Locality Switch

It took many years to get to this point, but it’s now looking like Community Radio around the nation will start getting access to DAB+ transmission over the next couple of months!

While there has been no official word from the CBAA for a while (the manager of the community radio digital radio project), I’ve been hearing some mentions of digital radio from some of the metro-wide stations around here. In particular, Hope 103.2 has started saying that their new digital-only station, Inspire Digital, is expected to be launched on Sydney DAB+ radio in the next two months or so.

From what I’ve heard, the equipment is almost ready at the metro-wide stations, and now it’s just a matter of getting the connection happening between the studios and the transmission site.

(Incidentally, from today you can start listening to a ‘pilot’ of Inspire Digital via their website. I’ll tell you now: this particular station is sounding like its going to be really, really great!)

I’m particularly hoping that Community Radio will take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of more transmission capacity as a chance to be more innovative, and broadcast new and innovative content. If community stations put all they’ve got into this and do something interesting and appealing to audiences, it could really drive the sales of digital radio receivers, helping the entire Digital Radio project in Australia.

Community radio is in a very unique position to launch new services with minimal costs. There’s no management overheads, sales requirements, or shareholders to satisfy. It’s dirt cheap. Really, the hardest part is coming up with something that will be appealing, and then putting in the effort to see it happen.

If community radio dosen’t take this opportunity, then I’m afraid that commercial operators will. Last week, Austereo announced their newest digital-only station: “U2O Radio“. What’s the concept? “A Radio Station hosted by U for U”.

That’s right, ordinary people submitting programming, and then getting it played on air. It sounds a whole heap like the principal behind community radio, right? But wait, there’s more! U2O radio is an initiative of….. The Australian Government!

Austereo has the advantage over community radio here, because they have much more visibility through their national network. It’s also much more appealing to young people because they have the chance to be noticed by some of the big names in Australia’s media. The splash page of U2O radio says:

Who knows, you could be Australia’s next Hamish & Andy!

Getting your big break on radio has never been easier.

This is exciting and interesting times for Community Radio in Australia. Let’s hope that we take this as a chance to grow, expand and strengthen.

Spring is coming soon, and in The Hills, we celebrate with the Orange Blossom Festival – it’s an annual festival encompassing over forty events over a two week period.

2CCR FM is the local broadcaster for this area, so it’s our duty to broadcast as much of this as we can. With the festival official community opening on the 12th September, we have only a month to get our act together. Luckily, our first meeting was last night.

I’m hoping to broadcast at least five or so of these events, mainly the outdoor fetes and markets they are holding. The general nature of these outdoor fetes means there is no phone line available, meaning we can pot any POTS codecs away (not that we ever owned a pair!). I’m hoping for Audio-over-IP all the way, man! (Using open-source software, such as IceCast)

I won’t go into the details of our meeting right now – I’ll reveal bits and pieces as the days go on.

However, here’s a few key things which I hope to work on for the festival to ensure we really reach out to our community, and make the most of it:

• Full OBs – not just live crosses The presenters, music, etc. should all come live from the venue to capture the full spirit of the event
• Heaps of people I don’t want a half-heated attempt from anyone; we need swarms of our people dresses up in the polo shirt mingling with the crowds of onlookers
• Heaps of Interviews Quick chats on-air with members of the public, as well as longer interviews with interesting people
• Particular focus on membership and sponsorship We need to make sure we talk with interested people to sign them up as members; the same goes for potential sponsors – it needs to be viable
• Heaps of brochures No one should walk past us without getting one of our fancy glossy brochures

It’s going to be a long journey to get the results I dream of, but I know we can make it. The key to making this work, in my opinion, is to make sure we involve as many people as possible from the start. When the meeting was called, I made sure I called heaps of people to confirm they could come (never rely on a mass email for anything!). That is a start, but that needs to keep happening throughout this whole thing.

Wish us luck! (And if you want to help, email me!)