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Jamming the airwaves
We experienced the first in the 1996 round of granting licences to greenfield stations. There the criteria were primarily ideological. Applicants had satisfy stringent empowerment criteria regarding staffing and programme content. Whether the radio stations were going to be financially viable was a secondary matter
So, after their credentials were examined painstakingly and found to be acceptable, the Gauteng greenfields stations Classic FM, Y FM and Khaya were given footprints that barely covered central Johannesburg There was no way that the stations could be sustainable with such small listenerships. No-0ne at the IBA had actually sat down and asked questions about the sustainability of a niche station. It was only by fighting over the past 8 years for an extension of the respective footprints to include Pretoria and parts of the East and West Rand that the stations have managed to survive.
Now, the second strategy can be seen in the position paper released on Tuesday by ICASA. At first glance it appears to relax many of the regulations that are holding back the development of the radio broadcasting sector and is therefore supporting financial growth and income generation at the cost of ideological issues like diversity, education, and cultural.
New licences have been granted. Six new commercial licences have been assigned to secondary areas in the six provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Free State, Eastern Cape and North West Province. In addition more commercial stations will be created in Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwazulu Natal in 2006.
This is good for Black Empowerment, will create jobs (probably by luring broadcast talent away from community radio stations) and will stimulate economic activity up to a point. At present no company may own more than 2 FM and 2 AM stations. This changes to 35% of the number of licences issued. By relaxing restrictions on the number of radio stations any one company can own , it is obvious that the usual suspects like Kagiso and NAIL, as BEE media and communications companies will be able to own up to 8 radio stations. One may ask just how good this sort of monopoly will be for the broadcast industry.
Still on a more positive note, it will also allow existing commercial stations to set up a second networked sttaion in one of the secondary areas, creating a bigger listenership. Arguably Classic Fm could apply for a licence in the George and Port Elizabeth area, increase its audience and through that attract more revenue.
There are four nasty questions to ask:
Let's talk diversity. Or even more seriously. Let's talk new audiences. It is seriously to be doubted whether the increased number of stations will add more special-interest or niche station to the menu. Most of the new stations will continue to broadcast Adult Contempory or Hot Hits. More of the same. Much more of the same. At the same time, the permitted percentage of foreign investment in a commercial radio station has been increased from 20% to 35%. As foreign capital will always try to maximize its investment, it will also go for the easy option. More of the same, much more of the same. Would it not have been a good idea to allocate ideologically some of the new stations to new audiences? There are so many special interests that are not catered for: gay issues, education, children, health, or the elderly.
Let's talk adspend. While excessively high rate-cards are maintained by the SABC stations and some of the Primedia stations, agencies are just is not going to have enough cash to spread to so many stations. To expect the radio adspend to expand in relation to the number of new stations is unwise.
Let's talk SABC. The new legislation allows it to retain its nation-wide monopoly as a national broadcaster. And to retain its excessively powerful transmitters. The SABC shows little interest in fulfilling its public service mandate to provide cultural, informational and minority language and taste programmes. Why not shop these programmes out to other broadcasters? Or create public-private linkages.
Finally, let's talk community radio. It could be that the creation of all these new stations will sound the death knell for community radio. It will divert local adspend away from community radio, it will poach staff, and it will compete for listeners.
Instead of providing some sort of linkage or mentorship or partnering in terms of local news and informational programming, ICASA has chosen to chase community radio even further out into the wilderness.
About John van Zyl
John van Zyl is Managing Director of ABC Ulwazi and was one of the founders of Classic FM. He is the editor of "Community Radio: The People's Voice." This article is shortened from "Jamming the Airwaves" first published in the Mail on Guardian, 23 January 2004.