Argyll FM: The Future

[Radio]

Argyll FM has been broadcasting as a Community Radio Station on a commercial licence for over 10 years now.

We have had our ups and downs over the decade and many volunteers have come and gone but funding has always been a problem. (Due to constraints, radio stations cannot acquire charity status.)


Our broadcast licence expires in two years but with the present economic climate it will be very difficult for the station to survive for this period, with governments, both local and national, making massive cut backs in advertising and infomercials.


We have seen electricity rocket in the last few years. We get 5 bills a quarter!

Transmitter site rentals continue to rise.

The 107.7 and 107.1 transmitter sites costs are around £10k a year. Should we start to see a continued downward trend in income the first major cost cutter would be to switch off 107.7. The second would be the 107.1 transmitter. This would just leave the 106.5 transmitter which would only cover Campbeltown.


On the upside if there are any budding presenters or funding wiz kids please drop us an email to argyllradio@hotmail.com

Argyll FM is entirely run by volunteers including directors and all presenters.

[WC1]

From another thread:-

RBS Community Fund - Nominate
by Kintyre Forum News » Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:19 pm

RBS Community Fund
Help us make a difference…

17 days left to nominate

At RBS, we are committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work.

That’s why as part of our Customer Charter we’ve created an RBS Community Fund. The fund will be available to support hundreds of local charities and projects across Scotland and the rest of Britain each year and we want you to help in deciding who will receive the money.

So, if you know of a local charity or project doing great things for your community then why not nominate them to receive a share of the £5,000 RBS Community Fund award for your area.

For more information see

http://communityfund.rbs.co.uk/Nominate

A potential windfarm, sorry windfall, for Argyll FM?

[jamiemcivor]

No opinions here - but a few things you might want to debate.

Do you know how your actual audience and ad revenue is split between the different transmitters - rather than just the potential audience? It could be the case, for the sake of argument, that shutting one of the secondary transmitters would save a lot of money and affect relatively few listeners? Alternatively it could be a completely false economy.

I know Argyll FM has always been proud of the fact that it has never used a station like Clyde as a sustaining service. But might there be a case for considering that option and approaching Bauer?

And, on a positive note, never underestimate the generosity of the Kintyre population. If people value local radio - or fear its loss - I'm sure a lot of them would gladly raise cash to help sustain it if advertising is insufficient to cover costs. Fundraising can be great fun... especially when the money's going back into the community.

[Hels]

WC1 - nice idea, but the RBS fund is for charities and Argyll FM deos not have charitable status.

Finding revenue support for any voluntary/community project is increasingly difficult and I much admire those who put so much time and effort into something so valuable to the community. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any fund that might helpful.

[Radio]

Thanks for the comments:
Jamie, we do get a great response from listeners from Mid Argyll and the islands which would be lost should we shut down either 107.1 or 107.7 but by shutting them down would in efect save about £11,000 per year but would leave us broadcasting only to Campbeltown out to Machrihanish and the south end of Arran. The idea of teaming up with a large station is one that will probabaly be considered in the final decission on whether we apply to renew the licence.

For those of you who are unaware the radio is covered by a licence from OFCOM. This is coming up for renewal in 2012. OFCOM have written to the radio asking for an expression of intent to commit to renewing the licence. To express intent will cost £1,000. This money would eventually be returnable on an official application being received by OFCOM. The cost of the official application is £5,000. The licence can be advertised for other companies to tender if they so wished.

You will also be aware that the station is relayed to the public through three transmitters. One at Machrihanish (107.1), one near Tarbert (107.7) and the local one in the town (106.5). On 1st of April, the fees for 2 of them (107.1 and 107.7) become due. The cost for this is estimated (based on last year’s fees) to be in the region of £11,000.

Our equipment is elderly and replaced on a rolling basis. It is becoming more costly for the day to day running costs. As mentioned in the first post we have 5 electricity bills and there are other bills particularly associated with running a radio such as, for example PRS.

Currently, we are short of day time presenters. We are lucky enough to have programmes which can be repeated. One complaint by the public is no live programmes – and just music being on, this was why programmes started to be repeated. We appreciate people are working that’s why we are currently reasonably well served by evening/weekend presenters. The fact remains, that we require a breakfast presenter for the days no longer covered, someone flexible enough to cover the other days in times of illness. We also require to have a drive-time presenter (4-6pm) for the four days not covered (Monday -Thursday, inc). This is not a new problem and we have canvassed this before at presenters’ meetings and it has been well discussed at directors meetings. Unfortunately no one has been identified that we could approach.


The radio is an asset to the town. It is something different. It has the potential to be something really special, particularly for young people. It can lead to education and work opportunities not open in other areas nearby. It can be a friendly local voice to housebound or elderly people. It can be a reason for leaving the house for people with health issues. In essence it is a good thing.

The four Directors who have all been in place for more than seven years are responsible for running the Argyll FM but really need assistance in the day to day running of the station, the radio is an entity on its own but it requires money, upkeep and commitment to keep it going. Grant funding is available on a limited bases as we are not a charity and because of the way the radio is constituted as a company.

We really appreciate the loyal listeners and generous advertisers and sponsors that we have and hope we can continue to provide a local radio service to Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the islands but to do this we need funding, commitment from presenters and volunteers and new Directors. As the time has now come to decide whether or not to commit to renewing the licence we would appreciate input from listeners and the public in general.

[Sheik Yir Erse]

Radio - is there anything "ex-pats" can do to help with the day-to-day running, other than contributing to fund-raising efforts?

[TYM]

Another funding possibility could be the Co-operative Community Membership Fund

[Tom B]

A straight out appeal - I'm sure there'd plenty of people willing to chip in - sometimes that's easier than a fundraiser - even better if you can donate online.

[Radio]

3 positive comments, thanks

Sheik: The only way we feel "ex pats" could help other than contributing to fundraising is if they wanted to become members of Argyll FM but our problem with membership is what exactly do members get for their membership fee (£10 at present) we appreciate those who do become members but we have had members in the past wonder what they get for their £10, our usual answer is that they are helping keep the station on air. Maybe we could put out a newsletter a couple of times a year.

TYM: That sounds interesting can you give us more details?

Tom: Agree with you an appeal does usually work and it is something we will consider.

We feel what we have to do first is find out if listeners and the public in the area still want a local radio station. Or has it had its day (I hope not!) and we have many happy (and very ocasionally not so happy) memories of what we had and move on.

[maxmix]

Have you thought about adding a live stream to the www.argyllfm.co.uk web site, also having it updated with whats on etc every couple of weeks or month.... Having a web page with links sitting at 'Under construction' is not a good business idea ! one of these links could be used for a web Realplayer Ram feed.... or mentioning what your posting on here etc

The further you can get to the better....

Just another thought for modern day....

maxmix

[WTC]

Have you thought about adding a live stream to the http://www.argyllfm.co.uk web site, also having it updated with whats on etc every couple of weeks or month.... Having a web page with links sitting at 'Under construction' is not a good business idea ! one of these links could be used for a web Realplayer Ram feed.... or mentioning what your posting on here etc

The further you can get to the better....

Just another thought for modern day....

maxmix

There you go Radio. Maxmix will lend a hand!!

(PS is it not ill-eagle to broadcast copy controlled music on the WWW?)

[Radio]

Broadcasting to a wider audience over the internet would be great and something we have talked about recently but at the moment it would cost more to do this than we could take back in extra revenue.

We have had only one response so far to our plea for new presenters in fact the response from the public in general has been very slow.
We really would value the views of listeners (past and present) of what they feel the radio does or doesn't offer and whether they feel it is something worth keeping going.

We are having a meeting with presenters on Sunday night to gauge their feelings it would be good if we could have some response from the listeners too.

Either pm us on the forum or e-mail argyllradio@hotmail.com with any views.

[mameg21]

We have had our ups and downs over the decade and many volunteers have come and gone but funding has always been a problem. (Due to constraints, radio stations cannot acquire charity status.)

We have seen electricity rocket in the last few years. We get 5 bills a quarter!

Transmitter site rentals continue to rise.

On the upside if there are any budding presenters or funding wiz kids please drop us an email to argyllradio@hotmail.com

Argyll FM is entirely run by volunteers including directors and all presenters.

Utility Aid might be able to help with the electricity bills, you don't have to be a charity to recieve assistance just not-for-profit. It will depend on when your current electricity contract is due for renewal but if your lucky with timings they can put you in an 'energy basket' meaning you will get electricity prices as close to wholesale as possible.

http://www.utility-aid.co.uk/index.html

I've always found them to be very helpful.

Regardless, if they can help you or not it might be worth speaking to your current supplier about lowering/changing your tariff, don't be afraid to haggle they aren't short of money!

[Radio]

At tonights presenters meeting it was unanimously agreed that Argyll Fm apply for the renewal of its licence in 2012. Practically all presenters turned up at the meeting along with Councillors Colville and Horn. After directors outlined the process and cost of applying for the renewal and answered questions from those present it was agreed that a membership drive take place with a membership fee of £10 per year. It is hoped to have a facility available on our web page very soon for those outwith the area to donate their membership or for donations. Volunteers have agreed to be present at regular hours during the week in the office to handle enquires.

New presenters are still required to fill gaps in the schedule but 2 potential new presenters were mentioned and will be followed up. If anyone feels they would like to try their hand at presenting please contact us and we can show you how everything works.If you then feel you could present a show training will be provided and you could be broadcasting if a gap is available in the schedule and it is felt that you are ready to present a live show.

The main consideration in becoming a presenter is commitment in other words if you agree to do a show you must be available every time the show goes out and not just turn up when you feel like it of course their will be times like illness or holidays when you will be unavailable but at other times it does require a big commitment.

Regular updates and news will be posted on here and hopefully on a new facebook page.

The directors were very happy with the positiive and helpful comments from those present and look forward to taking Argyll FM onwards and upwards together.

If you would like to contact us please e-mail argyllradio@hotmail.com or PM us on here.

[4th gen Suthen']

I am not on the board of Argyll FM, or any committees, I write as a lowly once a week presenter.

I will leave it to Radio or any of the others to fill in the details but if anyone is thinking about taking up either of the membership options, advertising or supporting /helping the station in any way...... right now is the time to do it.

I, for one, think Argyll FM is something worth having in Campbeltown/Kintyre it is quite possibly unique in Scotland.

Please consider helping, we need your support.