The Role of Advertising in Community Radio
Where does paid advertising fit in the role of community radio stations in the UK? What are the dangers and are there any alternatives?
Radio stations are expensive to supply and run. The main source of income for commercial radio is through advertising and sponsorship that you here played on the air. This generally rings true for community stations as well with advertsing making up a substantial slice of the pie of most stations’ finances. Commercial stations main goal is to make money (though secondary goals may be included in their structure), community stations main goal is to serve their communities (but they must still raise funds to do this). This enviably changes the relationship community radio has with advertising.
In many countries community radio stations aren’t allowed to recieve money from traditional advertising. In the UK community stations are allowed to sell advertising space, but there are some regulations in place to protect competition with commercial stations and discourage undue influence on output. According to the Ofcom ‘Notes of Guidance for Commuity Radio’ some stations are limited to a maximum of £15,000 anually from advertising and sponsorship if they overlap with small commercial stations. All community stations who make more than £15,000 anually from advertising must balence it with income from other sources so that no more than 50% of the stations income comes from advertising.
Additionally Ofcom states that “there must be no influence on the output of a service that is contrary to the public interest, including for political ends”. Every licensed UK community station must complete a pro forma finical report annually to confirm that they are staying within these limits.
Community Radio as a Social Enterprise
Anyone who has ever bought a piece of audio equipment should be able to tell you that running a radio station is bound to be expensive. All the services a community station provides from training, to keeping the station (technically and legally) on air, to providing facilities for volunteers all require resources. Though community stations are mostly run by volunteers, and some grant funding is available, there is a gap between what is available and what is necessary to run a station, therefore other finacial avenues need to be followed in order to continue providing services.
For this reason the Community Radio Toolkit argues that community radio stations can be considered social enterprises. Social enterprises are business that exist in socially beneficial industries and use all profits to further thier mission to support the communities they serve. They complete business activities (such as sales work, networking, PR, ect) and seek to turn a profit, but they promise to reinvest that profit in their activities, which are seen as beinifical to society. Some examples of social enterprises include Toms, One World Futbol Project and Trinity Oaks.
Community radio stations can be seen as social enterprises because in acting as business they can create revenue which can be reinvested in the station to further the community benefit. The more the station is able to earn, the more they can provide vital community services. Paid staff are hired because they can further business activities and benefit the station. The selling of sponsorship deals and advertising spots gains funding, which goes back into providing resources for the community. However unlike other social enterprises, community radio is answerable to more people then just company ethics and the business plan.
While most social enterprises are essentially businesses that have decide on their own to operate for the good of society, meaning they are only anserable to themselves, community radio stations must answer to both Ofcom and the communities they are meant to serve. Therefore they must be careful to avoid letting business activities, especially the selling of advertising, interfere with thier commitments to their community.
Pitfalls and Tradeoffs
Selling advertising on community radio stations can be an effective way to raise funds, and therefore support important work. However there are some traps that can be fallen into which could detract from station goals. From distractions, reputation damage, to ethical and moral concerns, community stations must remember that they serve a special role.
Firstly, time that is spent on advertising ventures is time that isn’t spent on other activities. Community radio stations are general small operations. According to Ofcom stations are on average outfitted with about 80 very part-time volunteers and less then a handfull of paid staff. With these limited working hours content must be produced, show presented, guests contacted/researched/looked after, new volunteers trained, shows scheduled, recording sessions organized, reviews completed, and the million other things accomplished to keep a station running well day to day. Curating business relationships and creating advertising and sponsorship content (in other words looking for money) is another, albeit necessary, drain on the valuahle work resources of a community station. One that doesn’t necessarily directly support the community.
Secondly, the station’s relationship with it’s listeners must be remembered whenever new paid ads and jingles are put on air. Ads are generally an expected evil when listeners tune into large comercial stations, but that’s not always the case with community radio. Because of the target of community stations, to be a station by and for the listeners, there is an expectation they will be less annoying ad breaks. Additionally, if ads are covering controversial topics, like an unpopular conversion of a local park to a new business complex, there may be a bigger blowback from the community then you could expect to a commercial station due to community radio integration in the local area.
Beyond, alienating (or enraging) the listenership, there may be ethical concerns when it comes to accepting advertising. There may not be any given regulation around what advertising to include, but is it really within the community radio ethos to advertise products that may do harm? It may be argued that it is. If advertising sugary foods is good enough for commecial stations, and the money is going to a good cause, then it just make sense to take what advertising is offered. Other stations may argue that their advertising is an extension of the services they provide for the community and therefor they should provide a channel for listeners to find out about healthy, postive, green, local businesses.
The reality seems to lie in a balancing act between these two extremes. Even within ethical concerns there may be competing concerns that can be weighted differntly depending on the station. For example the desire to support local business may outweigh environmental concerns when discussing advertising for a high street butcher’s shop. Other concern may be able to be mitigated through the creation and/or timing of the advertisements. In the end ethical concerns should always be considered when approaching advertising and sponsorship deals, but they are just one factor accompanying logistics and finical benefit.
There are many things to consider when community radio turns to traditional business activities in order to gain funding. However, where all factors are taking into consideration, well constructed and modestly used advertisements can offer stations the opportunity to support local businesses while finacially supporting their important work.
