venture is ‘an exciting step forward for DMG Radio Australia ’.

“DMG Radio Australia is well positioned for further growth and can extend its brands in both broadcast radio and related media,” Ms O’Connor said. “Working with an experienced and committed Australian owner in Illyria will increase our opportunities to achieve that growth.”

Lord Rothermere, chairman DMGT, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Illyria as a partner in DMGT’s growing Australian radio business. I am excited by the potential that their expertise and focus will bring to an already successful management team.”

Illyria chairman Lachlan Murdoch said that DMG Radio Australia is a ‘strong business with talented on and off air people. Together we will explore new growth opportunities in the existing business and also in related media’.

“I am very happy to be partnering with DMGT in driving the future of DMG Radio Australia . Patience is a virtue, and after exhaustively searching the market for the right acquisition, we have found in DMG Radio Australia the right business, the right partner and the right brands which are positioned for exemplary growth.”

“The skills we have in-house at Illyria will complement the strengths of DMG Radio Australia . I’m looking forward to working with Cathy O’Connor and her team and I am pleased Paul Thompson will be remaining as special advisor to me,” Mr Murdoch said.

Nova continues to be a leading national radio network for listeners aged 18-39, while Vega, re-launched in 2006, is steadily growing its share of the 40-54 demographic, a complementary audience profile to Nova.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2009/10 should be more than $8.5 million, compared with normalised EBITDA of $6.5 million in the prior year, chairman Russell Tate said at the firm’s annual general meeting on Friday. Full story SMH

About 1200 photographs were entered and the judging panel which included Young Australian Photographer of the Year Sandie Bertrand, had the unenviable task of choosing just 12 for publication.

They came up with a great selection of images that showcase WA’s unique flora, fauna, landscapes and lifestyle.

The winning photographers are also featured in the calendar – the glory of cover image awarded to Rob Whitehead for his beautiful and inspirational shot on Cable Beach, Broome. He won a high definition, waterproof video camera for his efforts.

The ABC Local Radio My WA Calendar 2010 will soon be available through ABC Shops (WA), selected ABC Centres (WA) and ABC Shops Online for $12.95.

Today, Senator Minchin announced the Coalition will seek two amendments to the National Broadcasting Amendment Bill – one to reduce the restriction on the appointment of former politicians and senior staff to the boards of the ABC and SBS to only 18 months after holding office, and the other to prevent the staff-elected director position being restored to the ABC Board.

“The Coalition’s planned amendments would gut the Government’s proposed system of merit-based appointments to the ABC and SBS boards. If not carried, they will provide the Opposition with the excuse it presumably wants to jettison the Bill.

“The Bill’s planned restriction on the appointment of former politicians will be rendered meaningless if the Coalition’s amendment to reduce to 18 months the period within which former politicians can be appointed to the ABC and SBS boards succeeds.

“The Coalition’s ongoing opposition to there being one measly staff-elected position on an entire board sends a message that, given the opportunity, its interest is still to entirely stack the ABC Board.

“Senator Minchin’s claim the staff-director is a ‘representative’ of staff is dishonest. The position is not proposed to be and never has been one of representation.

“The potential for conflict of interest for staff directors is no greater than it is for other board members who may feel an allegiance to the government which appoints them. In practice, it is likely to be less, with the staff director’s appointment being the outcome of a secret ballot of a large and diverse group.

“The staff-elected position is important because it ensures there is at least one member of the board with intimate understanding of public broadcasting and who is entirely independent of the government.

“The present government is offering a board appointment system that will help to protect the integrity of the country’s public broadcasters. Sadly for the people of Australia, the Coalition’s interest in undermining the independence of the ABC seems unchanged from when it was last in government,” said Glenys Stradijot.

Going to air across more than 40 commercial radio stations in the five digital radio metropolitan markets of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, the campaign will support all retailers selling digital radios and complement the extensive catalogue, in store promotion and radio advertising by larger retail outlets in the lead up to Christmas.

“With now more than 42 different DAB+ radio models available on the market, in around 600 stores across Australia, the digital radio Christmas campaign is designed to highlight the benefits of digital radio and drive listeners in store for Christmas, said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia.

Commercial Radio Australia and digital radio retailers and manufacturers have been working together to ensure the Christmas retail cycle will boost the sales of digital radios across all markets.

Harvey Norman National Marketing Manager – Electrical, Haydon Myers said: “Digital Radio has certainly created a buzz with consumers regarding purchases of radio product. Consumers are very interested in the features and benefits of digital radio.”

Dave MacKenzie, Audio Buyer at Dick Smith said; “Consumer awareness of digital radio is high. Since the radios hit the stores in May, sales have exceeded our expectations and we’re already seeing another peak in unit sales in the lead up to Christmas.

“Most of the interest has been in digital radios at lower price points. With digital radios now a similar price to a standard FM radio, they make a great gift option this year. For example, Dick Smith is the only retailer stocking the kaiser baas digital radio, which is less than $90 and we expect this will be a popular choice this Christmas.”

Matt Wagner-Smith, Clive Peeters National AV/IT Product Manager said: “There has been a raft of new DAB+ radios released since the consumer launch in August, from high end multifunction products through to entry level radios. We’re positive that this Christmas will be a strong one for DAB+ as more and more people get radios into their homes and begin to tell their friends and family about the brilliant sound quality and extra channels they can now receive.”

Commercial Radio Australia announced it will release a digital radio industry report in early 2010, tracking who’s listening, how many digital radios have been sold and the overall awareness of digital radio.

Ms Warner said price and programming will drive the uptake of digital radio in Australia. The first digital radio under $100 is expected to encourage more listeners to try digital radio.

All the commercial radio stations in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne are simulcasting in analogue and digital. In addition, when you buy a new digital radio you get 13 new DAB+ stations – playing everything from dance music and unsigned artists – to chill out and choose your own music. Plus there are special event or pop up stations for sport, festivals and concerts – like the recently successful Pink radio. These run for a short period of time and then transform into another concept.

New DAB+ stations include; NovaNation, Koffee, Hot30 Jelli, Radar, Classic Plus, The EDGE , Gorilla Super Digi, MY Perth Digital, Hot Country Perth Digital, ABC Jazz, ABC Dig Music, ABC Country and Triple J Unearthed.

Retailers stocking digital radios include; Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Clive Peeters, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Big W, JB Hi Fi, Target, Retravision, Radio Rentals, Rick Hart and specialist audio retailers.

To listen to the new digital radio ads click here.

Michelle, Smallzy and James Kerley will broadcast nationally from 7 – 10pm weeknights across the Nova network, commencing 23 November, 2009. Michelle Anderson and Kent “Smallzy” Small have enjoyed unprecedented success as Nova Brisbane’s nights team since 2007. They will be joined by Nova Sydney’s James Kerley, one of the country’s brightest up and coming multi media stars.

In addition, Nova 969’s Maz Compton will join The Action Battle Team (Matt Saraceni and Dan Debuf) to host a new national late nights show from 10pm to midnight.

Dean Buchanan, Group Program Director for dmg Radio Australia said “the changes to the nights line up will bring significant benefits for listeners with more compelling content and greater access to celebrities, music, events and competitions across the country”.

“This is an awesome line up of young and enthusiastic talent who will spearhead Nova’s sound at night into 2010 and beyond”.

Michelle, Smallzy and James Kerley kicks off on the Nova Network from November 23.

Late nights with Maz Compton and The Action Battle Team will be heard from mid-January 2010.

The ACMA is proposing to make channel capacity (100.9 MHz) available in Deniliquin and Upper Murray to allow the ABC to provide its NewsRadio service.

‘The proposed changes are part of the broader plan to extend these ABC services to all transmission areas of Australia with a population of 10,000 or more,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

‘The ACMA’s proposal to make frequencies available for ABC radio services also involves changes to the current frequencies planned for community radio services in Wodonga and Deniliquin, and the ACMA is keen to receive community feedback on this issue,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

The frequency planned for a community radio service at Wodonga is currently used by Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters Inc under a temporary community broadcasting licence. The frequency in Deniliquin planned for a community radio service is currently neither allocated on a long-term basis nor operated under a temporary licence.

The ACMA has identified alternative frequencies for the affected community services. In Wodonga, the new frequency would allow for similar levels of coverage to that currently provided by Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters Inc. In Deniliquin, the new frequency would be able to operate at sufficient power to serve the local area.

Details of the proposed changes are contained in the draft variation to the licence area plans for Albury and Deniliquin radio and accompanying explanatory paper released for public comment today.

These and other related documents are available on the ACMA website or by calling 1300 850 115.

The closing date for comments on these proposals is 5:00pm, Friday 11 December 2009.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980.

——————————————————————————–

Backgrounder
The ACMA prepares licence area plans under subsection 26(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA). Licence area plans determine the number and characteristics, including technical specifications, of broadcasting services in particular areas of Australia with the use of the broadcasting services bands. The ACMA may vary licence area plans under subsection 26(2) of the BSA.

Section 23 of the BSA imposes specific obligations on the ACMA when carrying out its planning functions, including, amongst other things, that the ACMA is required to perform its functions in a way that promotes the objects of the BSA, including the economic and efficient use of the radiofrequency spectrum.

Section 27 of the BSA provides that the ACMA must make provisions for wide public consultation when considering whether to make or vary a licence area plan.

Upper Murray and Deniliquin
The previous and current governments have committed to the roll-out of the Parliamentary News Network/NewsRadio (PNN) service to areas in Australia with a population of 10,000 or more people, subject to the availability of spectrum in those areas.

The ACMA was asked to identify available FM spectrum for a new ABC NewsRadio radio service in the upper Murray region.

Due to spectrum congestion, the ACMA has been unable to identify unencumbered FM spectrum in the upper Murray region that would meet the requirements of the Government or the ABC. The ACMA has found that the frequency 100.9 MHz is potentially available if changes are made to the frequencies planned for community radio broadcasting services at Wodonga and Deniliquin.

As the use of 100.9 MHz has the potential to cause co-channel and adjacent channel interference to community radio broadcasting services planned to operate on 100.7 MHz in Wodonga and 100.9 MHz in Deniliquin, new frequencies are proposed for these services.

It is intended to extend the coverage of the proposed ABC service by employing the same frequency in Deniliquin as at Albury (100.9 MHz, via a co-frequency repeater). This will ensure NewsRadio coverage of both the upper Murray and Deniliquin areas and will also allow the ABC to trial this co-frequency repeater configuration.

The normally laid-back twins began the interview with Fox 101.9 breakfast show hosts Jo Stanley and Matt Tilley by warning the pair that they were “pretty wrecked” after a big night out.

After answering a few preliminary questions, the Madden brothers were asked to play a game to test if they could sense what the other was feeling. Full story NineMSN

David Borean, general manager of Nova 969 said “Tim has played a big part in the station since it launched in 2001.

“We thank him for his contribution in helping shape what the station is today. This is the end of an era as Tim moves on to other personal projects.”

After two years with Nova 969, Kate Ritchie will be returning to her true love – acting – in 2010.

“When Kate joined Nova 969 after 20 years on television, we knew that she wanted a new challenge.

“She was ready for a change from TV and wanted to add a new dimension to her already stellar career. She impressed listeners at what a natural talent she was on radio. Joining Nova 969 was an opportunity for Kate to build her personality beyond the small screen and was something she took to naturally.

“In her time at Nova, she’s proven to be a wonderful radio talent, adding a fresh spark to the breakfast team. The Nova family looks forward to watching her on the small screen next year and she will be an ongoing friend of dmg Radio Australia .”

Merrick Watts will return to Nova 969 as part of an exciting new show with details of the breakfast line up to be announced soon.

He is best known for presenting the comedy music show, Club Veg, along with Mal Lees, which ran for 15 years on various radio stations in New South Wales. The segment featured song parodies and comic sketches, most of which were written by Davies.

He got his big break while working as a copywriter for radio ads, landing a gig on the ABC’s youth station Triple J in 1984.

He and Lees moved to 2SM in 1987, and were poached by Triple M in 1989.

The station dropped the iconic show in 2002.

His family and a close friend, Rina Ferris, issued a statement today announcing his death.

“Vic was loved by many and we were honoured to call him our friend. We will always miss him and he will remain in our hearts forever,” the statement said.

The industry report will provide a comprehensive market snapshot of digital radio and will include top line digital radio listening figures from Nielsen Radio Ratings, consumer research from Nielsen Panorama and Hoop Group, digital radio sales data from GfK and consumer survey information sourced from tracking studies on Commercial Radio Australia’s digitalradioplus website and facebook page.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said speculation on the sales figures of digital radios have been widespread since the switch on of digital radio in the five state capitals but sales figures tell just one part of the story.

“The industry initiated tracking of digital radio sales around the time of the initial low power switch on phase and of digital radio listening via the Nielsen audience measurement surveys since services began on air. We are now commissioning further research to better understand what listeners might want from digital radio.

“All of this valuable information from a variety of sources will be compiled into the digital radio industry report and released early in the New Year.

“The post Christmas data will give us a real feel for trending in sales as it’s obviously one of the biggest retail cycles of the year.”

An extensive consumer study will begin in the coming weeks with the aim to measure awareness amongst radio listeners of the digital radio offering, perceptions of and awareness of the new Digital Radio Plus brand, levels of intent to purchase, feedback from digital radio users on receiver features and even programming. The study will also explore the consumer retail experience when purchasing a new radio.

If adopted, the National Broadcasting Amendment Bill will usher in a process of appointments to the boards of the ABC and SBS that is merit-based and more transparent. It will restore the staff-elected director position to the ABC Board.

“Past governments have damaged the ABC by appointing people to its board who lacked merit and independence. In some instances it was about giving jobs to mates. In others, the governing party selected board members to implement its political agenda.

“Prior to the present government putting into practice its new board appointment process, stacking of the ABC Board was in danger of spiralling out of control, damaging public trust in the national broadcaster’s independence and the integrity of government.

“Now, legislation is important to ensure there is not just a pause in inappropriate appointments to the ABC and SBS boards. The new appointment process must become law. The position of staff-elected director must be restored. It ensures there is at least one member of the ABC Board who has intimate understanding of public broadcasting and is entirely independent of government.

“The new system doesn’t guarantee the independence of the public broadcasters from political interference. In keeping with the Westminster tradition of accountability, elected governments will still make the final decision to appoint. But, with its assessment of candidates at arms-length from government and against published criteria, it would be a significant improvement.

“The Labor Government is to be commended for initiating a process that depoliticises the assessment of candidates for the governing board of the ABC.

“FABC is urging the Opposition to join with the Government in demonstrating respect for Australia’s foremost cultural institution and recognition of its importance to the community,” said Glenys Stradijot.

Also elected to the board on Monday were presenters Carolyn Beaumont and Zina Thompson and lawyer Tony Glenn. They join Nick Padol, Bobby Stuart and Luke Broadbent on the seven-member board. Full story

The Federal Magistrate’s Court in Brisbane imposed the penalty against Amalgamated Marketing Pty Ltd, which trades under that name and as radio station 4WK, after being prosecuted by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The company admitted underpaying a full-time advertising consultant $15,000 over 19 months in 2006 and 2007. Full story The Chronical

The agreement ensures mcm media pty ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of mcm, continues to supply nationally syndicated radio programs, such as Take 40 Australia, to the Austereo radio network until December 2011.

The final contract details, including which shows were included in the new agreement, were expected to be finalised by November 15, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mcm entertainment group chief executive Tony McGinn said he was delighted to have secured a new deal with the company’s biggest broadcast client, Austereo.

“We are committed to providing compelling content for Austereo to assist in maintaining their leading position in the Australian radio industry,” Mr McGinn said in a statement.

“The MoU represents a useful complement to the Commercial Radio Code of Practice 8 which contains commercial broadcasters’ obligations in relation to the broadcasting of emergency services information,” Ms Warner said.

“The commercial radio industry welcomes the MoU with the Victorian Government which now means commercial radio stations will act as official emergency broadcasters in times of emergency and crisis and will also now have direct access to vital information from emergency services agencies.

“This is a sensible decision given commercial radio reaches around 80 per cent of Australians and plays a crucial role in helping disseminate information to local communities in times of emergency.”

Ms Warner said the industry had argued for some time for commercial radio to be included and promoted as an official provider of information in emergencies, along with the ABC.

While the industry was already bound by its Code of Practice to broadcast emergency information, Ms Warner said that commercial radio broadcasters were happy to be involved with the MoU, as it sets out procedures to be followed by both emergency services agencies and broadcasters in order to ensure that important information is broadcast to as many people as possible.

“Commercial radio stations are an integral part of many local communities around the country and stand ready, willing and able to assist these communities in times of emergency,” Ms Warner said.

AUDIO 1 AUDIO 2

David Barton and his wife Jennifer lost their Marysville home and everything in it on February 7.

Among the countless things that went up in flames were precious keepsakes of their family’s military history, including uniforms and war medals.

By chance, they met ABC Radio Marketing Manager Natalene Muscat at an Outside Broadcast in Marysville in August.

David told Natalene that the ABC had taken photos of him wearing his grandfather’s uniform and medals in 2006 – and that they were probably the only surviving evidence of their proud history.

Natalene set to work tracking down the photos, which had long since been taken off ABC Online. With help from Florenz Ronn and Felicity Greenland, the photos were finally located and David was thrilled to learn that they still existed.

“The three photos of me wearing my Grandfather’s WWII uniform and family medals, and Jennifer wearing her dad’s WWII medals are the only ones we have and will now need to form a part of our ongoing family history so that our children will know what we had by way of family military history,” he said.

“All that you see both Jennifer and I wearing in those photos was lost on 7/2/09 – absolutely irreplaceble. Such a tragic loss, however, thanks to you we at least have a photographic reminder.

“I cannot thank you and the ABC team enough for taking the time and effort to find these photos for us. I am extremly grateful to you all.”

David’s grandfather, Colonel Wilfred L Collins, was a Chaplain and served in North Africa as a Rat of Tobruk, and then on Headquarters Staff as the Assistant Chaplain General, Protestant Denominations, all through the Pacific Campaign. He was a very highly regarded Chaplain and died in 1968.

Jennifer’s father (who is still alive and living in a Lilydale Nursing home at the age of 92) was also a Rat of Tobruk and served the six years right throughout the war.

The ACMA has also decided to make a new high power open narrowcasting radio service available in Launceston, to operate on 1008 kHz on the AM band.

‘The new open narrowcasting service will be the first for the Launceston market and has the potential to play a major role in promoting diversity in programming for radio listeners in the area,’ said Chris Cheah, Acting Chair of the ACMA.

The ACMA will use a price-based allocation system to allocate the licence to provide the open narrowcasting service.

The new FM frequencies are for translator services for 7LA and 7EX to ‘infill’ where the coverage from the main transmitter is restricted and suffers multipath reception due to terrain obstruction. 7EX will be available on 100.3 MHz and 7LA on 101.1 MHz.

In early 2008 commercial broadcasters 7LA and 7EX switched from AM to FM services. It became apparent after this switchover that there were problems with the reception of the new FM services in the Launceston CBD. The additional FM translator frequencies will rectify these reception deficiencies.

The ACMA also considered whether to make available another frequency for community radio broadcasting but was not satisfied that an additional community radio service in the Launceston market would add substantially to the diversity of programs available in the Launceston region at this time.

These changes were made following consultation by the ACMA in the Launceston market.

Follow this link to listen to loads of more audio from 2SM all those years ago.

In a statement read out on radio today, Bradnam admitted to having a drinking problem.

“There are three things that are important to me, first of all my health, second of all my family and thirdly my job and I admit I have let all three down and I am really sorry for that,” he said.

“I admitted this morning to Nova that I was arrested last Thursday for being substantially over the legal limit for driving and I also admitted I am again struggling with a drinking problem which first emerged a few years ago.

“I am absolutely appalled by my actions and I absolutely do not condone drink driving in any way, shape or form”, he said.

“I am so sorry for the pain I have caused my family most of all and Nova listeners.

“I am going to be taking some time off to get the help I need so that I can back on the air at Nova and I am determined that I am going to recover.”

Also speaking on air, Nova general manager Sean Ryan said the station would support Bradnam who will now seek help for his drinking problem.

“All of us at Nova are extremely disappointed with what’s happened today; drink driving is absolutely intolerable at any level,” he said.

“Ash however is part of the Nova family and he has admitted to a larger problem that has existed for some time and we won’t be turning our back on him.

“Ash will now take some time off and we will support him through that process of rehabilitation.”

The Hamish and Andy team also won a further four awards for Best Networked Program, Best Station Promotion, Best Multimedia Execution and Best Show Producer (Entertainment and Music) for Sam Cavanagh.

Broadcaster Ray Hadley, 2GB, received three awards for Best Current Affairs Commentator, Best Sports Presenter and Best Sports Event Coverage for 2GB’s Olympic Games broadcast.

Winners in other major awards announced tonight before a crowd of nearly 1000 were:
• Best Talk Presenter – Derryn Hinch, 3AW Melbourne
• Best Newcomer – Ryan Shelton, Nova 100, Melbourne
• Best Music Personality – Dylan Lewis, Nova 100, Melbourne
• Best News Presenter – Kristy Warner, Nova 969, Sydney, (FM)
Jane Doyle, FiveAA, Adelaide, (AM)

Jason Morrison from 2GB won the Brian White Memorial award for the second time. This award recognises sustained journalistic achievement and effort and covers all aspects of radio journalism.

CEO of Commercial Radio, Ms Joan Warner, congratulated all the winners on their outstanding achievement and contribution to commercial radio in Australia: “Their commitment and dedication to their audiences continues to drive broadcasting to new levels. With the introduction this year of digital radio in five capital cities across Australia, listening audiences can expect those standards to further increase,” Ms Warner said.

Des DeCean, one of Australia’s most respected broadcast engineers and Austereo’s longest serving employee, was tonight inducted into the Commercial Radio Hall of Fame. One of Australia’s most qualified and experienced radio engineers, Mr DeCean was the first employee of Austereo 29 years ago when FM radio was launched in 1980. He has headed the technology team at the network ensuring the adoption of leading edge broadcast systems; introduced the first use of CDs on air and most recently has been integral in the introduction of digital radio in Australia.

Presenters at the Awards ceremony included Hamish and Andy from Austereo, Merrick and Rosso from DMG Radio, Jonesy and Amanda from Australian Radio Network, Derryn Hinch from Fairfax Radio, Jason Morrison from Macquarie Radio Network and the Benchwarmers – Ant and Becks, from Macquarie Southern Cross Media (MSCM). Australian performers, Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian and Kisschasy, and international star Matt Nathanson provided the entertainment.

The national Awards, organised by Commercial Radio Australia, cover all metropolitan, provincial and country commercial radio stations with winners announced for each of these areas in 31 categories. The categories encompass all aspects of commercial radio including news, talkback, sport and music.

This year’s MC was Andrew Gunsberg, from Australian Idol who also hosts Australia’s biggest weekly radio countdown, “Take 40 Australia”.

Media contact: Melissa Fleming (0417) 499 529 or
Jenny Stevenson (0402) 214 039.
Photographs can be downloaded late Saturday, 10 October at http://www.oneillphotographics.com.au/radiofest09
Please note: A full list of winners is attached (two pages in total). Category Winners are denoted with the following letters: Country>Provincial>NonMetropolitan>Metropolitan

WINNERS FOR 2009 AUSTRALIAN COMMERCIAL RADIO AWARDS (ACRAs)
Please note: Category Finalists are denoted with the following letters: Country>Provincial>NonMetropolitan>Metropolitan

MOST POPULAR STATION MANAGER
Joel Gosper, 981 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters Andy Mathers, Star 104.5, Central Coast, NSW, DMG Radio Australia P
Sean Ryan, Nova 106.9, Brisbane, QLD, DMG Radio Australia M

ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE
John Pearce, 2GO Remote Breakfast Studio, 107.7 2GO, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Matt Steadman & Brett Kelly, Austereo Melbourne Studios, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M recipient of Max Wilson Engineering Award

BEST NEWCOMER ON-AIR
Kristen Henry, Magic 93.1 FM, Riverland, SA, Fairfax Radio Network C
Kiri Martin, The Edge 96.1, Western Sydney, NSW, Australian Radio Network P
Ryan Shelton, Nova 100, Melbourne, VIC, DMG Radio Australia M

BEST NEWCOMER OFF-AIR
Anita Buda, 5SE/96.1 Star FM, Mount Gambier, SA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C recipient of the Matt Ellis Encouragement Award
Ashleigh Hudson, 104.7/MIX 106.3, Canberra, ACT, ARN/Austereo P
Michael Eva, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST MUSIC PERSONALITY
Dave Peters, 8HA, Alice Springs, NT, Alice Springs Commercial Broadcasters C
Fyona Smith, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Dylan Lewis, Nova 100, Melbourne, VIC, DMG Radio Australia M

BEST TALK PRESENTER
Janeen Hosemans, The Morning Wireless Program, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters C
Mike Welsh, Mike Welsh Drive Show, 2CC, Canberra, ACT, Capital Radio P
Derryn Hinch, 3AW Drive, 3AW, Melbourne, VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M

BRIAN WHITE MEMORIAL AWARD
Jason Morrison, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network

BEST ON-AIR TEAM
Fishy Friday, Janeen Hosemans & Peter Harrison, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters C
Banksy & Steve Breakfast, Banksy & Steve, Hot FM, Townsville, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST SHOW PRODUCER – ENTERTAINMENT & MUSIC
Lauren Richardson, Holmsey & Flan, Something Different for Breakfast, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato NM
Sam Cavanagh, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST SHOW PRODUCER – TALK & CURRENT AFFAIRS
Andrea Moore, 2BS Talk Producer, 1503 2BS Gold, Bathurst, NSW, Bathurst Broadcasters NM
Justin Smith, 3AW Mornings, 3AW, Melbourne, VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR
Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network

BEST SPORTS PRESENTER
Geoff Mann, 2DU, Dubbo, NSW, Super Network C
Steve Allan, 2GO’s Locker Room, 107.7 2GO, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network M

BEST NEWS PRESENTER
Lois Chislett, 3YB, Warrnambool, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Rod McLeod, 92.5 Gold FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Kristy Warner, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia (FM) M
Jane Doyle, FiveAA, Adelaide, SA, DMG Radio Australia (AM) M

BEST PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Dayle Richardson, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Mike Duncan, Star 104.5, Central Coast, NSW, DMG Radio Australia P
Dave Cameron, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR
Katie Jones, 97.7 Snow FM, Cooma, NSW, Capital Radio C
Fyona Smith, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P recipient of Music Director of the Year Scholarship
Kate Casey, Nova 106.9, Brisbane, QLD, DMG Radio Australia M

BEST PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR
Steve White, 90.9 Sea FM /92.5 Gold FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Tim Dwyer, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia M

BEST STATION SALES ACHIEVEMENT
RadioWest/Hot FM Kalgoorlie, 6KG RadioWest, Kalgoorlie, WA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
Flow Fm Sales Team, Flow FM, Kapunda, SA, W&L Phillips P
2Day FM Sales Team, 2Day FM, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M

BEST DIRECT SALESPERSON
Ashlee O’Brien, 6KG RadioWest, Kalgoorlie, WA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
Leonie Leonard, Hot FM/Sea FM, Mackay, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Marcus Ryder, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST AGENCY SALESPERSON
Karyn French, 100.9 Sea FM/Heart 107.3, Hobart, TAS, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Lauren Duncan, 2Day FM, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M

BEST MULTIMEDIA EXECUTION
Tall Ships, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo STATION
Waterwise Widget, Brett Sandler & Shiobhan Baster, Nova 937, Perth, WA, DMG Radio Australia SALES

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Victorian Bushfire Tribute, Matt Clark, 107.7 2G0/101.3 Sea FM, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Obama Becomes President, Blake Gibson, 2UE, Sydney, NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M

BEST MUSIC SPECIAL
2NM’s December All Stars, 98.1 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Running On Diesel, Fyona Smith, Ross Turner & Ryan Khay, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Chris-Mas-Isaak, Marnie Titheradge, Robert Wood and Bruno Bouchet, Mix 106.5, Sydney, NSW, Australian Radio Network M

BEST SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
Olympians Touching Down, Paddy Gerrard, Ciel Stowe, Ignatius McBride, 101.3 Sea FM, Central Coast, NSW, Macquarie Southern Cross Media NM
Olympic Games Coverage 2008, 2GB Sport/Ray Hadley, 2GB, Sydney, NSW, Macquarie Radio Network M

BEST STATION PROMOTION
Who Wants to be a Jock On Air, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Identity Theft, Tania Kimmins, Rob Sharples, Ryan Gracie and Tia Robins, i98, Wollongong, NSW, Win Corporation P
Tall Ship Adventure, Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST SALES PROMOTION
Captain Costcutter, 2GN, Goulburn, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Laptops + Steamroller = Awesome, 104.7 Product Team, 104.7, Canberra, ACT, ARN/Austereo P
2UE Rebranding to 2UE-Wii, 2UE, Sydney, NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M

BEST NETWORKED PROGRAM
ACE Radio Country Today, Sandra Moon, 3WM, Horsham, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
The Benchwarmers, Ant & Becs, Sea FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Hamish & Andy, Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST SYNDICATED AUSTRALIAN PROGRAM
Remembrance Day: The 90th Anniversary, Radiowise Media Networks, Sydney, NSW

BEST STATION PRODUCED COMMERCIAL
Selga – Buckle Up, David Sell, 5SE/96.1 Star FM, Mount Gambier, SA, Macquarie Southern Cross Media C
The Chocolate Room, Stu Campbell, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato P
Ooh! Aah!, Jonathan Williams, Triple M/Fox FM, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST STATION PRODUCED COMEDY SEGMENT
The Marriage Is Up Cup, Jon Vertigan, 3YB, Warrnambool, VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Disclaimer Man, Luke Bradnam, 102.9 FM, Gold Coast, QLD, Hot Tomato P
Evil Rosso Prank, Tim Ross, Merrick Watts & Kate Ritchie, The Merrick, Rosso and Kate Ritchie Breakfast Show, Nova 969, Sydney, NSW, DMG Radio Australia M

BEST COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
2NM Power FM Black Coal Cup Day, 981 2NM/98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Jessie’s Journey, 92.7 Mix FM, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Macquarie Southern Cross Media P
Bushfire Appeal, Fox FM/Triple M, Melbourne, VIC, Austereo M

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
Brett Smith, 98.1 Power FM, Muswellbrook, NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Mark Brewer, NX FM, Newcastle, NSW, Austereo P
Sideshow Mike Andersen, Triple M, Sydney, NSW, Austereo M

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (Exceptional contribution to the metropolitan rollout of digital radio)
Des DeCean, Austereo Raoul Prideaux, Macquarie Southern Cross Media Wayne Dickson, BTC Australia Pty Ltd
Graeme O’Connor, ARN Max Carter, Sky Sports Radio Richard Morris, Commercial Radio Australia
Steve Adler, DMG Kath Brown, Commercial Radio Australia Alastair Reynolds, Fairfax Media

The new Board was elected at CRA’s annual general meeting today in Sydney.

Ms O’Connor said:”I am looking forward to the challenge of heading up the CRA Board. There are many issues facing the radio industry and it is important we work together to ensure the best outcomes for the commercial radio sector.

“Michael has done a great job as chairman and has overseen some major initiatives in the sector like the introduction of digital radio and the implementation of the multi-million dollar brand campaign,” Ms O’Connor said.”

The new CRA board includes:

Cathy O’Connor – DMG Radio (Chair)
Michael Anderson – Austereo
Rhys Holleran – Macquarie Southern Cross Media
Graham Mott – Fairfax Radio
Kevin Blyton – Capital Radio
Grant Cameron – Grant Broadcasting
Stuart Thomas – Macquarie Radio Network
Des DeCean – Austereo
Kingsley Hall – DMG Radio
John Hamilton – Australian Radio Network
Graeme O’Connor – Australian Radio Network
Bob Scott – Supernetwork
Rod Brice – Macquarie Southern Cross Media

A dedicated change towards a music-led format in Breakfast has seen the move away from the personality based show with Tony, Bec and Mikey. Rebecca Wilson had resigned earlier in the year.

“Tony and Rebecca have been part of vega 95.3 since day one and were joined by Mikey in the Breakfast slot at the start of 2008” said David Borean, General Manager of vega 95.3fm.

“We thank Tony and Mikey for their stellar contribution to the station during the past few years, they are consummate professionals and naturally we wish them all the best for the future,” he added.

The sound of vega 95.3fm for the rest of 2009 and leading into next year will see it focus on its music position across breakfast and throughout the day.

David Kidd, vega 95.3fm Program Director and dmg Group Research Director said “Listeners love the music on Vega, and they’ve told us they want more of it and less talk to start their days. Our new music and information format will be truly unique in Sydney.”

The Tony, Bec & Mikey Robins breakfast show will finish up on October 30.

There are currently no plans to appoint a new breakfast team in 2010.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the scholarship was an important way for the commercial radio industry to support country music.

“Congratulations to Sinead who has a great opportunity to further her career in the USA and also to promote the talents of Australian country music,” Ms Warner said.

Previous winners include Travis Collins, Shea Fisher Jake Nickolai and in 2008, the McClymonts.

The award includes an invitation to perform as a special guest artist at the NA2R (New Artist 2 Radio) showcase during the annual Commercial Radio Conference and awards. The event gives unsigned artists a special opportunity to showcase their talents in front of the top industry players in Australian commercial radio and the opportunity to win massive airplay support across the country.

The CRA scholarship also includes return airfares to Nashville, USA with seven days accommodation, with an opportunity to perform at the CMA Global Artist Showcase at the CMA Music Festival, the world’s biggest country music festival.

This is yet another major opportunity for Sinead, in a year that’s seen the release of her debut EP ‘You Get Me’ and a raft of national tour dates and festival appearances alongside artists such as Taylor Swift, Pete Murray, Adam Harvey and Powderfinger. Sinead is currently working on her debut album, to be released in 2010 through ABC / Universal Music Australia and has been writing album material with this likes of Guy Sebastian and Damien Leith.

Sinead said: “I’m excited and honored to have been given the opportunity to perform at the NA2R showcase and the CMA Music Festival. I can’t wait!”

Community radio stations are prohibited from broadcasting advertisements under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA). Sponsorship announcements that include appropriate acknowledgements of financial support (‘tags’) are permitted on community radio but announcements that do not include tags are considered to be advertisements and so fall within the prohibition. Under the BSA, community radio stations may broadcast up to five minutes of sponsorship announcements in any hour.

The ACMA received a complaint on 19 June 2009 about SportFM’s broadcast of a commercially sourced program, The Run Home. The complainant identified broadcasts on 10 and 15 June 2009, alleging that the licensee was not complying with the advertising and sponsorship provisions of the BSA.

In addition, the complainant alleged that the program was not consistent with SportFM’s community interest. The ACMA investigated the complaint and found that the licensee had broadcast advertisements on 10 and 15 June 2009 and that sponsorship announcements had been broadcast in excess of the allowable limit on 15 June 2009. However, the ACMA found that SportFM continues to represent its community interest.

In response to the breach findings, the licensee has taken the program off air and is reviewing its broadcast of other commercially sourced programming. SportFM has also provided training to relevant staff.

The ACMA is comfortable that these actions demonstrate SportFM’s commitment to meeting its obligations under its licence conditions and that they should reduce the risk of similar breaches occurring in the future. It has therefore decided not to take any further action at this time.

The licensee of SportFM, Western Sports Media Inc, holds a temporary community broadcasting licence to provide a radio service in the Fremantle RA1 licence area, which includes East Fremantle and parts of Cockburn and Melville in Western Australia. SportFM shares the 91.3FM frequency in Fremantle RA1 with another temporary community broadcaster, Portuguese Radio.

Matt Nathanson, a singer/songwriter, based in San Francisco, is best known in Australia for his hit singles “Car Crash” and “Come On Get Higher” – both taken from his most recent album, “Some Mad Hope”.

Jessica Mauboy has had a number one single this year, “Burn” as has Guy Sebastian, with his most recent single also a number one hit, “Like it Like That”.

Kisschasy, an Australian rock band formed in 2002, has also had considerable career success so far and have released their third album, “Seizures” this year.

The performers will be joined by one of the winners of this year’s New Artists 2 Radio (NA2R) initiative, the commercial radio showcase which aims to identify future music talent.

MC for the night is Australian Idol host, Andrew Gunsberg, who also hosts Australia’s biggest weekly radio countdown, “Take 40 Australia”. Andrew began his career in radio at B105 in Brisbane and then SAFM in Adelaide, before moving to television with Channel V.

Chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said it was a very strong entertainment line-up this year, highlighting some great Australian talent.

“The radio industry always likes to feature good Australian performers at the ACRAs and this year is no exception and should set the tone for a great night,” Ms Warner said.

A number of radio personalities will present awards, including Hamish and Andy from Austereo, Merrick and Rosso from DMG Radio, Jason Morrison from Macquarie Radio Network, Jonesy and Amanda from Australian Radio Network, Derryn Hinch from Fairfax Radio and the Benchwarmers – Ant and Becks from Macquarie Southern Cross Media (MSCM).

The ACRAs, organised by Commercial Radio Australia on behalf of the radio industry, include 32 categories, which cover all areas of radio broadcasting including news, talk, sport, music and entertainment. The ACRAs differ from television’s Logie Awards, in that they are peer judged with judging panels comprised of industry members.

The ACRAs is a gala event of the radio industry’s calendar, attracting radio personalities and stars from around Australia.

The Advertising Expenditure in Main Media report for six months ended June 30, 2009, released yesterday, shows ad expenditure in Australia has fallen 8.5% in the six months ended June 2009, compared to the same timeframe in 2008. It also shows that in the six months ended June 2008, total advertising expenditure (excludes classified directories) grew around six per cent.

The CEASA report shows that in the six months ended June 2009, ad expenditure on radio (regional and metropolitan) fell about seven per cent (7.4%) to $449.7 million. In comparison, newspapers fell 18%; magazines fell 9.3%; television fell 10.6%; outdoor fell 13.4% and cinema was down 4.2%. Online grew 12% in the same time period.

The report also shows that radio and online were the only media to gain share in total advertising expenditure.

Ms Warner said the latest figures highlight that radio is a great advertising medium, particularly in tough economic times.

“These are tough times with ad expenditure down overall by a significant amount. The radio industry is working hard to promote its strengths with our latest advertising campaign, “Radio Advertising, Economically Sound”, which highlights the need to trade through the economic crisis and advertise on
radio, ” Ms Warner said.

“Radio is a cost effective and efficient means of getting your message across.”

Ms Warner said the switch-on of digital radio over the past few months in the five capitals around Australia should also help in attracting new advertising opportunities for radio in future years.

With the help of Captain Moulds, the Nova Network special will uncover the facts about youth homelessness in Australia, stories from homeless kids and highlight the work of the Oasis Youth Support Network, which devotes itself to the cause.

Nova’s All Ears will be live nationally on the Nova Network this Sunday September 20:
Nova 969 Sydney 8.00 pm
Nova 100 Melbourne 8.00 pm
Nova 1069 Brisbane 8.00 pm
Nova 919 Adelaide 7.30 pm
Nova 937 Perth 6.00 pm

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said results continue to be patchy for various markets with Adelaide and Melbourne both recording growth for the month of August.

According to the 2009 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the month of August show Perth fell by about 10 per cent to $6.36 million; Brisbane fell six per cent to $7.74 million, Sydney fell 8.38% to $15.9 million; while Adelaide grew 2.55% to $4.8 million and Melbourne grew 1.95% to $15.5 million.

“The industry is working hard to promote the benefits of advertising on radio with new ads starting today featuring the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), talking about the benefits of advertising in tough economic times. Radio is a great cost effective medium for advertisers,” Ms Warner said.

“The ads are the next stage in our latest advertising campaign called, “Radio Advertising, Economically Sound”, which highlights the need to trade through the economic crisis and advertise on radio, and is part of our ongoing, multi-million dollar brand campaign.”

The ads, airing nationally today, feature the executive director of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), Russell Zimmerman, talking about the benefits of advertising in tough times

“D-Star’s Play MPE delivery system is now the industry standard in Australia for the distribution of music to media and we’re proud to show off the capabilities of it with this massive delivery of fourteen of the world’s seminal music albums from the biggest band in history.” said D-Star CEO Peter Skillman. “This is a must-have for every media outlet in Australia and we’re pleased to do our part in ensuring Australian media users have this piece of music history.”

To receive The Beatles remastered catalogue, media outlets (radio, print, TV and online) must have an active Play MPE account by August 27. Accounts are free and can be applied for at www.dstarmpe.com. For more information, email stephen@dstarmpe.com.

This time around, the team will gallivant around the UK to broadcast their popular radio show every day for a week. This will culminate in a massive outside broadcast at expat stomping ground The Walkabout in Shepherds Bush.

MY105fm has been a dedicated country music station for 3 years now and like Hot Country supports the local country music industry giving artists exposure to our Mackay & Whitsunday audience – last year our audience were treated for the first time to 15 hours of live broadcasting of music, interviews and live performance from the Muster.

In 2009 we were ramping up our team and facilities to bring 15 hours a day over the weekend Friday, Saturday & Sunday a huge outside broadcast.
However about 5 weeks ago we were advised that our station was no longer welcome at the Gympie Muster because of “contractual agreement” between ZINC RADIO owned by the Prime Radio Network who had imposed a ban on any other media attending the muster where ZINC radio broadcast – we are a small Indigenous Community radio station and Zinc of course are an established rock brand – we were left wondering why we had been singled out by the Gympie Apex Club and the Gympie Muster to prohibit our participation of this event.
Country Music really needs all the help it can get – one must ask if the Muster is the show pony of Country Music that the Gympie Muster organisers don’t want the coverage in our area.
It’s disappointing that small stations like ours are thumped by the mighty commercial networks – in particular one who doesn’t have country music as its mainstay, I wouldn’t see us as any threat to these commercial organisations.
Our radio station is one of a few in Australia that is a beacon for undying promotion of Country Music – we are a not for profit organisation just like the Gympie Muster – we will never walk away from what we believe is vital for the growth of the market – and that’s the promotion of Australian Country Music – even if we are banned from bringing our Mackay & Whitsunday Audience first hand broadcasts of music and interviews from the 2009 Gympie Music Muster.
The Chairperson of MDAIMA the organisation who operate the my105fm Adrienne Barnett was very disappointed “we have been proud supporters to our community of Country Music for over 3 years now – we feel like we have been kicked in the guts by not being welcome at the Gympie Muster and depriving our mob and audience coverage they can’t get anywhere else”.
Stephan Kent the General Manager of the station commented “we are and always will be passionate about coverage of fantastic Australian Country Music, we have excellent relationships with the up and coming as well as established artists – they know they can jump on the phone at any time and get on air to talk about their latest project – we feel organisers of the Gympie Music Muster are doing an injustice to Mackay & this region by not allowing us to cover the event” he went on to conclude by saying “I doubt this has ever occurred anywhere else in the country – the country music media both online and free to air all work together in the spirit of promotion of the best brand of music around it’s a pity the Gympie Muster organisers cant as well”.

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia said Indonesian broadcasters and Commercial Radio Australia are active members of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and as close neighbours talk regularly to share expertise.

“Like Australia, Indonesia’s radio industry is made up of public and commercial radio stations and the delegation is interested to meet and talk about the successful Australian all of industry rollout of DAB+ digital radio,” said Ms Warner.

Mr Freddy H Tulung, Director General of Communication Media and Information Dissemination (Indonesian Regulator) said, “Indonesian representatives are looking forward to meeting with broadcasters in Australia to see firsthand the DAB+ technology working and to learn as much as possible about Australia’s digital radio rollout.”

The Indonesian delegation is meeting with key stakeholders from the Australian radio industry including; commercial and the public service broadcasters, plus industry regulator the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), to discuss the successful switch on of digital radio in Australia.
The delegation will also visit the TXA Australia Artarmon tower site to inspect the DAB+ antenna, transmitters and multiplexes.

DAB+ digital radio technology switched on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth is the standard already adopted in Switzerland, Malta and Hungary, to be launched in Germany and Italy soon and expected to be trialled and/or adopted in the Czech Republic, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, much of Scandinavia and other European and Asian markets.

The investigation has been commenced in response to a number of complaints from members of the public who had complained to the station about a segment of the program and were dissatisfied with the station’s reply.

The segment involved a 14-year-old participant being asked questions about her sexual activities while attached to a lie detector.

The investigation will focus on whether the content of the broadcast met clause 1.5(a) of the code, which provides that ‘all program content must meet contemporary standards of decency, having regard to the likely characteristics of the audience of the licensee’s service’.

The code includes an obligation on licensees to ‘conscientiously’ consider written complaints and to ‘use its best endeavours to respond substantively in writing within 30 days’. Compliance with this obligation will also be investigated by the ACMA in the course of the investigation.

This investigation is separate from the broader-ranging investigation announced by the ACMA on 11 August 2009, which is looking at whether the code and existing industry practices provide sufficient safeguards for participants and subjects in live-hosted entertainment programs on commercial radio. The ACMA terms of reference for the broader investigation indicated it would use the facts and circumstances of this recent 2Day FM episode as a key case study.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980.

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Backgrounder
The ACMA conducts various types of investigations under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA). Investigations under Part 11 of the BSA are generally conducted in response to complaints received by the ACMA relating to a possible breach by:

a licensed broadcaster: of the BSA, the regulations, a licence condition, a class licence or a code of practice; or
the ABC or SBS: of a code of practice.
Role of the ACMA
The ACMA receives complaints directly from people about possible breaches of the BSA, the regulations, licence conditions and class licences. The ACMA’s role in dealing with complaints under industry codes is prescribed by the BSA. Under section 148 of the BSA, a code complaint must be made first to a licensee and can only be made to the ACMA if the complainant is not satisfied with the licensee’s response or does not receive a response from a licensee within 60 days. In addition to investigations triggered by complaints, the ACMA can instigate its own investigation and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy can direct the ACMA to conduct an investigation.

The ACMA’s performance of its role is informed by Section 5 of the BSA, which requires the ACMA to, among other things:

produce regulatory arrangements that are stable and predictable;
deal effectively with breaches of the legislation; and
use its powers in a manner that is commensurate with the seriousness of the breach concerned.
This requires the ACMA to use its enforcement powers appropriately and to identify the most effective and proportionate way of dealing with breaches. This is further reinforced in the Explanatory Memorandum to the BSA.

It [section 5] promotes the ABA’s [now the ACMA’s] role as an oversighting body . . . rather than as an interventionist agency hampered by rigid, detailed statutory procedures and legalism . . . It is intended that the ABA [now the ACMA] monitor the broadcasting industry’s performance against clear, established rules, intervene only where it has real cause for concern, and has effective redressive powers to act to correct breaches.

This statement reflects Parliament’s intention in enacting the co-regulatory framework and the ACMA’s prescribed role within that framework.

Complaints process—codes of practice
If a person wishes to complain about something of concern they have seen or heard on a program broadcast by a radio or TV station, and the matter is covered by a code of practice, the person must, by law, first make a written complaint to the station.

When making a complaint to the ACMA, a complainant must provide evidence that he or she has first made a complaint to the station, e.g. a copy of the complaint to the station, a copy of the station’s reply if this has been received, and any other relevant correspondence with the station. The ACMA takes all complaints seriously (except for those that are frivolous or vexatious or not made in good faith) and acknowledges all complaints in writing.

The ACMA considers the information provided and offers the relevant station an opportunity to provide its perspectives on the matter. When all relevant information is available, the ACMA assesses the complaint against the relevant provisions of the code of practice. When an investigation is completed, the ACMA is required to notify a complainant of the results of an investigation under Part 11 of the BSA. The form this notification takes is not specified in the BSA—sometimes it is in the form of a letter, but more usually it takes the form of an investigation report, which is provided to both the complainant and the licensee concerned.

The ACMA’s usual practice is to not provide personal or private information in an investigation report.

Under the Act, the ACMA has discretion whether or not to publish the report of an investigation conducted under Part 11 of the BSA. The ACMA is not required to publish an investigation report if publication would disclose matter of a confidential character or be likely to prejudice the fair trial of a person. If the ACMA intends to publish an investigation report that may adversely affect the interests of a person, the ACMA must give the person an opportunity to make representations in relation to the matter.

The ACMA’s powers
The ACMA has a range of powers intended to enable it to deal effectively with breaches of the rules, including the codes developed under the BSA, all in a manner commensurate with the seriousness of the breach.

Where there has been a breach of the commercial radio code, the ACMA may accept an enforceable undertaking for the purpose of securing future compliance with the code or impose an additional licence condition under section 43 of the BSA, requiring a licensee to comply with the codes. For a licence condition to be imposed under section 43 of the BSA, the ACMA first needs to give the licensee written notice of its intention to impose the licence condition; the licensee must be given a reasonable opportunity to make representations to the ACMA in relation to the proposed licence condition and the proposed licence condition must be published in the Commonwealth Gazette before becoming effective. The licensee can apply for the ACMA’s decision to be reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The ACMA may also informally agree to accept measures by broadcasters to improve compliance. For example, the ACMA has on many occasions agreed measures with licensees involving action by them intended to ensure compliance problems are addressed and are effective. Such measures have often succeeded in improving behaviour within licensees (and networks).

If a licence condition is successfully imposed and a licensee breaches such an additional licence condition, then as alternatives to suspending or cancelling the licence, the ACMA has power to issue a remedial direction requiring compliance. In the event that the licensee does not comply with a remedial direction, the ACMA may:

pursue a civil penalty;
refer the matter for prosecution as an offence;
suspend or cancel the licence; or
at any time, accept an enforceable undertaking (including provisions dealing with compliance with a code).
If the ACMA has convincing evidence that codes of practice have failed to provide appropriate community safeguards in relation to a matter, it can determine a new program standard to apply to a particular section of the broadcasting industry.

Sir Michael, is best-known for his TV chat show, “Parkinson”, where he interviewed over three thousand of the world’s most famous people over a 30 year broadcasting career. He brought his show to Australia in the 70’s and 80’s on the ABC and Channel 10. In the late 1990s, he returned to the BBC and then to ITV, to present “Parkinson” once again – a series of tributes to some of the all time greats of the entertainment world.

His extensive broadcasting experience includes radio where he hosted various sports and entertainment programs including the most recent, Parkinson’s Sunday Supplement on Radio 2 which featured his favorite music and special guests.

He has received numerous awards for his work including Best Talk Show Host, Sports Writer of the Year and a BAFTA for Best Light Entertainment Performance in 1999.

He retired from the regular chat show and Sunday radio programmes in December 2007 to write his autobiography, which was launched last year, called Parky. He also launched a website recently – www.michaelparkinson.tv

Sir Michael will be speaking at the radio conference about his time in television and radio including anecdotes of his famous interviews with various personalities and celebrities.

Following the conference, Sir Michael begins an Australian and New Zealand tour of his one man show theatre tour, called Parky: The One Man Show.

The 2009 Australian Radio Conference will be held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney on October 9. The annual conference is a highlight for the Australian radio industry and has featured legendary keynote speakers over the past few years including last year, Imran Khan and Nigel Lythgoe and in previous years, the voice of The Simpsons, Harry Shearer; the world’s funniest man, John Cleese; Sir Bob Geldof, Barry Humphries; astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Clive James and director Bruce Beresford. More speakers for the conference will be announced shortly.

The judges – former High Court Judge, the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, the former NSW Premier, Hon Nick Greiner AC, and the former Editor of The Age, Michael Gawenda – were glowing in their praise, saying that Lyndal’s work reflected “the same high standards that Paul Lyneham set himself.”

“She constantly presented her stories under extremely severe deadlines,” the judges said. “A feature of them was the interplay of voices expressing differing points of view all attractively packaged in a seamless whole for one of the flagships of the national broadcaster, the ABC.

“So among regular excellent contributions to the programs AM, World Today and PM, Lyndal Curtis contributed to setting the agenda which was taken up by print and other electronic media.

“Hers was reportage of a very high order all the while displaying good humour, calm and humanity and a degree of understanding of the pressures under which elected leaders and other officials operate, often with minimal appreciation.”

They also gave a special commendation to Steve Lewis of News Limited for the “large impact” of his “graphically written” political reporting that would often “initiate both radio and television coverage.”

Lyndal receives a $5000 cheque and will have her name inscribed on the Paul Lyneham perpetual trophy. Past winners include Matt Price, Tony Walker, Laura Tingle, Paul Daley, Mark Riley, Lenore Taylor and Katharine Murphy.

The Paul Lyneham Award is restricted to members of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery and is made possible by Paul Lyneham’s family – wife Dorothy Horsfield, daughter Chloe and sons Joel and Mathew Lyneham.

‘Recent public concern in relation to an episode of the Kyle and Jackie O Show, broadcast by 2Day FM, has highlighted broader issues about the treatment of participants and subjects involved in ‘stunt’ or ‘prank’ calls, competitions and challenges on commercial radio,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

‘The ACMA acknowledges that the broadcasting sector should generally be able to experiment with program genres and styles which may be attractive to its audiences. However, the strength of community concern expressed about the practices of some live-hosted entertainment programs and the ACMA’s own assessments indicate that there is emerging evidence that the current regulatory arrangements may not be keeping pace with industry practice and community standards.’

The ACMA investigation will be conducted under section 170 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) and will operate in addition to any specific investigation that the ACMA may undertake into the recent episode of the Kyle and Jackie O Show concerning a lie detector being used on a minor.

‘Under the co-regulatory framework enshrined in the Broadcasting Services Act, a code complaint into the recent incident on the Kyle and Jackie O Show would, in the normal course, be dealt with between a complainant and the licensee, with the ACMA then commencing an investigation if it receives notification from a complainant that he or she is not satisfied with 2Day FM’s response,’ Mr Chapman said.

The ACMA expects broadcasters to deal with matters of such strong community concern quickly and effectively. The ACMA will be considering very carefully the actions taken by the licensee to address the concerns of the community about this incident.

In exploring this issue, the Authority is seeking to take a broad approach which considers industry practice generally, current community concerns and attitudes and the responsiveness of industry to these concerns.

The ACMA is calling for submissions from the public and the industry and will consider all relevant information and evidence. The ACMA will also consider existing and commissioned research and have regard to international experience, including findings from a broader research study undertaken by the ACMA earlier this year relating to this matter.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the ACMA will determine whether any change to the current regulatory arrangements is required. The ACMA expects to work closely with industry to expedite this investigation and expects that it will be concluded by December 2009.

The well-known on-air teams will join many of Australia’s radio personalities and talking heads from across metropolitan, regional and country stations as finalists in the 21st annual ACRAs, with the winners to be announced at a gala ceremony at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney on October 10.

Another hotly contested category this year is Best Talk Presenter. Finalists include the winner for the past three years, Neil Mitchell (3AW) as well as Derryn Hinch (3AW), Ray Hadley (2GB) and Leon Byner (5AA, Adelaide). The Best Current Affairs Commentator category will be decided between last year’s winner, Derryn Hinch (3AW) along with Neil Mitchell (3AW), Ray Hadley (2GB), and Howard Sattler (6PR in Perth).

Last year’s winner for Best Music Personality, Mike Fitzpatrick (Triple M, Melbourne) will battle it out with other finalists Dylan Lewis (Nova 100, Melbourne), Dave Higgins (Fox FM, Melbourne), Rod Maldon (Fox FM Melbourne), and Jamie Row (Nova 969, Sydney).

The winner of Best Sports Presenter last year, Ray Hadley (2GB, Sydney) is again a finalist in this category with Rex Hunt (3AW), Andrew Martin (Nova 969 Sydney), James Brayshaw (Triple M Melbourne) and Rabs Ray Warren (Triple M, Sydney).

Finalists in the Best Newcomer On-Air category include Sonia Kruger (Mix 106.5, Sydney), Mark Levy (2GB), Ryan Shelton (Nova 100, Melbourne) and Michael Slater (2KY, Sydney).
Australian Idol host, Andrew G, who also hosts Australia’s biggest weekly radio countdown, “Take 40 Australia”, will again MC this year’s event, for the second year in a row. Andrew G began his career in radio at B105 in Brisbane and then SAFM in Adelaide, before moving to television with Channel V.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said there had been an increase in the number of entries for this year’s Awards:“The Awards are highly competitive and set a new standard every year. The diversity of winners over the past few years highlights the depth of radio in Australia – and this year will be no exception with a myriad of talent on commercial radio throughout the country,” Ms Warner said.

Organised by Commercial Radio Australia, on behalf of the radio industry, the national Awards include 32 categories, which cover all areas of radio broadcasting including news, talk, sport, music and entertainment. The ACRAs differ from television’s Logie Awards, in that they are peer judged with judging panels comprised of industry members. Winners are announced in each category across three areas: metropolitan, provincial and country commercial radio stations.

One Fine Day—-Ken Sparkes—–1967—-*no.49 Melb. A Little Boy’s Christmas Prayer Keith Mcgowan—-*11 1979 Melb. Bring Back The Spirit Of Christmas—Bert Newton
And The Debney Park High School Band—*12 1981 Melb. Us Dj Rick Dees (with His Cast Of Idiots)….Disco Duck—…..1976 *3 Melb

Death To Disco—–Dave And The Derros (fronted By
Dj David Jones….1978 *17 Melb

Nice Legs, Shame About The Face—-Dave And The Derros
1979 *14 Syd. They Also Released A Single Titled
“up Ya Nose With A Rubber Hose”…..

D-generation —–five In A Row—1989 *6 Melb.
D-generation——five More In A Row 1990 *21 Melb

John Laws—someone New—1959 *31—syd.
John Laws—i Remember—1960 *29—syd.
John Laws—made To Be Loved—1960—*39 Syd .
John Laws—no Name—1972—*18—syd
John Laws…..and More Thru 70′s And Early 80′s

Grantley Dee—let The Little Girl Dance—-1966—-*16

Bazz And Pilko—-bite Your Bum—single Credited
As Peter Plus With Bazz And Pilko—–adelaide 1981

Lorne Greene —started In Canada As A Dj—-
Ringo—-*4 1964 In Aust.

Ernie Sigley–started at 3db….finsihed
at 3aw—Hey, Hey Paula With Denise Drysdale
No. 2 Aust.—1974.

Greg Evans —3xy— Released A
Single To The Tune Of “i’ve Been Everywhere” ….along
The Lines Of “i’ve Played Everyone”….

The event billed as “Radio United” saw the highly competitive commercial sector broadcasting side by side with their commercial counterparts and public service broadcasters from 5.30 am to 9.00 am in the central city locations; Sydney – Martin Place, Melbourne – Federation Square, Brisbane – Reddacliff Place, Adelaide – Victoria Square and Perth – Forrest Place.

In a world first, the metropolitan commercial radio industry effectively road blocked Australian metropolitan radio at 7.40 am today, when they simultaneously broadcast a four minute audio piece featuring competing commercial breakfast show presenters in each market describing their most memorable radio moment or a moment they would like to hear in the future, over a re-working of the iconic Australian song, You’re The Voice.

Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner said the aim of the Radio United outside broadcasts and the playing of the audio piece was to demonstrate the importance of radio in Australian listeners’ lives.

“Competing broadcasters have come together today in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth to celebrate the start of digital radio in Australia. The industry has united for this event and in the audio piece to illustrate the power of radio broadcasting and the effect it has on people,” said Ms Warner.

Each city location had a digital radio “Listener Post” where digital radio manufacturers: Roberts, Sangean, Yamaha, iRiver, Bush, Revo, Grundig and Pure showcased a range of digital radios and enabled listeners to hear and see digital radio on a variety of different receivers.

The first screen based digital radio now available in Australia, the iRiver B30, was on display in each state and highlighted the new visual aspects of digital radio. A fully fitted out car showed how listeners can hear digital radio while driving with the Pure Highway digital radio adaptor.

Digital radio is free – all you need is a new digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in. Listeners can go to the website www.digitalradioplus.com.au and type in their postcode to see if they live in an area where they can receive digital radio or where they will be able to buy a digital radio. Alternatively, simply SMS your postcode to the mobile phone number 0409DRPLUS (0409 377 587) to find out if you can receive digital radio in your area.

To listen to the Radio United 7.40 am audio piece click below or on the Radio United 7.40 am audio link in the news ticker bar.

Sydney 7.40 audio, Melbourne 7.40 audio, Brisbane 7.40 audio, Adelaide 7.40 audio, Perth 7.40 audio, You’re the Voice Song.

Download photographs of the event after 11.00 am at http://gallery.me.com/digitalradio1#100016

Scroll down for Radio United Fast Facts

For further information on digital radio visit: www.digitalradioplus.com.au

Media contacts Sydney – Melissa Fleming – 0417 499 529
Melbourne – Jenny Stevenson – 0402 214 039
Brisbane – Fleur Cole – 0433 161 523
Perth – Chantelle Edwards – 0411 492 299 Adelaide – Hannah Watkins – 0411 362 727

Radio United Fast Facts

• More than 40 radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth participated in the Radio United outside broadcast.

• Gorilla Super Digi sky writing featured over Martin Place in Sydney for the new Bill Caralis digital station now on air.

• More than 500 personnel in the five states worked on the event on the morning.

• 50 marquees were used across the five states to accommodate all the radio stations and Listener Posts.

• Hundreds of digital radios were given away to listeners who attended the outside broadcasts.

• Neilsen research figures for survey four 2009 show the average cumulative breakfast radio audience Monday to Friday in the five state capitals for all stations is 8,761,000 people.

• It took over 1000 emails and a few hundred phone calls, to nearly 50 metro radio stations to get the 130 breakfast show hosts to record about 3 minutes worth of audio (each) for the 7.40 am Radio United audio piece. Only about 5-10 seconds of each personality was used.

• To listen to the Radio United 7.40 am audio piece go to the www.digitalradioplus.com.au website and click on the 7.40 am Radio United audio ticker.

• 92% of all breakfast show presenters chose a memorable moment that they had said themselves, as their favourite radio moment for the 7.40 Radio United audio. David Bowie’s Space Oddity was the most memorable song and the deaths of Princess Diana and Elvis were the most recalled deaths.

• The creator of the 7.40 am audio piece is Ralph van Dijk, founder of radio specialist, Eardrum. Ralph is better known for his radio advertising work, including the very successful commercial radio on air brand campaign, featuring ‘That Radio Bloke’ Mark Mitchell. Ralph is available for interview in person in Sydney on site at the Radio United event or for other states, via phone on the morning on 0414 935 551 or at another pre arranged time.

• Emma-Louise Lobb, the 17-year-old Cairns songwriter who won commercial radio’s 2008 New Artists 2 Radio (NA2R) competition was chosen as the singer to record the song “You’re the Voice” used in the 7.40 am Radio United audio piece. Emma-Louise will be available for interviews on the day please contact her manager Vicki Gordon (0411 877 463).

• Of the 70 tracks that were considered, You’re the Voice was always a strong favourite. The idea that Radio is ‘The Voice’ is something every listener can relate to, and the line “This time we all can stand together” was a great sentiment for the Radio United event

Real- time Airplay Charts track the airplay of one song on one station, through to all songs played on over 60 radio and TV stations, instantly. Market intelligence and competitive analysis just became customised by creating your own real-time ‘Top 40’ charts using today’s data.

AirCheck are exclusive suppliers of TV and radio Airplay for Mediaweek, The Music Network and Radioinfo. Now AirCheck subscribers Austereo, DMG, Australian Radio Network (ARN), Sony Music, Fairfax Radio and many others, including advertising agencies, have these new and enhanced reports at their fingertips.

AirCheck Australia Managing Director, Keith Williams said today ‘We have developed these easy to use, accurate reporting tools specifically so our media partners can see a real time snapshot of song airplay Australia-wide. The addition of music channels MTV and Channel V this year makes the data compelling”

AirCheck is subscribed by all major radio networks and record companies in Australia and has been leading the market with accurate independent commercial and song verification for over 8 years. Click here to see a sample of Real-time Airplay Charts

“Kyle Sandilands management has advised Austereo that he is unable to perform his duties on-air at this time,” Ms Parkes said in the statement.

“Further, following a great deal of consideration and having consulted Jackie O and all stakeholders, Austereo has formed the view that it is in the interest of all parties, for the Kyle & Jackie O Show to go into recess until we have completed an across-the-networks review of the principals and protocols of our interaction with our audience.”

For many years we have referred to it as Limbo Radio, how low can they go, and today they have stooped to the lowest level in the name of sleaze and social perversion. Austereo needs to take a stand in the name of morality in relation to this incident and the first step has to be the termination of Kyle Sandilands from the Today Network.

Perhaps LiveNews sums it up perfectly read their spin on it all here

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, the commercial radio industry body that has driven the move to digital radio, said the radio industry world-wide has been watching with great interest the rollout of digital radio in Australia.

“Many countries that are making decisions about their digital radio future are very interested in the successful rollout of DAB+ digital radio services in Australia. Our all of industry approach of including all stakeholders in the planning and rollout has been successful and the Korean delegation is here to meet the organisations involved,” said Ms Warner.

The Korean delegation is meeting with key stakeholders from the Australian radio industry including; Austereo, Fairfax and the public service broadcasters, plus industry regulator the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), to discuss the successful switch on of digital radio in Australia.

The Korean delegation will also visit the TXA Artarmon tower site to inspect the DAB+ antenna, transmitters and multiplexes.

DAB+ digital radio technology switched on in Australia is the standard already adopted in Switzerland, Malta and Hungary, to be launched in Germany and Italy in 2009 and expected to be trialled and/or adopted in the Czech Republic, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, much of Scandinavia and other European and Asian markets.

For further information on digital radio visit: www.digitalradioplus.com.au

These proposed changes are contained in a draft variation to the Launceston radio licence area plan released today for public comment.

‘The ACMA’s proposed variation follows consideration of the requests from licensees for improvement to reception in Launceston city,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

‘Terrain obstruction is affecting the reception of the 7EX and 7LA services in Launceston city.’

The FM translator services are proposed for use as an ‘infill’ where the coverage from the main transmitter is restricted and suffers multipath reception.

Two companies have expressed their interest in providing a narrowcasting service and one person has previously expressed an interest in providing a community broadcasting service in Launceston.

‘There are currently no open narrowcasting services available in Launceston and the ACMA is of the view that narrowcasting services play a major role in promoting diversity’, said Mr Chapman.

In developing the proposed changes, the ACMA has considered the criteria set out in Part 3 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. As a result of those considerations, the ACMA is also proposing to make the vacant AM frequency, 1008 kHz, available for narrowcasting purposes in Launceston. The ACMA is not proposing to make any frequencies available for additional community radio services as part of this variation.

However, the ACMA will consider comments received from the public in relation to the proposed changes to radio services in Launceston before reaching a final view. Details of the proposal are contained in the explanatory paper and draft variation to the Launceston radio licence area plan. These documents are available from the ACMA website or by calling 1300 850 115

The ACMA received a complaint on 24 February 2009 about the advertisement broadcast on 2KM. After investigating the complaint, the ACMA found the licensee to be in breach of subclause 4(2) of Schedule 2 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA), which requires licensees to also broadcast information (referred to as the ‘required particulars’) immediately following an advertisement that contains political matter.

The ‘required particulars‘ must include the name of the person authorising the broadcast of the political matter, the office location of the person who authorised the matter and the names of every speaker who makes a statement that forms part of the political matter. In addition, the ‘required particulars’ must be broadcast in the same language as the political matter.

In this instance, the political matter was spoken in Arabic.

The breach relates to the licensee’s failure to announce the office location of the authorising person and the name of the speaker in Arabic.

The licensee has acknowledged the breach and has advised that it has educated its staff of its obligations in relation to the broadcast of political matter to ensure that breaches of this nature do not occur in the future.

This is the first breach for the licensee of this licence condition recorded by the ACMA. In light of the steps taken by the licensee the ACMA will take no further action at this stage.

In proceedings brought by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2UE admitted that on 13 occasions during October and November 2007 it breached the Commercial Radio Disclosure Standard. The Disclosure Standard requires licensees to disclose the existence of commercial sponsorship arrangements between presenters and sponsors.

The ACMA welcomes the decision of the Federal Court. 2UE repeatedly breached its obligations under the Act, even after giving the ACMA an enforceable undertaking, committing itself to improve compliance,’ said Chris Cheah, Acting Chairman of the ACMA.

‘The court has confirmed that in matters involving serious contraventions, a substantial civil penalty is an appropriate sanction. ’

In September 2007, 2UE gave the ACMA an enforceable undertaking, which included undertakings that the John Laws Morning Show would be monitored to ensure compliance with the Disclosure Standard and 2UE would take action if disclosure announcements were not made when presenters mentioned sponsors. The undertaking was accepted by the ACMA in response to earlier breaches of the Disclosure Standard in 2006. When the ACMA assessed compliance with that undertaking and with the Disclosure Standard, it identified 13 instances in which a further breach of the Disclosure Standard had occurred.

On 9 November 2007, 2UE was sold to Fairfax Media. Since acquiring 2UE, Fairfax Media has cooperated with the ACMA and has actively sought to improve compliance with its broadcasting obligations.

In November 2008, the ACMA and Fairfax Media agreed on a quantum of penalties that would be presented to the court for its approval in relation to the breaches of the Disclosure Standard during the John Laws Morning Show. The court was asked to accept as appropriate, a penalty of $10,000 for each breach that had been identified and admitted by 2UE as being a breach of the Disclosure Standard.

The court directed the Communications Law Centre to intervene in the proceedings to make submissions on the public interest issues.

Taking into account the submissions of the intervener and the factors to be considered under the BSA, including 2UE’s admission of liability and introduction of a new compliance program the court decided to impose penalties of varying amounts totalling $360,000.

According to the 2009 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue as sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue in the five metropolitan markets for the 09 financial year show Sydney suffered from the strongest decline. The figures show the Sydney market fell by -9.44% to $198 million followed by Adelaide (down 3.44 percent to $59.9 million), Brisbane (down 2.43 percent to $101.9 million), Melbourne (up 1.68 percent to $189 million); and followed by Perth (up 0.93% to $83.8million).

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the latest figures show that radio has survived the global economic crisis better than many other media and remains a great advertising medium in tough economic times.

“The industry is working hard to promote its strengths, particularly in these tough economic times. The latest advertising campaign called, “Radio Advertising, Economically Sound”, highlights the need to trade through the economic crisis and advertise on radio and is part of our ongoing, multi million dollar brand campaign,” Ms Warner said.

“The switch-on of digital radio over the past few months in the five capitals around Australia should also help in attracting new advertising opportunities in future years.”

Ms Warner said the Australian radio industry was strong and robust and was travelling well compared to major overseas markets, like the UK and USA, which have experienced large falls in advertising revenue.

2008 figures for radio advertising revenue in the UK show a fall of about six per cent with a final quarter drop of 14.5%* and in the US, radio ad revenue fell by nine per cent, and 14 per cent in the last quarter.* In Australia, radio ad revenue grew by 0.7%* and for the last quarter in metropolitan markets, fell by about six per cent.*

Ms Warner also said the radio industry was also travelling well in comparison to other traditional media in Australia with some analysts predicting that free to air TV and newspapers would fall far more significantly in generating ad revenue compared to radio in 2009.

now estimates

The trap was actually activated by Hobbsy, via the on air mike. The microphone switch had a 12 volt power supply wired to it, designed to trigger 5 different fireworks.

Four of the fireworks were fired from a top the speakers showering Hobbsy with confetti. Meanwhile a banger within the panel in a special box added to the ensuing chaos with an almighty blast, coinciding with the relentless shower of confetti.

It must be said that Crocky had a special assistant in instigating the trap, in the form of Edge FM General Manager and fireworks magician Col Dayman (also with local company Marshall Fireworks), whose expertise ensured the set-up was executed as planned.

A stunned Hobbsy took it all in good fun and the rest of the breaky show was er, um a real blast.

Incidentally Crocky also set up Edge FM’s AM counterpart 3NE when they had a new panel installed last year. On that occasion breaky announcer Paul Konik was greeted with a special shower of confetti, streamers and a pre recorded welcome disguised as a commercial

Nine finalists will be selected with three winners announced – one each from the following genres: rock, pop and adult contemporary. The three winners will go on to perform at the NA2R showcase event to be held in Sydney this year on October 9th in front of key music and program directors from the commercial radio sector.

All finalists will also attend a radio workshop with leading program and music directors and music marketing professionals. The NA2R workshop offers invaluable insight about how to maximise commercial radio airplay and exposure – a popular feature of the event aimed at helping artists. The workshop will be held in Sydney on September 25.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the initiative was one of the main ways in which the commercial radio sector helped nurture and support Australian musical talent.

“This is an industry-wide initiative which has helped launched some very successful music careers since its inception including artists like Delta Goodrem, Sarah Blasko, Thirsty Merc, Jade McRae, the Sunpilots and Ashleigh Mannix,” Ms Warner said.

“Last year’s winners, Ashleigh Mannix, Emma-Louise and Boston Shaker are all in the process of finishing their debut albums following their wins in the NA2R competition.”

The three winners of the event will receive:

• Four weeks of airplay, across the day, on the Australian Radio Network, Austereo, DMG Radio, Macquarie Southern Cross Media, ACE Radio, Prime Radio and Grant Broadcasters.

• A share in $150,000 worth of radio advertising promoting the artists and their winning song on four of the major commercial radio networks: Australian Radio Network, Austereo, DMG Radio and Macquarie Southern Cross Media.

• An artist development package for the winner in each category including MGM Distribution at retail and digital online sales via ITunes. All winning singles will be submitted to ARIA for inclusion in the ARIA single chart survey.

• Advice from VGM (Media & Marketing) regarding mainstream print, electronic and digital music media and marketing, artist management and radio tracking to ensure maximum exposure. Design of their single cover and CD for distribution through MGM.

“Unearthing new Australian talent has always been one of the key roles played by commercial radio and this initiative now provides some fantastic tools for unsigned artists to help them break into commercial radio and the music industry,” Ms Warner said.

Artists and bands can enter online at www.na2r.com.au by uploading two of their best commercially savvy tracks, a biography and photo. Entries will be accepted until July 3.

Submissions will be judged by a panel of commercial radio network program and music directors, based on their commercial radio play potential.

The reclusive and now retired former anarchic Triple M breakfast radio king was in fact having a fine old time, but was upset about a rumour – source unknown – that he’d had a major heart attack. Full article Daily Telegraph

“At least rove doesn’t claim to be australia’s number one radio show on its twitter profile description when it isn’t,” Hughes tweeted.

Sandilands: “Rove cant brag being#1 coz he ain’t..We Are!.R u still confused Kx.”

Hughes: “You might be in Sydney but shows in other parts of oz have more listeners than u guys so you’re not #1 so to say u r is dim.”

Sandilands: “Ummm….we ARE #1 in every city i.e. Nationally. So check ur facts then eat my arse c*********!!! K.”

Hughes: “Yuk. But well done on riding coattails of others then crowing like a deranged loon.”

Sandilands: “Doesn’t matter how u look at it. We r #1 national & #1 in our very own timeslot & the most competitive/important slot…breakfast.”

Hughes: “Seriously well done on your national offpeak hour show that comes on after a show that rates skyhigh. U r the real hero.”

Sandilands: “Ur show’s a long way off #1.That can’t feel nice.I am detecting a hint of jealousy in ur msg’s.Oh well,keep counting those pennies.”

Hughes: “Someone once told me ‘if you’re good you won’t have to tell people, they’ll tell you.’ something in that for us all yeah?”

The former AFL coach was calling last nights West Coast and Collingwood game when the remark went to air on ABC stations across the country. It is believed that ABC switchboards were jammed last night with irate listeners wanting to voice their complaints.

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia the industry body that has driven the move to digital radio on behalf of both the commercial and public broadcasters said Brisbane radio listeners have been keen to sample digital radio.

“Brisbane’s digital radio switch on has been eagerly awaited, with listeners approaching digital radio retailers many weeks before DAB+ digital services were set to begin,” said Ms Warner.

“Listener response to our “digital radio is coming” awareness campaign has been outstanding. New retailers are contacting manufacturers to stock digital radios. The initial market response in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne has been terrific with retailers already re-ordering digital radio stock.”

Commercial Radio Australia announced last month sales of DAB+ digital radio receivers will be tracked and monitored but said it was unlikely any figures will be released in the short term but rather when the industry begins to see trending in the uptake.

Ms Warner said as each state switches on we are seeing a marked increase in activity on our www.digitalradioplus website with consumers carrying out a postcode check to see if they live in a digital radio area and where they can buy a new digital radio.

All new DAB+ digital radio services will be broadcast in interference test mode for the first couple of weeks, which means that power will be lower at night while any interference is assessed. Interference testing in Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide has been carefully monitored without any major issues.

Due to the torrential rains and damaging winds in Brisbane this week, digital radio services may need to be switched off for a six hour period during the first week as part of the interference management scheme.

“We’ll be illustrating the use of the new technology by using the scrolling text feature of digital radio to let Brisbane listeners who have already purchased a digital radio know when it will take place. This will ensure they understand it’s not an issue with their radio just part of our interference testing,” said Ms Warner.

“The switch on of digital radio is a culmination of seven years work with the Federal Government, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), commercial broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, together with retailers and manufacturers of digital radios to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated switch on of a compelling new way of listening to radio,” said Ms Warner.

Digital radio means you can still listen to your favourite stations, plus new programming such as Austereo’s Radar and Pink Radio and DMG’s NovaNation and Koffee – all in digital quality sound and with interference free reception, plus the ability to tune to the station by name, rather than frequency, and on some radios, the ability to pause and rewind a few minutes if you missed a song you like, plus scrolling news, sport and weather text and the capacity to transmit on screen on some receivers, a picture of a radio host, cover of a CD or a product picture.

“The Australian radio industry has invested in and created its digital future and will compete with other digital technologies and continue to maintain radio’s relevance in listener’s lives,” said Ms Warner

DAB+ is the digital technology of the future with Poland announcing a trial this week. DAB+ digital radio is either on air, trialling or being considered in Belgium, Germany, Italy, China, India, Malaysia, Iran, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Germany’s recent announcement of a national DAB+ multiplex to expand existing digital radio coverage and services in the country has given a major boost in confidence in the DAB+ standard to the European automotive sector.

AM and FM services will continue to be broadcast for sometime to allow for the change over of the estimated 50 million analogue radios currently owned by Australians. Digital radio is free to air – all you need is a new digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in. Listeners can go to the website www.digitalradioplus.com.au type in their postcode to see if they live in an area where they can receive digital radio or where they will be able to buy a digital radio.

But Mr Gibbons, federal Labor MP for Bendigo, believes all community radio stations may be allowed to continue broadcasting, and that Bendigo may be able to receive a better reception of News Radio.

“The Australian Communications and Media Authority is in consultation with local community radio stations about the reallocation of broadcast frequencies,” he said.

“I understand that ACMA has now identified additional available frequencies that may allow all our existing community radio stations to continue broadcasting, as well as allocating a frequency to News Radio.

“Recent discussions with Minister Steve Conroy’s office give me hope that this could be a win-win outcome for community radio listeners, as well as those who would welcome better News Radio reception in Bendigo.

“News Radio performs an important democratic function by broadcasting sittings of the Federal Parliament, but community radio is a vital service for many people in regional Australia.”

Mr Gibbons said ACMA found, after a review and community outcry, that three other frequencies were available, eliminating the need for stations to share frequencies.

“If ACMA’s original proposals were adopted, they would have disadvantaged many people and interest groups in the central Victorian region who rely on community radio for information, entertainment and local news,” he said.

Always upbeat, he was still working from his hospital bed up until a few days ago and it was in that hospital bed that he listened (audio) to Marty Fields paying tribute to him on a 3AW segment earlier this week. Bud loved radio and was an avid talkback listener, however radio and Bud have a much richer history than a lovely old man with his ear tuned to his transistor.

Bud got his start in radio and we need to thank his father for that, as this piece from his blog says: Looking back, I suppose the cinema, or the ‘pictures’, as we probably called it, was very, very important to us, or to me. I loved the magic of what movies could do. I loved film and radio. Dad said, “Look, why don’t you apply for this job?” “Cadet announcer / panel operator wanted for leading Sydney commercial radio station, 2CH.” So I applied and they offered me the job, making me the youngest radio announcer in Australia.

So as you can see, radio is where it all started for Bud, drop by his blog and pay tribute to the man that brought joy and entertainment to generations of Australians. Bud’s Blog here

Digital Radio Channel Plans (DRCPs) released by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) show Adelaide has one of the highest levels of coverage from day one of the new technology – with well over 90% of the Adelaide population able to access digital radio.

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia the industry body that has driven the move to digital radio said the extensive work with ACMA, Adelaide’s terrain and the position of the Mount Lofty tower will enable Adelaide listeners to receive exception digital radio coverage.

“Adelaide’s digital radio switch on is another landmark achievement for the industry in Australia following the successful commencement of DAB+ digital radio services in Perth and Melbourne,” said Ms Warner.

“The potential digital radio offers for AFL followers in Adelaide is very exciting. Adelaide Crows fans will be able to listen to the game on digital radio while scrolling text can provide Port Adelaide and other AFL team score updates and game statistics on screen or you will be able to pause and then rewind if you missed who kicked a goal – these are all possible with the new capabilities of digital radio,’ said Ms Warner.

Ms Warner said for the first week to 10 days the DAB+ broadcasts in Adelaide will be in interference test mode which means that the power will be lower at night while any interference is assessed.

“The digital radio switch on in Melbourne and Perth went very smoothly, traffic to our www.digitalradioplus.com.au website and our retailer partner websites has increased with listeners seeking more information about digital radio.”

“The switch on of digital radio is a culmination of seven years work with the Federal Government, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), commercial broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, together with retailers and manufacturers of digital radios to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated switch on of a compelling new way of listening to radio,” said Ms Warner.

Digital radio is the radio you know and love plus new programming such as Austereo’s Radar and Pink Radio and DMG’s NovaNation and Koffee, digital quality sound and interference free reception, the ability to tune to the station by name, rather than frequency, and on some radios, the ability to pause and rewind a few minutes if you missed a song you like, plus scrolling news, sport and weather text and the capacity to transmit on screen on some receivers, a picture of a radio host, cover of a CD or a product picture.

“The Australian radio industry has invested in and created its digital future and will compete with other digital technologies and continue to maintain radio’s relevance in listener’s lives,” said Ms Warner

AM and FM services will continue to be broadcast for sometime to allow for the change over of the estimated 50 million analogue radios currently owned by Australians.

Digital radio is free to air – all you need is a new digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in. Listeners can go to the website www.digitalradioplus.com.au and type in their postcode to see if they live in an area where they can receive digital radio or where they will be able to buy a digital radio.

Alternatively, simply SMS your postcode to the mobile phone number 0409DRPLUS (0409 377 587) to find out if you can receive digital radio in your area.

DAB+ digital radios will be available in all shapes and sizes including MP3 style devices, hi fi, portable players, clock radios, car adaptors and PC radios. Prices will vary depending on their features. Entry level radios are likely to start from around A$150 and a radio with all the digital capabilities will start at around A$299.

Manufacturers producing DAB+ digital radios include; Pure, Roberts, Bush, Revo, Grundig, iRiver, Sangean, Yamaha and Teac with other manufactures expected to introduce further products throughout 2009.

Digital radios will be available to purchase throughout May at leading retailers including; Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Clive Peeters, Retravision, Big W and specialist retailers.

Commercial digital radio services are expected to be switched on in Brisbane on 25 May and Sydney 30 May barring any weather delays.

ABC and SBS are expected to commence digital services throughout June/July. Please continue to check the www.digitalradioplus.com.au website where information will be regularly updated.

“But from the ABC’s low base, the increase in funding delivered to the national broadcaster is disappointing.

“It does not meet the Government’s pre-election promise to Friends of the ABC to ensure the ABC is “fully funded”.

“The kids of Australia will benefit from a new dedicated children’s TV channel, and there is funding for new regional broadband hubs that will broadcast audience-generated content.

“But the funding of the new has come at the expense of established networks. The shortfall in ABC funding that was revealed in leaks from the KPMG report on the adequacy of ABC funding appears to have been ignored.

“With the exception of some additional funding for local drama, the Government has regrettably not provided sufficient funding to address the ABC’s declining resources in existing services, such as documentary and science programming, the ABC’s domestic and international radio networks, news and current affairs.

“The increase in funding for Australian drama is insufficient to meet communications minister Conroy’s expectation of an annual output of ninety hours. It will result in programming of questionable quality. It is also premised on all production being outsourced, so that it is supplemented with funding from elsewhere.

“Nor has the Budget addressed the need for additional content for emerging services like online and digital radio, other than audience-generated content for regional broadband hubs.

“The ABC is Australia’s pre-eminent cultural, information and education institution. Victoria’s recent bushfires reminded the community of the importance of public broadcasting. The ABC is no less important than any other service, and it is in the interest of the nation that it be well-funded,” said Glenys Stradijot.

Today, magistrate Peter Reardon placed Hunt on a 12-month community based order, without conviction.

He ordered the 3AW broadcaster perform 100 hours of community work.

“In my view, you should at your age be entitled to rely on your good character and not have a conviction imposed upon you,” Mr Reardon said.

“All of us are prone to be fallible, prone to make mistakes and poor judgments. No doubt you have done this in this case.”

Outside court, Hunt agreed with Mr Reardon’s comment that he had let his family and fans down.

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia the industry body that has driven the move to digital radio said Monday was another milestone for the industry in Australia following the switch on of DAB+ digital radio in Perth last week.

“The possibilities for digital radio in the sport loving state of Melbourne are very exciting. AFL final calls on radio with scrolling text scores and stats or the Melbourne Cup with photos of winners or pause and then rewind if you missed the end of the race – these are all possible with the new capabilities of digital radio,’ said Ms Warner.

“DAB+ services in Melbourne have been greatly anticipated with many of the digital radio manufacturers such as Pure, Sangean, Teac, Roberts and Yamaha based in Melbourne. The digital radio switch on in Perth went very smoothly and traffic to our www.digitalradioplus.com.au website has been very high with listeners seeking more information about digital radio.”

“The switch on of digital radio is a culmination of seven years work with the Federal Government, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), commercial broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, together with retailers and manufacturers of digital radios to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated switch on of a compelling new way of listening to radio,” said Ms Warner.

Digital radio is the radio you know and love plus new programming such as Austereo’s Radar and Pink Radio and DMG’s NovaNation and Koffee, digital quality sound and interference free reception, the ability to tune to the station by name, rather than frequency, and on some radios, the ability to pause and rewind a few minutes if you missed a song you like, plus scrolling news, sport and weather text and the capacity to transmit on screen on some receivers, a picture of a radio host, cover of a CD or a product picture.

“The Australian radio industry has invested in and created its digital future and will compete with other digital technologies and continue to maintain radio’s relevance in listener’s lives,” said Ms Warner

Ms Warner said for the first week to 10 days the DAB+ broadcasts in Melbourne will be in interference test mode which means that the power may be lower at night while any interference is assessed.

Digital Radio Channel Plans (DRCP) by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) show a very high level of coverage from day one of the new technology. AM and FM services will continue to be broadcast for sometime to allow for the change over of the estimated 50 million analogue radios currently owned by Australians.

Digital radio will be free to air – all you need is a new digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in. Listeners can go to the website www.digitalradioplus.com.au and type in their postcode to see if they live in an area where they can receive digital radio or where they will be able to buy a digital radio.

Alternatively, simply SMS your postcode to the mobile phone number 0409DRPLUS (0409 377 587) to find out if you can receive digital radio in your area.

DAB+ digital radios will be available in all shapes and sizes including MP3 style devices, hi fi, portable players, clock radios, car adaptors and PC radios. Prices will vary depending on their features. Entry level radios are likely to start from around A$150 and a radio with all the digital capabilities will start at around A$299.

Manufacturers producing DAB+ digital radios include; Pure, Roberts, Bush, Revo, Grundig, iRiver, Sangean, Yamaha and Teac with other manufactures expected to introduce further products throughout 2009.

Digital radios will be available to purchase throughout May at leading retailers including; Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Clive Peeters, Retravision and specialist retailers.

Commercial digital radio services are expected to be switched on in each city from the dates below barring any weather delays. For the first 10 -14 days services might be on low power at night as any potential interference is addressed.

Perth – 4 May
Melbourne – 11 May
Adelaide – 20 May
Brisbane – 25 May
Sydney – 30 May

ABC and SBS are expected to commence digital services throughout June/July. Please continue to check the www.digitalradioplus.com.au website where information will be regularly updated.

For further information on digital radio visit: www.digitalradioplus.com.au
Media contact Melissa Fleming, CRA PR Manager Digital on – 0417 499 529.

DIGITAL RADIO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: When will digital radio be available in Australia?
Australian commercial digital radio services will officially be switched-on progressively throughout May in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. In the first 10-14 days of roll-out, and as required by the regulator, stations will be broadcasting in interference test mode to make sure any interference issues are dealt with.

Q; Will I be able to receive digital radio?
Type your postcode into the search function on digitalradioplus.com.au

Q; Will digital radio cost listeners anything?
No. Listeners simply have to buy a receiver to listen to digital radio with products priced from $150 above. There are no other costs – no subscription fees, no messing about with signing up, just tune in.

Q: What extra features will digital radio provide?
Digital radio will provide new stations – like Austereo’s Radar and DMG’s Koffee and Novanation. Digital radio also means you can listen to your existing favourite radio stations but with digital sound quality. There are many advantages to digital radio – it will provide better reception, more details about advertised products, discussion topics, news items, sports and racing via text, graphics, pictures and animation. Features like pause and rewind will be available on some digital receivers, and, you can tune by station name, not frequency, making it easy to find your favourite stations.

Q: What radio receivers are available?
To listen to digital radio, consumers will need a new receiver. Digital radios will come in all shapes and sizes, including MP3 devices, hi fi systems, portable players and clock radios. PC radios, which plug into a computer and allow receiver functions to be controlled from the computer screen, will also be available. In-car adaptors and upgrades are also expected to be available and there are likely to be adaptor kits for mobile phones.

Q: Where can I buy a new DAB+ radio?
Major retailers are expected to stock a range of digital radios from May including Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Clive Peeters, Big W, Target, Retravision and specialist retailers.

Q: How much will a DAB+ radio cost?
Like any product range, digital radio prices will vary depending on the features and capabilities. Entry-level receivers (with scrolling text) are likely to start from around $150 and receivers with all capabilities are expected to start at around $299.

Q: Who makes DAB+ digital radios?
Pure, Roberts, Sangean, Bush, Revo, Grundig, Teac, Yamaha and iRiver are just some of the manufacturers making DAB+ digital radios. Other manufacturers will be introducing more products throughout 2009.

Q: Will AM and FM radio be switched off soon?
There are no plans at this stage to switch off AM and FM radio services. As there is an estimated five radio devices per home, listeners must be given time to change over all of their radio devices before any discussion of switch off of analogue services. In addition, planning needs to commence for the switch on of digital services to the rest of Australia outside of the five launch cities.

Q: I sometimes get crackling on my AM signal will this happen with digital radio?
Digital radio will provide interference free, digital quality sound and your radio will find the best signal in your area rather than you messing around with tuning the dial.

Q: Can I receive AM and FM on my new digital radio?
Digital radios will come in a range of different models. To ensure your radio receives digital radio services in Australia it must be DAB+ enabled. Some DAB+ radios will also receive FM. However you’ll be able to hear your favourite AM and FM stations simulcast on DAB+. Look for the logo on the product pack or in store.

Q: When will I be able to receive digital radio in other areas outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth?
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has already started planning the digital radio rollout in other areas throughout Australia. A regional trial of digital radio will commence later this year and CRA is calling on the Federal Government to allocate VHF Band III spectrum in regional areas for the rollout of digital radio services across Australia.

Q: Is digital radio the same as internet radio?
No, digital radio is broadcast free to air over the airwaves via DAB+ technology. Internet-only radio services are streamed over the telecommunications networks and incur a download cost which varies depending on the internet service provider package. Free to air broadcast radio stations will also stream their current radio stations plus any new digital services, i.e. Radar, Koffee, Novanation, on the internet as well as broadcasting, so the content can be accessed on both platforms.

Q: When is the ABC and SBS going digital?
The ABC and SBS digital radio switch on is targeted for throughout June and July 2009.

Q: How are you telling listeners about digital radio?
A three phase digital radio advertising campaign, promoting the switch on of digital radio services to listeners has commenced on all commercial radio stations and on SBS radio in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The first phase of the $10 million dollar on-air campaign raises listeners’ awareness that radio is going digital. It also promotes the website: www.digitalradioplus.com.au which contains extensive information about digital radio for consumers. Phase two of the ad campaign outlines the new capabilities and benefits of digital radio and is designed to generate heightened listener interest, and phase three will drive listeners to actively engage with digital radio and seek out retail outlets for digital radio receivers as the switch on takes place. Phase three will also promote a national listener focused simultaneous five state capital launch event, planned for 6 August, which will include all commercial networks as well as SBS and the ABC.

Q: Can I receive digital radio through my digital TV set top box?
Currently we are unaware of a digital TV set top box that will receive DAB+. However, we have been advised that a number of manufacturers are currently working on integrating DAB+ into a digital TV set top box. As new DAB+ products become available they will be featured on the www.digitalradioplus.com.au website.

Q: How do I receive digital radio in my car?
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has met with the car industry who are aware of the digital radio launch and say they are working towards a DAB+ solution. The after car market will also have a number of options including a specific in car adaptor, plus you may also be able to link your portable DAB+ receiver via Bluetooth in your car or through car navigation systems – GPS. CRA is working with manufacturers to encourage them to include a DAB+ solution standard into the in car navigation system. Other receiver manufacturers CRA has spoken with are working on after-car market options.

Q: What should I look for when purchasing a digital radio to ensure it will work in Australia?
Only DAB+ radios will receive digital radio in Australia. When buying a new digital radio look for the DAB+ enabled logo.

Commercial and Public Broadcaster Stations Going Digital in 2009

Sydney – 2GB, 2CH, 2UE, 2DAY, TRIPLE M, 2KY, WS-FM, MIX 106.5, 2SM, NOVA, VEGA, ABC & SBS stations – including ABC Radio National, Triple J, Classic FM, News Radio, Local Radio. Radar, Novanation and Koffee.

Melbourne – MIX, GOLD, SEN, 3AW, 3MP, FOX, MAGIC, TRIPLE M, NOVA, VEGA, Sport 927, ABC & SBS stations – including ABC Radio National, Triple J, Classic FM, News Radio, Local Radio. Radar, Novanation and Koffee.

Brisbane – 4BC, 4BH, 4KQ, B105, TRIPLE M, NOVA, RADIO TAB, 97.3 FM, ABC & SBS stations – including ABC Radio National, Triple J, Classic FM, News Radio, Local Radio. Radar and Novanation.

Adelaide – 5AA, MIX, SA-FM, TRIPLE M, NOVA, CRUISE, ABC & SBS stations – including ABC Radio National, Triple J, Classic FM, News Radio, Local Radio. Radar, Novanation and Koffee.

Perth – 6IX, 6PR, 96 FM, MIX, 92.9FM, NOVA, ABC & SBS stations – including ABC Radio National, Triple J, Classic FM, News Radio, Local Radio. Radar and Novanation.

Showprep.fm is a completely free service and is already in talks with various companies to partner up to provide free imaging and much more in the future for registered users.

Stephen Jones who set up the website BETA testing just over a month ago can’t believe the response “The feedback we are getting about the site is totally amazing and if the first few weeks of BETA testing are anything to go by – showprep.fm is going to be a massive resource and networking tool.

The website is split up into areas including “groundzero” which is the gateway to the rest of the site which includes THE HUB (the heart of showprep.fm) – the showprep.fm arcade – galleries and even a media centre. Visit now

The ASCA ad, called “21st Birthday”, was announced as winner of the industry’s annual award for creative excellence in radio advertising, and will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions to be held next month at the Cannes Advertising Festival. The ad, one of three in a campaign, is controversial in its use of humour to promote awareness about child abuse, and the television campaign has been heavily criticised for being “insensitive.” ASCA is a national organisation which works to improve the lives of adult survivors of child abuse throughout Australia.

The awards were judged by the Siren Council, comprising creative directors and producers from advertising agencies and studios from throughout Australia. Judge, Emma Hill, Group Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO said of the winning ad: “It was the stand out ad in terms of making you stay, listening and feel something, even though that something was “incredibly uncomfortable.” So many radio ads just wash over you and are easy to ignore. This one wasn’t.”

Ms Hill said the ad was not insensitive or inappropriate: “It’s hard hitting yes, but I think it gets the message across that child abuse is very difficult to move on from and that victims need a lot of love and support to do so.”

Judge, Craig Moore, creative director, One for All, said the ad was hard to ignore: “In past years there has been two or three standouts in the pack, this track won by a mile.”

Writer, Steve Dodds from Whybin TBWA, said not many ads feature people laughing about child abuse: “Most public service commercials try to tug at the heart strings, or shock with graphic imagery. We figured people tune out to that kind of approach. A lot of people think victims of childhood abuse should just get over it and we wanted to show they can’t. It’d be great if they could, but they can’t.”

ASCA Chair, Dr Cathy Kezelman said the organisation was thrilled with the impact of the radio campaign: “The three radio ads, the radio component of ASCA’s national campaign are sharp and punchy and like the rest of the campaign, confront the long-term legacy of child abuse head on. They highlight the horror of emotional, sexual and physical abuse intentionally utilising both male and female perpetrators and victims. Like the rest of the campaign they brashly disarm the audience, shattering taboos and getting people thinking and talking about the repercussions of childhood abuse, often for the very first time. We are thrilled with their impact; they are spearheading real change.”

The ad, “Rugby”, also part of the ASCA campaign, won a Silver Siren Award today for the 2009 craft category winner. The ad was produced by sound engineer, Beau Silvester from Whybin TBWA and creative directors were Garry Horner and Matt Kemsley.

The other Silver Siren winner announced today was a campaign for Perth Zoo, called “Find your Animal”, written by Kurt Beaudoin and Josh Edge from agency, The Brand Agency in Perth.

Judge, Emma Hill, Group Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO said about the Perth Zoo campaign: “Great campaigns win because great executions can keep coming and coming from the idea, without there being the classic example of a great script, then a good second one, then an ok third one. Perth Zoo won because the idea came from an interesting insight, and they proved endless executions can come from it. I thought the performances and casting were awesome.”

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and highlight the great work being achieved.

“Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality. There have been nearly 600 entries this year – a fantastic result which shows how important this Award has become. Also the success of past winners and entrants at Cannes is testament to the fact that great work is being achieved with radio ads in Australia,” Ms Warner said.

Last year’s Gold Siren winner was an advertisement for RACV Financial Services called “Disclaimer”, written by Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber from Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne, which went on to win a Silver Radio Lion at the 2008 Cannes Advertising Festival. The RACV ad was one of three 2008 Sirens finalists and winners that made it to the radio shortlist in Cannes last year.

The national Siren Awards, now in their fifth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. A winner is announced in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft as well as an overall winner who receives the Gold Siren.

The winner was announced at a breakfast in Sydney today, hosted by Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman and Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson, from the drivetime show, “The Jono & Dano Show”, on-air on WS-FM (Sydney), GOLD 104 (Melbourne) and 4KQ (Brisbane), as well as many regional stations across Australia. The breakfast was followed by a one day seminar on how to write and produce good radio ads, called “Getting Radio off the Page”.

Media contact: Jenny Stevenson (02) 9281 6577 or (0402) 214 039.
Media note: Winning ads can be heard and downloaded on website: www.sirenawards.com.au

List of 2009 Siren Award winners:

Siren Awards 2009 Overall Category Winner (Gold Trophy)
Agency: Whybin TBWA, Sydney
Writer: Steve Dodds
Client: Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA)
Commercial Title: “21st Birthday”

Siren Awards 2009 Single Category Winner (Silver Trophy)
Agency: Whybin TBWA, Sydney
Writer: Steve Dodds
Client: Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA)
Commercial Title: “21st Birthday”

Siren Awards 2009 Campaign Category Winner (Silver Trophy)
Agency: The Brand Agency, Perth
Writer: Kurt Beaudoin and Josh Edge
Client: Perth Zoo
Campaign Title: “Find Your Animal”

Siren Awards 2009 Craft Category Winner (Silver Trophy)
Agency: Whybin TBWA, Sydney
Sound Engineer: Beau Silvester
Creative Director: Garry Horner and Matt Kemsley
Client: Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA)
Campaign Title: “Rugby”

About the Siren Awards
What are the Siren Awards? The Siren Awards are a national, annual advertising award, started in 2005, designed to encourage excellence and creativity in radio advertising.

How do they work? The award recognises excellence in radio creativity – and contains five rounds each year, plus a final call round. The annual Gold Siren winner is chosen from the winners and highly commended in each round and is judged by the Siren Creative Council, a group comprising leading creative directors from national advertising agencies, radio stations and production studios.

Who can enter and how? People writing radio ads from advertising agencies or radio stations. Entry is free via a dedicated website. www.sirenawards.com.au

What are the categories? Radio Single, Radio Campaign (consisting of no less than three commercials) and the Craft Category.

Who judges the Award? The annual award is judged by the Siren Creative Council. The winner of each round during the year then judges the following round.

What are the prizes? Apart from recognition gained from winning the bi-monthly award, the ultimate winner for the year wins a trip for two to Cannes and is entered into the Cannes Radio Lions award. Other prizes include the Gold & Silver Siren trophy as well as inclusion on a CD which includes audio of all the Siren winners.

Phillip Alexander Kenworthy, 44, whose father died in 1994, attacked at knifepoint three Surrey Hills women in 1982 and 1985. Full article

It tops a list of the 20 most-played songs on Australian radio since 1990, based on data compiled by the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA). Guitarist Carlos Santana’s hit 1999 duet with Matchbox 20′s Rob Thomas, Smooth, came in at number two with 275,196 plays. Read the entire article

Qatar Foundation radio station preparing to go on terrestrial FM
From Media Network Weblog. Posted May 2 2009, 8.31am
QF Radio, established to foster a deeper understanding of Qatar Foundation’s mission and vision, is preparing to go terrestrial in FM, within a couple of months. Streaming online (www.qfradio.org. (more)

Global Radio seeks to quash debt fears
From The Times. Posted May 2 2009, 10.10pm
AUDITORS to Global Radio, the owner of Classic FM and Heart, have raised concerns about the company’s future after it failed to reorganise its debts before posting overdue accounts. (more)

Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia the industry body that has driven the move to digital radio said Monday was a milestone for the industry in Australia and is the biggest innovation in radio since the introduction of FM in the 1970’s.

“The switch on of digital radio is a culmination of seven years work with the Federal Government, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), commercial broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, together with retailers and manufacturers of digital radios to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated switch on of a compelling new way of listening to radio,” said Ms Warner.

“The Australian radio industry has invested in and created its digital future and will compete with other digital technologies and continue to maintain radio’s relevance in listener’s lives,” said Ms Warner

Ms Warner said for the first week to 10 days the DAB+ broadcasts will be in interference test mode which means that the power may be lower at night while any interference is assessed.

“Digital radio is the radio you know and love plus new programming such as Austereo’s Radar and Pink Radio and DMG’s Novanation and Koffee, digital quality sound and interference free reception, the ability to tune to the station by name, rather than frequency, and on some radios, the ability to pause and rewind a few minutes if you missed a song you like, plus scrolling news, sport and weather text and the capacity to transmit on screen on some receivers, a picture of a radio host, cover of a CD or a product picture,“ said Ms Warner.

Digital Radio Channel Plans (DRCP) by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) show a very high level of coverage from day one of the new technology – with well over 90% of the Perth population able to access digital radio.

AM and FM services will continue to be broadcast for sometime to allow for the change over of the estimated 50 million analogue radios currently owned by Australians.

Digital radio will be free to air – all you need is a new digital receiver – no subscription fees or signing up, just tune in. Listeners can go to the website www.digitalradioplus.com.au and type in their postcode to see if they live in an area where they can receive digital radio or where they will be able to buy a digital radio.

Alternatively, simply SMS your postcode to the mobile phone number 0409DRPLUS (0409 377 587) to find out if you can receive digital radio in your area.

DAB+ digital radios will be available in all shapes and sizes including MP3 style devices, hi fi, portable players, clock radios, car adaptors and PC radios. Prices will vary depending on their features. Entry level radios are likely to start from around A$150 and a radio with all the digital capabilities will start at around A$299.

Manufacturers producing DAB+ digital radios include; Pure, Roberts, Bush, Revo, Grundig, iRiver, Sangean, Yamaha and Teac with other manufactures expected to introduce further products throughout 2009.

Digital radios will be available to purchase from May at leading retailers including; Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, The Good Guys, Myer, David Jones, Clive Peeters, Big W, Retravision and specialist retailers.

Commercial digital radio services are expected to be switched on in each city from the dates below barring any weather delays. For the first 10 -14 days services might be on low power at night as any potential interference is addressed.

Perth – 4 May
Melbourne – 11 May
Adelaide – 15 May
Brisbane – 25 May
Sydney – 30 May

ABC and SBS are expected to commence digital services throughout June/July.

For further information on digital radio visit: www.digitalradioplus.com.au

At the end of 2008 a set of draft specifications, proposed to Commercial Radio Australia by Fairfax Digital and Adstream, was distributed for comment and input from advertising creative directors, technical engineers, members of the digital radio advertising advisory group, and the digital technical advisory committee (DTAC).

This week, as commercial digital services are preparing to switch on across the country, a committee representing broadcasters and digital courier companies met to further develop and expand the draft specifications for the production of digital content.

Attending the meeting were representatives from ARN, Austereo, DMG, Fairfax Radio, as well as key digital courier companies; Adstream, Audionet, DubSat, Fairfax Digital, Music Point and DStar.

The aim of developing the new production specifications is to achieve an easy to use and reliable digital radio production distribution process that can be used within the industry and by external content creators such as creative and advertising agencies.

“Agreement was reached on the basic components of an effective set of specifications and the group will now finalise the industry specifications for distribution to all stakeholders in the next couple of months,” said Joan Warner, Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer. “The industry would like to express its appreciation for the early work done by Adstream and Fairfax Digital which will provide valuable input into the development of the final specifications.”

The spectrum efficiency of the digital technology DAB+ means broadcasters can add additional radio channels or provide on a small screen, scrolling news, sport and weather text or transmit a picture of a radio host, band or advertiser’s logo.

The digital radio production and distribution specifications will provide consistent audio and visual production values to meet digital radio’s unique needs and specifically match audio and text/image files at the final broadcast point to ensure the correct visuals are displayed with the correct audio.
Free-to-air digital radio services will be switched on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth throughout May 2009.

It said Macquarie Group is contemplating a capital raising and seeking a trading halt until such time as it is in a position to make a further announcement in relation to the capital raising. ABC article

The station has been launched to celebrate Pink’s Funhouse Tour – the largest music tour ever in Australia. The station will play Pink songs, supported by interviews with Pink by the Today Network’s Kyle and Jackie O and Hamish and Andy and songs from her favourite acts.

Pink Radio will only exist for three months and is supported by Optus, one of the official Pink tour sponsors. Austereo and Media Agency MPG have worked closely together in the development of this media first.
“Optus is very excited to partner Austereo to launch this new media platform and with such a high profile artist. It enables us to bring a unique and innovative experience to our customers, many of whom are avid Pink fans.

We look forward to supporting the new radio station dedicated to Pink during the Australian tour,” Anthony Hearne, Acting Optus Consumer Marketing Director. Aimee Buchanan, MPG’s Client Service Director said “We saw this brief as the perfect opportunity to trial new platforms and extend the Pink sponsorship beyond traditional channels.

If offered us the chance to trial digital radio for the youth segment with a compelling message and product.”

It is Austereo’s second digital station, with Radar – featuring undiscovered artists – launched in December last year.

Austereo head of digital strategy Jeremy Macvean said Pink Radio demonstrated the innovation that could be used within digital radio.
“Digital radio allows us the flexibility to create unique formats to meet the desires of our audiences and our clients,” he said.

“For three months it’ll be Pink Radio – then it could be something like U2 radio, as we did with Triple M, or Footy Finals Radio.

“When we launched Australia’s first commercial digital station last year, Radar, we showed that digital radio isn’t going to restrict us to traditional formats. “Starting off with Pink Radio is very exciting. She is the most played and requested artist on our Today Network and the Funhouse Tour is one of the most anticipated tours ever.

“There are many exciting opportunities for unique content and new ways for clients to be a part of our networks. Having Optus sign up as the sponsor of the station shows what we’re able to achieve on digital and how quickly we’re able to set it up and have it
on air.
“Austereo is leading the country in digital radio as we push further into becoming a cross-media entertainment company, beyond just a radio network. “Our business is already substantially digital with over one million unique browsers on our websites each month, the country’s leading podcasts and now new digital radio
formats.”
Listeners will be able to access Pink Radio online at the Today Network radio station websites and the Optus Recharge Live Large website from Monday 4 May and phased rollout on DAB+ digital radio.

Grantley, a 2008 AFI winner for best lead actor in Underbelly, will provide insights into his experience as an actor across film, television and theatre. He joins fellow actor, writer and director, Rob Carlton, best-known for his work in The Hollowmen and the comedy series, Chandon Pictures, who will speak at the Sirens Masterclass, about his extensive experience with production and direction of comedy.

The Masterclass, with the title “Getting radio off the Page” will focus on writing and production of radio ads, and will be held in Sydney at Waters Edge, Walsh Bay on May 8. Other speakers at this year’s Masterclass include casting director, Anousha Zarkesh, who has over twenty years experience working in the industry and has cast many Australian films.

Also speaking is commercials director, Tim Bullock, who has worked in advertising and is renowned for his directing skills, particularly with comedy. Advertising radio specialist and creator of the award-winning Australian radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia, will also talk at the Masterclass and run several interactive sessions on how to write world-class radio ads.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said the speakers at this year’s Masterclass were excellent and combined extensive acting, writing and production experience: “This is a great line-up of speakers with some of the best Australian talent providing their insights – a great opportunity for everyone attending,” Ms Warner said.

The Masterclass will follow a breakfast at the same venue, where the best radio ads for 2009, the winners of the Siren Awards, will be announced. The hosts of the breakfast will be Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman and Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson, from the drivetime show, “The Jono & Dano Show”, on-air on WS-FM (Sydney), GOLD 104 (Melbourne) and 4KQ (Brisbane), as well as many regional stations across Australia.

Both the Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will be held at Waters Edge, Sydney on May 8. The breakfast will run from 7.30am to 9.30am and the Masterclass will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $395 for the breakfast and Masterclass combined. Tickets for the breakfast only are $65 and a table of ten is available for $595. For a booking form and more information visit the Sirens website, www.sirenawards.com.au

FourFourTwo and Sport 24/7 have teamed up to produce a weekly radio program which will be heard on Sport 24/7.com.au and available to download as a podcast on the FourFourTwo website at au.fourfourtwo.com

FourFourTwo Insider will feature the personalities behind the title debating the biggest issues in the A-League, the Socceroos and world football, according to FourFourTwo publishing director Andy Jackson.

“The team who compiles FourFourTwo live and breathe the game, so to get the chance to debate the ups and downs of local and world football on the radio was very attractive,” said Jackson .

FourFourTwo editor-in-chief Paul Hansford added: “There are a lot of great football podcasts out there, but none that cover the game in Australia . FourFourTwo Insider will not only cover domestic football, but look at the world game from an Australian perspective.”

Sport 24/7 General Manager Joel Helmes said his organisation was delighted to forge the relationship with Australian FourFourTwo.

“We want to give Sport 24/7 a real identity in the Australian football media and with FourFourTwo Insider, World Football Watch and Colin Turner hosting our breakfast show, I think we are well on our way

“Proclaiming there will be a children’s television channel is one thing. Adequate funding to ensure the ABC is resourced to produce suitable content for it is another.

“The ABC needs to receive funding which is sufficient for it to produce quality content for the children’s channel. Its funding must also be adequate to ensure that resources are not drawn away from other cash-strapped areas to pay for the new initiative.

“The ABC has been run-down over many years. It needs additional funding to meet all of its Charter responsibilities. Important areas, like Radio National, Radio Australia, current affairs and drama need to be rebuilt.

“And if the national broadcaster is to remain relevant, it needs sufficient funds to be at the forefront of technology change. Presently, it is forced to rob Peter to pay Paul,” said Glenys Stradijot.

The finalists include some of the best known advertising agencies in Australia including DDB; Clemenger BBDO; Leo Burnett; GPY&R, Whybin TBWA and JWT as well as agencies like 303 Advertising, The Brand Agency, and Marketforce in Perth; Eardrum Australia, Gorilla Communications, RazorJunior, I.D.E.A.S and US in Sydney; and in Melbourne, Twenty20 and Marmalade. Radio stations represented among the finalists include DMG Radio Australia in Melbourne and Austereo in Brisbane and Sydney.

A winner in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft as well as an overall winner who receives the Gold Siren, will be announced at a breakfast on May 8 in Sydney. The winner is decided by a panel of industry experts, known as the Siren Creative Council. The breakfast will be hosted by Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman and Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson, from the drivetime show, “The Jono & Dano Show”, on-air on WS-FM (Sydney), GOLD 104 (Melbourne) and 4KQ (Brisbane), as well as many regional stations across Australia.

The national Siren Awards, now in their sixth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The 2009 Gold Siren winner will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and its writer will also win two tickets to attend the festival.

Last year’s Gold Siren winner, an advertisement for RACV Financial Services called “Disclaimer”, written by Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber from Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne, won a Silver Radio Lion at the 2008 Cannes Advertising Festival. The RACV ad was one of three 2008 Sirens finalists and winners that made it to the radio shortlist in Cannes last year. Paul Reardon from Clemenger BBDO is this year’s Australian radio judge at Cannes.

Ms Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and highlight the great work being achieved.

“Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality. There have been nearly 600 entries this year – a fantastic result which shows how important this Award has become. Also the success of past winners and entrants at Cannes is testament to the fact that great work is being achieved with radio ads in Australia,” Ms Warner said.

The breakfast will be followed by a one day seminar on how to write and produce good radio ads, called “Getting radio off the Page”. Both the Sirens breakfast and seminar will be held at Waters Edge, Sydney on May 8. The breakfast will run from 7.30am to 9.30am and the Masterclass will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $395 for the breakfast and Masterclass combined. Tickets for the breakfast only are $65 and a table of ten is available for $595. For a booking form and more information visit the Sirens website, www.sirenawards.com.au.

Media contact: Jenny Stevenson. Ph: 0402 214 039.
Media note: List of finalists below

2009 Siren Award Finalists

SINGLE
303 Advertising, Perth, Richard Berney and Mark Fretten, IKEA, Mutant Bargains
303 Advertising, Perth, Richard Berney and Mark Fretten, IKEA, Return of the Mutant Bargains
303 Group, Perth, Dav Tabeshfar, IKEA, Not Funny
DDB, Sydney, Charlie Cook and Simon Johnson, NSW Police, Mugging
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk, Simon Hills-Johnes and Jon Williams, Ski NSW, Shut
Gorilla Communications, Sydney, Thomas Duncan-Watt, Viewsonic, Amazon
I.D.E.A.S Sydney, Max Landrak and Chris Mitchell, ABC Television, Substitutions
JWT, Sydney, Jason Ross, Ben O’Brien and Richard Apps, Tax Today, Spider
JWT, Sydney, Jason Ross, Ben O’Brien and Richard Apps, Tax Today, Chainsaw
Marketforce, Perth, Ryan Albuino and Andrew Chu, Lotterywest, More Words – Pilot
Marketforce, Perth, Ryan Albuino and Andrew Chu, Lotterywest, More Words – Weatherman
Marmalade, Melbourne, Neil Mallet, Vic Roads, 6 Foot Blonde
Marmalade, Melbourne, Neil Mallet, Vic Roads, Amun Ra
Twenty20, Melbourne, Matthew Ellis and Andrew Panozzo, Thirsty Camel, Drink and Dial
Whybin TBWA, Sydney, Steve Dodds, Adults Surviving Child Abuse, 21st Birthday
Whybin TBWA, Sydney, Steve Dodds, Adults Surviving Child Abuse, Birthday

CAMPAIGN
303 Advertising, Perth, Richard Berney and Mark Fretten, IKEA, Mutant Bargains Campaign
Clemenger BBDO, Sydney, Michael Dawson and Chris Berents, Thredbo, Thredbo Summer Campaign
DDB, Melbourne, Jim McKeown, UBD Street Directory, UBD Traffic Chopper
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk, Commercial Radio Australia, Small Market/Professor/Small Market Support
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk, Simon Hills-Johnes and Josh Robertson, Commercial Radio Australia, Economically Sound
Eardrum, Sydney, Ralph van Dijk, Simon Hills-Johnes and Josh Robertson, 13 TAXI, Duh
GPY&R, Melbourne, Simon Bagnasco, Intralot, Luck Factory Radio Brand Campaign
JWT, Melbourne, Carly Williams and James Orr, Ford, Never Leave
JWT, Sydney, Jason Ross, Ben O’Brien and Richard Apps, Tax Today, Tax Today Campaign
Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Eamon Dixon, British Paints, Pub/Cricket/Strip Club
Marketforce, Perth, Ryan Albuino and Andrew Chu, Lotterywest, More Words
RazorJunior, Sydney, Josh Moore and Nigel Clark, Animal Australia, Animals Australia Campaign
The Brand Agency, Perth, Kurt Beaudoin and Josh Edge, Perth Zoo, Find Your Animal
US, Sydney, Josh Moore, David Roberts, Danny Wehbe and Tim Chenery, Luxbet, Expert Advice
US, Sydney, Josh Moore, David Roberts, Nigel Clark and Danny Wehbe, Hachette, Short Stories
Whybin TBWA, Sydney, Steve Dodds, Adults Surviving Child Abuse, ASCA Radio Campaign

CRAFT
Austereo, Brisbane, Cameron Heit, Geoff Esdaile, My Fun, Roller Coaster
Austereo, Sydney, Glen Styles, Kade Robinson, International Sports Clothing, My Conscious
Best FX, Adelaide, Pete Best, Greg Knagge (Clemenger BBDO, Adelaide), Motor Accident Commission, Creepers
Best FX, Adelaide, Pete Best and Scott Illingworth, Sip ‘n Save, The Wrong Beer
Best FX, Adelaide, Pete Best and Scott Illingworth, Sip ‘n Save, Thirsty
Best FX, Adelaide, Pete Best, Sip ‘n Save, Empty Fridge
Brainestorm, Perth, Marty Braine, Murray Laird (Marketforce, Perth), Scitech, Scitech Plane
DMG Radio Australia, Melbourne, David Hinchey, Paul Varrasso, Paintball Games, Paintball – Bring Out Your Wicked Side
Eardrum, Sydney, Scott Collins, Ralph van Dijk, Perth Zoo, Small Clawed Otter
Macquarie Southern Cross Media – HotFM/RadioWest, Perth, Jerimiah Busniak, Tristan Ozinga and Karina Bradley, Street Art Wheels
Risk Sound, Melbourne, James Ashton, Peter Murphy (OMG Advertising, Melbourne), Epworth Foundation, Flying Knee
Soundbite, Perth, Brad Habib, Paul Coghlan (Meerkats, Perth), Murdoch University, Voice Journey
The Cutting Edge, Brisbane, Ross Batten, Dale Simmonds, Craig Buchanan and Kurt Beaudoin (The Brand Agency, Perth), RAC Insurance, Everything
Whybin TBWA, Sydney, Beau Silvester, Garry Horner and Matt Kemsley, Adults Surviving Child Abuse, Birthday
Whybin TBWA, Sydney, Beau Silvester, Garry Horner and Matt Kemsley, Adults Surviving Child Abuse, Rugby

Under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA), sponsorship announcements on community radio which do not include appropriate acknowledgements of financial support (‘tags’) are considered to be advertisements and so fall within the prohibition.

ACMA found that the licensee failed to include tags in relation to one pre-recorded announcement for financial sponsors, four studio interviews and on thirteen occasions during an outside broadcast.

Where they are appropriately tagged, the BSA allocates a time limit of five minutes per hour for the broadcast of sponsorship announcements. ACMA found that on two occasions the licensee broadcast sponsorship announcements that ran in excess of this time limit.

The investigation noted various improvements made to 4OUR Caboolture’s policies and procedures since the initial unacceptably high incidence of breaches.

Included within this suite of improvements are the following:

* all existing presenters will attend special training to ensure awareness of the station’s licence conditions regarding sponsorship and advertising;
* the station now displays posters and memos in its studios to remind presenters and volunteers of the licence conditions; and
* it has also implemented new policies regarding its outside broadcasts. For example, a volunteer acting as ‘producer’ will be made available to monitor outside broadcast programming to ensure any interviews broadcast are conducted appropriately.

ACMA was satisfied with 4OUR Caboolture’s substantive initiatives and considered that the station had taken reasonable but very necessary steps seeking to ensure it does not breach the two licence conditions again.

ACMA’s investigation followed a complaint received last November that 4OUR Caboolture had broadcast advertisements and sponsorship announcements in excess of five minutes per hour.

A copy of investigation report 2116 is available on the ACMA website.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager, on (02) 9334 7980.
Backgrounder

ACMA conducts various types of investigations under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA). Investigations under Part 11 of the BSA are generally conducted in response to complaints received by ACMA relating to a possible breach by:

* a licensed broadcaster: of the BSA, the regulations, a licence condition, a class licence or a code of practice; or
* the ABC or SBS: of a code of practice.

Role of ACMA

ACMA receives complaints directly from people about possible breaches of the BSA, the regulations, licence conditions and class licences. ACMA’s role in dealing with complaints under industry codes is prescribed by the BSA. Under section 148 of the BSA, a code complaint must be made first to a licensee and can only be made to ACMA if the complainant is not satisfied with the licensee’s response. In addition to investigations triggered by complaints, ACMA can instigate its own investigation and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy can direct ACMA to conduct an investigation.

ACMA’s performance of its role is informed by Section 5 of the BSA, which requires ACMA to, among other things:

* produce regulatory arrangements that are stable and predictable;
* deal effectively with breaches of the legislation; and
* use its powers in a manner that is commensurate with the seriousness of the breach concerned.

This requires ACMA to use its enforcement powers appropriately and to identify the most effective and proportionate way of dealing with breaches. This is further reinforced in the Explanatory Memorandum to the BSA.

It [section 5] promotes the ABA’s [now ACMA’s] role as an oversighting body . . . rather than as an interventionist agency hampered by rigid, detailed statutory procedures and legalism . . . It is intended that the ABA [now ACMA] monitor the broadcasting industry’s performance against clear, established rules, intervene only where it has real cause for concern, and has effective redressive powers to act to correct breaches.

This statement reflects Parliament’s intention in enacting the co-regulatory framework and ACMA’s prescribed role within that framework.

triple j also made the audio available free for other radio networks to broadcast throughout the day, incliding DMG radio, ARN, Macquarie Regional Radioworks, Austereo as well as the audio for Channel V and MAX.

triple j presenters Rosie Beaton and Vijay Khurana took to the stage to MC and introduce Wolfmother’s performance.

“Despite the crazy weather it was an honour to represent triple j and introduce Wolfmother with their new line up,” says Rosie.

“I tried to put myself in the shoes of emergency workers, families and all affected. Getting up on stage was easy compared to the pain and loss so many have suffered. It was truly a momentous event to be part of.”

In Melbourne drive presenter Scott “Dools” Dooley got the 80,000 strong crowd amped for Bliss N Eso when they took the stage in heavy rain.

triple j thanks all the team who made the on-air broadcast of the day so special – it was a veritable feast of live music for triple j’s listeners and music lovers across the nation.

The Melbourne Sound Relief live music team comprised of Chris Thompson – Live Music Producer, Team leader, Mixing Engineer; Steven Schram – Mixing Engineer; James Cadsky – Mixing Engineer; Phillip McKellar -Mixing Engineer; Jim Atkins – Audio Engineer, Signal Distribution; Leah Baker – Audio Engineer, Signal Distribution; Russell Thomson – Audio Engineer Assist; Chris Lawson – Audio Engineer Assist.

The Sydney Sound Relief live music team were Cameron McCauley – EP Live Music, Linda Radclyffe – Audio Engineer, signal distribution, Greg Wales – Mixing Engineer, Paul McKercher – Mixing Engineer, Matt Freeman – Assistant, Dan Ricketts – Assistant. source Access ABC

After months of speculation about their return to television, the likeable lads will be part of a new 7pm series to be launched on Ten after MasterChef Australia’s debut season ends.

Hamish and Andy have reportedly signed a deal with Ten to host the as-yet-unnamed weekday series.

“A deal was cut last week in which Andy and Ham will do every Friday and will feature Rove McManus plugging his Sunday night slot,” a source close to the duo said.

“They’ve been keen to get back to TV for a while and reckon this is a good fit. They’re excited.”

Eddie went on the attack today, literally not stopping for a breath, when he strongly put forward his defense to Hughesy and Kate in an extensive discussion. Part 1 of 3 parts attached.

Dave Hughes was appalled at witnessing Collingwood supporters chanting Gary Ablett’s father is a murderer at the Collingwood v Geelong game. The team invited McGuire, through Collingwood, to go on air and discuss the matter but were unable to get an interview despite repeated requests.

After a newspaper picked up the story last Wednesday Eddie unleashed on SEN questioning the source of the article, “Dave Hughes who takes a living out of hanging s**t on people. Dave Hughesy whose whole schtick is outrage.” The Saturday Herald Sun followed up on the stoush printing Hughesy’s response to Eddie’s tirade.

Not one to back down from an argument involving Collingwood and especially when he is launching a new show tonight (Millionaire Hot Seat), Collingwood President Eddie McGuire hit out at Hughesy on Nova 100′s Hughesy and Kate this morning. Hughesy accused Eddie of being irrational when defending Collingwood supporters.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Carlton, best-known for his work in The Hollowmen and the comedy series, Chandon Pictures, has also won Tropfest 2006, with a mock documentary, called Carmichael & Shane. He will provide insights from his extensive experience about production and direction of comedy.

The Masterclass, with the title “Getting radio off the Page” will focus on writing and production, and will be held in Sydney at Waters Edge, Walsh Bay on May 8. Other speakers at this year’s Masterclass include casting director, Anousha Zarkesh, who has over twenty years experience working in the industry and has cast many Australian films.

Also speaking is commercials director, Tim Bullock, who has worked in advertising and is renowned for his directing skills, particularly with comedy.
Advertising radio specialist and creator of the award-winning Australian radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia, will also talk at the Masterclass and run several interactive sessions on how to write world-class radio ads.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said the Masterclass would focus on the importance of production: “It is important to invest as much as possible in the production process for radio ads – casting, production and direction are all vital. The speakers at the Masterclass all have extensive experience in these areas and should provide some valuable tips for everyone attending,” Ms Warner said.

The Masterclass will follow a breakfast at the same venue, where the best radio ads for 2009, the winners of the Siren Awards, will be announced. The hosts of the breakfast will be Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman and Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson, from the drivetime show, “The Jono & Dano Show", on-air on WS-FM (Sydney), GOLD 104 (Melbourne) and 4KQ (Brisbane), as well as many regional stations across Australia.

The 2009 Gold Sirens winner, chosen by a panel of industry experts, will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and its writer will also win two tickets to attend the festival.

Last year’s Gold Siren winner, an advertisement for RACV Financial Services called “Disclaimer”, written by Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber from Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne, won a Silver Radio Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival. The RACV ad was one of three 2008 Sirens finalists and winners that made it to the radio shortlist in Cannes last year. Paul Reardon from Clemenger BBDO is this year’s Australian radio judge at Cannes.

Ms Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and highlight the great work being achieved.

“Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality. There have been nearly 600 entries this year – a fantastic result which shows how important this Award has become. Also the success of past winners and entrants at Cannes is testament to the fact that great work is being achieved with radio ads in Australia,” Ms Warner said.

Both the Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will be held at Waters Edge, Sydney on May 8. The breakfast will run from 7.30am to 9.30am and the Masterclass will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $395 for the breakfast and Masterclass combined. Tickets for the breakfast only are $65 and a table of ten is available for $595. For a booking form and more information visit the Sirens website, www.sirenawards.com.au.

The national Siren Awards, now in their sixth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The awards promote the importance of creativity as a way to make radio advertising more effective. Entries for round one of the 2010 Siren Awards are now open.

Still battling the effects of a virus which has plagued the broadcaster since he was treated for skin cancer last month, Jones was aiming to be back behind the microphone this week. Full story Telegraph

Developed by the independent creative agency SMART in conjunction with Commercial Radio Australia and with the support of all the commercial stations, plus the ABC and SBS, the estimated $10 million on-air awareness campaign for digital radio will illustrate that no matter what type of radio broadcast you listen to – music, talk, sport, news, lifestyle… digital radio will enhance the experience.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the radio ads complimented by online executions are the first step in raising listener awareness of digital radio before the progressive switch on of digital services begins in May.

“This campaign is our first direct communication with listeners. The message is simple – that digital radio is a new exciting way for our loyal radio audience to listen to their favourite stations in digital sound and to discover some great new digital programming,” said Ms Warner.

The initial phase of the campaign involves a series of tease ads with the message ‘radio is going digital’ and an extensive online banner ad campaign across all radio websites and many partner retailer websites. The online executions will use the industry Digital Radio Plus logo launched by Commercial Radio Australia last year, with a link back to the digital radio website www.digitalradioplus.com.au.

Phase two moves into ads that specifically outline the benefits and capabilities of digital radio and include widespread retail in store promotion and point of sale material. This will be followed by the promotion of a five state capital simultaneous national digital radio listener event in August.

All the digital radio ads feature a sonic mnemonic in the form of a subtle ‘plus’ vocal and direct listeners to the digital radio website www.digitalradioplus.com.au. Retail stores may use this sonic tag to top and tail television and radio advertisements, SBS plan to incorporate it into live reads of the ads, all assisting to build consumer awareness and helping the “plus” sonic to become synonymous with digital radio.

The website is the digital radio information gateway where listeners, retailers, digital radio manufacturers and all key stakeholders can easily access information about digital radio.

The digital radio plus website allows listeners to put in their postcode to find out where digital radio broadcasts will be available and which retailers will be stocking the new digital radios. It showcases the digital radios that are on the market and lists all the radio stations going digital.

In addition the website provides retailers with access to digital radio tutorials and downloadable DVDs to ensure staff are fully briefed on the arrival of digital radio.

Consumers can also SMS their postcode to the mobile phone number 0409DRPLUS (0409 377 587) to immediately find out if they can receive digital radio in their area.

“Commercial Radio Australia has worked very closely with the radio industry, manufacturers and retailers to develop a logo, collateral and ad campaign that works well for all our stakeholders. We hope listeners will respond and put a digital radio on top of their must buy list for 2009,” said Ms Warner.

According to the 2009 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue as sourced by Deloitte, the five metropolitan markets generated advertising revenue of $140.3 million in the first three months of 2009, a fall of 2.8% compared to the $144.45 million generated in the first quarter of 2008.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the global financial crisis had impacted on ad revenue across the board for radio but the Sydney market continued to be the biggest challenge.

“Sydney continues to be testing and as the largest market, is affecting the national figures,” Ms Warner said.

“Perth also recorded falls for the quarter but Melbourne and Adelaide have both recorded growth – so results have varied across the country.”

The figures show that for the first quarter of 2009, the Sydney market generated revenue of about $42.7 million – down 8.7% compared to the same quarter in 2008; Melbourne generated $42.02 million – up 2.3%; Brisbane generated $23.01 million – down 1%; Adelaide generated $13.8 million – up 0.1% and Perth $18.78 million – down 3.9%.

The affable former 3AW breakfast presenter, who topped Melbourne’s ratings with Ross Stevenson, began his career in 1970 on a bright yellow boat moored off the coast of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf. Read the entire article

Alex Parry won the award for best news and current affairs reporting and Nance Haxton took out the award for best radio feature.

Peter Goers from the 891 Evening Show was named the state's best radio broadcaster.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said CEASA’s Advertising Expenditure in Main Media report for the year ended December 31, 2008 shows radio advertising again proved to be resilient in tough economic times.

“The CEASA figures show that metropolitan advertising revenue fell slightly (0.1%) and regional ad revenue grew by around two per cent last year – and overall radio delivered a slight increase in revenue for the year,” Ms Warner said.

“The largest metropolitan revenue market of Sydney was particularly challenging last year for the radio industry and along with the global economic crisis, impacted strongly on the overall figures.”

Ms Warner said the radio industry had enjoyed several years of strong growth over the past few years and that the introduction of digital radio next month would bring added interest and opportunities for the industry.

“The industry is excited about the opportunities digital radio offers and is gearing up for an unprecedented marketing and promotional campaign, beginning Easter Monday, highlighting the benefits of digital radio for listeners,” Ms Warner said.

GRUBBY & DEE DEE were caught in the middle of an April Fools Prank, with a number of cars parked in GOLD 104's Richmond street wrapped up in Glad Wrap overnight. There were some strange notes left on them too. Click here for more pics

Sea FM caught thousands of Gold Coasters off guard this morning, broadcasting that motorists would be slugged with a $2.50 toll from April 1 for using the Tugun bypass. It was a well-played April Fools' Day prank, with fellow conspirators including Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke. More

Adelaide's Triple M breakfast team Kym, Ali & Dzelde had a scandal on their hands of large proportions. Ali's former boyfriend had attempted to sell nude photos of her however the team were set to reveal all. View pics here and listen to the audio here

At Vega 95.3 breakfast, Mikey and Tony set up Dragon's Todd Hunter to ring in and request Rebecca to sing back up vocals this Saturday night when Dragon perform live. Well the prank back fired on the boys Listen to the audio grab here

3NE's newsreader Tony Tynan told listeners that the border of Victoria and New South Wales was to be realigned to the Murrumbidgee River from the Murray after the original plans were discovered.

Melbourne's Student Youth Network radio station SYN FM announced on their website this morning that they were to rename their station “Female Youth Network'', or FYN FM, in a hope to gain additional funding.

DIGITALK was launched last month in Mexico and was an instant hit. Initial fears of masses of people talking over the announcer were soon forgotten as listeners forged their own conversations on the 3,000 channel digital sets.

A high rating station may have up to 8 versions of breakfast going at once as listeners can be bumped from the main program and fed through to the stations other channels. Such was the case in Mexico where morning talk presenter Pablo Cruze quickly adapted with listeners talking over him at random, Cruze will be in Australia during the trials.

To join in the DIGITALK trials listeners will need to purchase a GABFD 3000 channel digital radio and a german made OLFO RIPAL headset. Wearing the headset within 6 metres of the digital radio will allow you to instantly become part of the program by adding your point of view live to air. This will allow you to jump right into the conversation.

"It's an extremely welcome change to have people with strong backgrounds in local culture and a commitment to public broadcasting appointed to the ABC Board," said Glenys Stradijot, a spokesperson for Friends of the ABC (Vic).

"Though Friends of the ABC support will remain qualified until we know more about the type of ABC the new appointees will work towards.

"FABC encourages the new board members to become more open than the existing board – to inform and engage with the community about the ABC they envisage.

"Matters that go to the nature of the ABC that Friends is keen to learn their views on, include:

- The significance of the public broadcaster as a producer of local content. The ABC now produces no television drama of its own, depending entirely on external production. Specialist program units, like the ABC's Natural History Unit, have been closed.

- The ABC's increasing engagement in commercial activities which result in advertising on the ABC, risk impacting on programming integrity and may undermine the universality of the ABC by introducing charges for services that should be free.

“The process for these appointments has been a positive start for the Rudd Labor Government with regard to the ABC.

“FABC looks forward to the Government implementing its promise to restore the staff-elected director position to the ABC Board and enshrine in legislation a system that requires all governments to appoint ABC Board members on the basis of merit and independence,” said Glenys Stradijot.

The potential sale of the Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board represents the first of the Macquarie satellite funds to break away as the global financial crisis forces the group to reposition its business. Read the entire article

ABC891 have knocked Fiveaa into equal 2nd place with SAFM while in Melbourne the big upset of the survey sees 3AW fall into 2nd spot after ABC774 went to number one. FOX comes in at number 3 in Melbourne, Vega 91.5 continues to struggle however it is a different story for for Vega 95.3 in Sydney with a small gain towards a 4.7 share. 2MMM has parked itself in struggle street. Clear winner in the Sydney market was 2GB. Brisbane’s top three remained the same Nova, B105 and ABC612. Perth results show Mix94.5 number 1, sister station 92.9 number 2 and back up amongst them, 96fm in at number 3.

Mathison, 31, hinted he was sick of the lifestyle as he revealed he'd leave the singing competition he's hosted since its first series in 2003. Network Ten said it was sad to see him go, but Andrew G was up to the task of carrying the hosting job alone.

Nova 969 said Mathison had no plans to give up his job hosting late night music program Launchpad Up Late with Patience Hodgson from The Grates.

"James is having a ball on Nova, and we're happy to give him the opportunity," Nova 969 program director Adam Williscroft said.

"He shares Nova's passion for new music."

This action is being taken following concerns expressed by the industry about the sample sizes and the demographic profile of the total sample in Survey 1 and Survey 2 with particular reference to the age groups of 10-17 and 18-24 years.

In order to address this issue, CRA and Nielsen agreed that quota sampling for the P10-17 and P18-24 age groups would be tested in all markets for Survey 3 and 4 to deal with the under sampling that occurred in the first two surveys.

Peter Cornelius, Managing Director, Media of Nielsen said, “Quota sampling during recruitment will significantly improve the number of under 25 people participating in the radio surveys which will result in higher sample sizes in these demographics. This issue needs to be addressed to ensure a more representative sample in all markets and in all surveys”.

John Vincent passed away in his sleep this morning with his family by his side. Concerns for his health were raised when he was admitted to Royal Adelaide Hospital late last week. John was 67.

Tributes are flowing in across the industry such as the following from 5MMM’s website ‘Today we mourn the passing of John Vincent who died after a long illness. John was at the forefront of the FM radio revolution in the 1980s and became a household name on Adelaide radio.

He was on Triple M breakfast from 1996 to early 1998.

Adelaide Advertiser pay tribute here

Find out more about Vinne from his home page here

Ms Torney is the first woman to take on the role.

ABC managing director Mark Scott has also announced that Kate Dundas has been appointed the new director of radio.

Ms Torney takes over the director of news position from John Cameron and Ms Dundas slots into the position vacated by Sue Howard; Ms Dundas has been acting in the position in recent months.

Mr Scott says both have extensive experience in news and radio and a deep understanding of the ABC and will make them great contributions to the ABC leadership team.

"Kate Torney's experience managing the largest cross-platform international newsroom in the Asia Pacific region, responsible for over 60 journalists, together with her strong background in current affairs as the executive producer of Insiders and Offsiders, made her the ideal candidate to extend the opportunities offered by digital media into our ABC newsrooms," Mr Scott said.

Ms Torney says it is a great honour to be taking up the role.

"This is a time of change and opportunity for ABC News and it is also a time to focus on what sets us apart from our competitors. A commitment to journalistic excellence and independent reporting and analysis of local, national and international news must remain our priority as we explore new ways to deliver our content," she said.

She praised John Cameron for his efforts and says she is proud to be following in his footsteps.

"I look forward to continuing to work closely with the news executive team of John Turner, Craig McMurtrie, Alan Sunderland, Zahed Cachalia, Steven Alward and Lou Lander."

Mr Scott says Ms Dundas is an ideal choice for director of radio.

"She brings a depth of experience in the area of strategic reform and a solid knowledge of content creation and editorial policies in her previous role working with the ABC's national radio networks, making her an outstanding candidate for this position.

"The ABC is currently in a strong position and we want to maintain that leadership in digital media, capitalising on our strengths in the key content areas of news and radio – the work of the directors of news and radio will be integral in this endeavour."

Ms Torney will begin her role as the director of news on April 14 and Ms Dundas will begin her role as director of radio immediately.

The breakfast will feature the best radio ads of the past twelve months. The 2009 winner, chosen by a panel of industry experts, will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and its writer will also win two tickets to attend the festival.

Last year’s Gold Siren winner, an advertisement for RACV Financial Services called “Disclaimer”, written by Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber from Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne, won a Silver Radio Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival. The RACV ad was one of three 2008 Sirens finalists and winners that made it to the radio shortlist in Cannes last year. Paul Reardon from Clemenger BBDO is this year’s Australian radio judge at Cannes.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and also highlight the great work being achieved, both at home and overseas: “Each year the Siren Awards continue to raise the bar in terms of creativity and originality. There have been nearly 600 entries this year – a fantastic result which shows how important this Award has become. Also the success of past winners and entrants at Cannes is testament to the fact that great work is being achieved with radio ads in Australia,” Ms Warner said.

The breakfast will be followed by the Sirens Masterclass, a one-day, creative seminar that provides keynote speakers and interactive sessions. The Masterclass includes lunch and group tasks which will allow people to share ideas and network. Guest speakers for this year’s event will be announced soon.

Both the Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will be held at Waters Edge, Sydney. The breakfast will run from 7.30am to 9.30am and the Masterclass will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $395 for the breakfast and Masterclass combined and an early bird discounted rate of $350 is available for those who book and pay before Friday, April 10. Tickets for the breakfast only are $65 and a table of ten is available for $595. For a booking form and more information visit the Sirens website, www.sirenawards.com.au.

The national Siren Awards, now in their sixth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The awards promote the importance of creativity as a way to make radio advertising more effective. Entries for round one of the 2010 Siren Awards are now open.

7THE has advised ACMA that it has identified changes in the needs and interests of the community it serves and considers that it would best serve the general community of Hobart RA2 rather than the educational community.

ACMA is currently considering 7THE’s application to change its community of interest.

Community broadcasting licensees are subject to a licence condition that the licensee will continue to represent the community interest that it represented at the time when the licence was allocated or was last renewed. Community broadcasting licensees can apply to change their community interest at the time they submit their licence renewal application.

7THE’s licence renewal application and request for a change of community interest are available from ACMA’s website.

The broadcasters called on the Federal Government to make an immediate public commitment to the allocation of VHF Band III spectrum to regional broadcasters for the rollout of digital radio services across Australia.

Regional operators attending today’s historic meeting included Fairfax, ACE Radio, Grant Broadcasting, Resonate Broadcasting, Bathurst Broadcasters, Hot Tomato, Macquarie Southern Cross Media, Capital Radio, Prime Radio, 2SM/Supernetwork, Red FM, Radio Outback, West Coast Radio, Smart Radio, Hot Hits 99, Flow FM, ARN, Austereo, Tab Corp (2KY-Racng Radio), North East Broadcasters, Rich Rivers Radio and Radio Outback.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), Joan Warner said, “The broadcasters agreed that the provision of digital radio services across the whole of Australia is key to the principle of social inclusion for all Australians. A vital element in ensuring the planning and provision of digital radio services in a timely manner is an assurance from Government of access to spectrum. “

“Regional broadcasters believe there is no impediment to the Government immediately making a strong policy commitment to regional commercial radio operators and their listeners that appropriate spectrum will be allocated in the future to regional broadcasters for digital radio services,” she said

Discussion at the meeting focused on spectrum needs and policy essentials, plus planning, timing and funding proposals for further development and presentation to the Federal Government that will ensure equity of access for all Australians to new and improved radio services via digital radio.

Regional broadcasters also discussed digital radio trials with, ideally, trials to begin in September 2009 following the digital radio switch on in the mainland capitals.

Expressions of interest in a regional DAB+ trial have been made to CRA by a large number of commercial radio broadcasters including Bathurst Broadcasters, Macquarie Southern Cross Broadcasters, Prime Radio, Hot Tomato, Supernetwork, Flow FM, Coastal Broadcasters, Austereo/ARN (Canberra FM), West Coast Radio Pty Ltd, North East Broadcaster Ltd Rich Rivers Radio and Tab Corp – 2KY.

Commercial Radio Australia has already had advice from ACMA on where suitable spectrum is available for a trial. Current areas of investigation are Hobart, Townsville and Canberra. Broadcasters also discussed the possibility of a trial in a smaller regional area.

“An announcement of future spectrum priority plus facilitation of a regional DAB+ trial will provide regional broadcasters and regional listeners, plus the automotive and retail sectors, with confidence that the Federal Government, in collaboration with the radio industry, is committed to making digital radio available throughout Australia,” said Ms Warner

"A trading halt is necessary as Prime expects to make an announcement in relation to capital management initiatives," the company said in a statement on Monday.

Prime requested that the trading halt continue until the opening of trade on Friday, unless it requests the halt be lifted before that time.

The Canberra-based company, which commenced as a free-to-air television broadcaster before diversifying into radio and digital media, sources its revenues from advertising and the production of commercial ads.

ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel said "As the radio industry begins its move to digital, it is important that all broadcasters can access the digital radio transmission service on fair and reasonable terms. This requirement will lead to the best outcome for consumers in terms of the range and quality of these services."

The ACCC will consult on an access undertaking that will determine the terms and conditions on which the multiplex transmission licensees will provide the service to radio broadcasters. The licensees will be responsible for multiplexing together the separate streams of content from individual broadcasters and transmitting a combined stream to end users in each licence area.

Under the legislation the Australian Communications and Media Authority is required to allocate eight digital radio multiplex licences to joint venture companies for the provision of services to commercial and community broadcasters. Each multiplex licensee must provide the ACCC with an undertaking specifying the terms and conditions on which it will provide access to broadcasters. It is only after the undertaking has been accepted by the ACCC that ACMA can determine that digital radio services may begin in that area.

The eight multiplex licensees submitted their access undertakings to the ACCC on 3 October 2008, and they were considered against the decision-making criteria set
out in the Digital Radio Multiplex Transmitter Licences (Decision-Making Criteria) Determination 2008. After extensive consultation however, the ACCC has concluded that the submitted undertakings did not fully meet the requirements.

"The ACCC acknowledges the time and effort that Commercial Radio Australia has put into developing the undertakings on behalf of the multiplex licensees, and that it has been willing to suggest changes to the submitted undertakings to address some of the ACCC's concerns," Mr Samuel said.

The undertaking proposed by the ACCC is based heavily on those previously submitted by the multiplex licensees. An important element of the undertaking is that it provides fair and reasonable terms to all access seekers, including the many community broadcasters that play an important role in the quality and diversity of radio broadcasting.

"The proposed undertaking also adopts a number of the recommendations made by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia," Mr Samuel said.
"It is very important that community broadcasters have access to this service. However, the access regime cannot in itself address all the issues associated with the capacity of community broadcasters to participate in digital radio services. In particular, the ACCC has concluded that the access arrangements should not

allow broadcasters to 'opt out' of any back-up transmission sites; or
set the terms and conditions upon which any electronic program guide (EPG) services are provided."

For the teenager who grew up near the Sandown greyhound and horseracing tracks, the job was a dream career. He quickly became an on-air identity, winning the Pater Award for best new talent in Australian Radio in 1983.
He also worked as a racecaller in Tasmania for TVT6. It's understood Tyquin died when his car left a highway about 12.50am this morning (10.50 pm last night AEDT) in Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island. He had been living in New Zealand since 1999.
Longtime friend and fellow race caller Paul Langham from Radio Sport 927 said Tyquin would be missed."He was a real character. He loved his racing and enjoyed his visits back to Melbourne," Langham said.

A religious man, Tyquin became a Christian minister and was known in racing circles as the "Racing Reverend". He was married to Jill Tyquin.
Greg Irvine pays tribute to a mate on Virtial FormGuide

Margaret Spalding is claiming damages for comments made by 2CC presenter Mike Jeffreys on his program in May 2006. Ms Spalding is the chief executive of Koomarri, which sold the caravan park to private interests.

The ACT Supreme Court was played a recording of an interview between Ms Spalding and Mr Jeffreys in March, in which she says she assumes the site will remain as a caravan park.

Parts of that interview were replayed in a May broadcast, in reaction to news that residents had been told they would be evicted by the new owners.
It is alleged Mr Jeffreys' broadcast implied that Ms Spalding lied, deliberately misled park residents and behaved deplorably. The hearing continues.