No surprise there, I saw that one coming ten miles off, I saw that coming before they even went to air, I noted it in here before too that they were heading for this if they continued on their plan to be a community station on a narrowcast licence.
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Does anything happen? or is it just more of a warning?
They might get a fine, they might even have the licence taken off them, in any case theyâve turned the transmitter off & are online only now.
So unless they change their format & turn the transmitter back on as a Narrowcast station, Iâd say theyâll forfeit that licence, whether or not they get a fine or are forced to give it up?
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Any fine, licence revocation or condition would have been published with the decision.
By turning off, ACMA and the complainant (likely you know who, certain commercial broadcasters within the Myall Coast) would be happy.
Question is, is there any demand for their LPON/s?
These breaches usually just come with a warning.
The group have decided to move their service online and ACMA would be satisfied that they have complied with their directive to not broadcast a community radio service on a narrowcast frequency.
There would be 2 options for the group now - either to broadcast an acceptable narrowcast format or sell the license.
Give the commercial stations an inch and they take a MyallâŚthey were obviously playing with fire here.
The other glaring example is Territory FM in Darwin; they actually sound a bit like FM104 Brisbane with a more laid back commercial sound. I wonder if thereâs some sort of underhand arrangement there with Grant/ARN RegionalâŚ
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Would Myall de doing that well that the commercials make a complaint?
The complaint was attached to the report - didnât look like it would be something a commercial radio station would submit. I doubt that any of the Newcastle commercials would have even known or cared about such a small station. My bet would be the complaint was made by one of the surrounding community stations or maybe an individual that knows a bit about radio that had a gripe with the group.
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I would say no, not a LPON, the area is strongly holiday oriented, plenty of people go there for a beach holiday, ex-Prime Minister John Howard used to go there every year for a holiday over summer, still might? A community station would serve it well, but not an LPON, other than a tourist radio type.
I doubt the complaint wouldâve come from a commercial station, only a guess, but more likely from Great Lakes FM, the community station just up the road a bit at Foster/Tuncurry which actually currently serves or should serve the Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens (Myall) area.
Unfortunately itâs a fair drive (around 1hour 20mins) for anyone in the Myall area wanting to present a show on Great Lakes FM, so a localised studio (or another local community station) would be better to serve the area. Same thing going from Hawks Nest to Nelson Bay (Port Stephens community stations), they serve the area & if you go by boat itâs about 10 - 15 minutes away, if you have to go by car, itâs over 1 hour drive.
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There is a thrice daily ferry across Port Stephens, though I think the PS FM studios are in Salamander Bay which wouldnât help. I agree that a Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens community station would do OK. Perhaps the people behind Myall Coast FM can assess the demand for their service and apply for a TCBL? They really should have taken this route in the first instance- though they probably jumped at the chance to acquire a relatively cheap LPON.
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Its all a bit silly, in 2022 is something licenced for 1 watt really a threat to anyone?
The other way to look at this, can someone show me a Commercial Radio licence that only has 1 watt ERP?
Australian Broadcasting Regulations are stuck in 1992.
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Reading through the articles and the report, ACMA being Obsessive Compulsive Disordered assholes again, the way ACMA described the programme content in absolute microscopic detail indicates how pathetic these government bodies are. Some miserable sod in some quoshie office must sit there all day listening to every minute of a broadcast. Couldnât really see how a 1 watt station would interfere with anybody else, if it was 500 watts, then they may have been a case. FFS, let someone have their little bit of fun. Unfortunately can only think of the rather competitive nature of the narrowcasting environment that may have contributed to this.
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I sympathise with that point of view, however, community licensees have to jump through all sorts of hoops for the privilege of retaining their licence. The idea behind a narrowcasting licence is that they forgo this type of onerous regulation in return for limitations on what they can broadcast.
It may have been one of the community broadcasters who complained. There is definitely an egregious double standard when it comes to assessing community/narrowcast and commercial stations, though. The latter has basically an automatic right of renewal. Money talks, common sense walks.
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I understand the rather complex application process for a community license, these are generally 200, 250 watts of power, maybe in some areas related to geographic features and reception shadows, some may broadcast up to 500 watts, so I guess with that type of power, some justification should be established on who, why, and how they intend to broadcast.
But a government department wetting their nickers on a 1 watt station is as I said pathetic. When reading through the report, ACMA were carrying on about so many hours for this type of music, so many hours for this, so many minutes for that, the announcer was live at this time, and doing that. As noted on here several times, employ the NZ system, and they wouldnât be a problem. I think for such a small wattage, the draconian ânicheâ clause is ridiculous, as far as a trade off, one thought this would have been the extremely low wattage.
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Yeah, youâd think so, but obviously not!
Agree with you, but an owner only needs to buy a few licenses fairly close together, network the same program, or 100âs of them (like Faith FM) and bingo! youâve got a massive coverage area.
BTW - Faith FM are now on 88.0FM in Campbelltown - theyâre creeping closer to Sydney.
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Again, this is something that could easily be legislated, two licenses maximum per registered owner. For as far as Faith FM, there is already one of these religious crowdes that have established themselves in Sydney, Vision radio, apparently they have quite a few licenses as well, this is the kind of networking that needs to be clamped down and resolved for the principle of the narrowcasting scene.
The precious few licenses available are highly sought after, and creates a rather toxic dog-eat-dog environment. Though itâs highly probable that a community radio station complained about MCR, one cannot necessarilly exclude someone else having sour grapes, on perhaps being outbidded during an ACMA license auction, and wanting to return payback. Rather sad I know, but not thinking about such a scenario is like berrying ones head in the sand.
Apparently the complaint was made back in March April 2021, and the judgement was only released days ago, not sure when they first began broadcasting, but I guess if one could pull together the exact sequence of events relating to what happened and when, it would be rather telling.
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My88 has vacated 88.0 in Penrith and Richmond selling the frequencyâs to Faith FM, landing Faith FM right into Sydney.
They have been playing a test loop for most of the day today, however as of writing this itâs just dead air.
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how far into Sydney? These narrowcast FM frequencies are very low powered, arenât they?
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The 88.0 frequency is very well positioned along the ridge of Penrith, along with a bit of overpower and some help from its Kurrajong twin it can be gotten into Sydney CBD on a good radio, with a little interference from Raw FM collaroy also on 88.
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Great More happy clappers on the band 
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