Well… here’s my ugly mug (classic face for radio) talking with Jammin’ Jeff Scott (RadioDJ Dude) on his Youtube channel, talking about using AI on YachtRockAM.com - Jeff’s channel was the inspiration behind my little project.
Why is it that some stations always seem to use American accents for on air announcements & voiceovers? I hate that as I think it makes the station sound like it is trying to be more like an overseas station.
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They think it’s what listeners like. I find it a turnoff.
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Can they please stop doing this.
AI disclosure required under new commercial radio rules
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has registered updated rules for commercial radio broadcasters that include new requirements for content broadcast around school drop-off and pick-up times, and also for disclosing artificial intelligence use.
Under the Commercial Radio Code of Practice 2026, radio stations will be required to let their audience know when a synthetic voice is being used to host a regularly scheduled program or news broadcast. This is the first time AI has been addressed in a broadcasting code of practice.
Broadcasters will also have to give special care when airing content between 8-9am and 3-4pm on school days, when children are more likely to be listening.
ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the new rules would allow audiences to make more informed decisions about their listening habits.
“Broadcasting rules must keep pace with technology and with community expectations. AI is a powerful tool that offers a lot of innovation for broadcasters,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“However, listeners want greater transparency about when AI is being used. We welcome the commitments by the radio industry to address listener concerns.
“Listeners are also worried about inappropriate content at peak travel times when families listen together.
“These new rules set clear time windows where broadcasters must consider whether their content is suitable for children, giving parents and carers greater confidence when tuning in,” she said.
The revised code, which was developed by industry group Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA), also includes strengthened provisions around corrections for errors in news coverage and greater transparency in complaints reporting.
A significant number of submissions to the review called for strengthened rules around the broadcasting of Australian music. The new code includes changes to the station categories that determine how much Australian music must be played to better reflect contemporary broadcasting practices and music genres.
The ACMA will be working closely with CRA and the commercial radio industry over the coming 12 months to ensure stations are applying the new categories correctly and meet their longstanding Australian music obligations, including in relation to new Australian music.
As with all the provisions in the code, the ACMA expects that licensees with comply with their obligations to broadcast Australian music.
“Commercial radio is an integral part of Australia’s media landscape and these rules will help strengthen trust between broadcasters and their audiences.
“We would also like to see broadcasters voluntarily extend the code safeguards to content available on their on-demand streaming services. If they do not, we expect that new regulations may need to be put in place so that listeners know what to expect no matter how they tune in,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
The Commercial Radio Code of Practice 2026 will come into effect from 1 July 2026.
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Just don’t.
What about listeners tuning in halfway through? That’s the issue.
This is what keeps me tuning away from KIIS973. The recent change in music format is welcome and I want to listen more but the continued use of fake American accents for promos sends me elsewhere.
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From ARIA
ACMA decision on commercial radio Australian music quotas entrenches failing local music policy
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) denounces the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) decision to register the Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) Code of Practice with failing local radio music quotas left unchanged and reasonable recommendations to fix the deficient Australian music quotas ignored.
Current quotas are not meeting policy objectives. While stations are nominally meeting existing quotas, loopholes allow stations to self-select lower quota categories and dump most Australian music to off-peak time zones after 10pm when audiences are small. This means local audiences are not hearing Australian music as intended.
To address these issues ARIA recommended to CRA and the ACMA that at a minimum listening hour loopholes must be closed so Australian music must be played when audiences are listening.
Despite recognising that a significant number of submissions called for strengthened Australian music rules, ACMA has not required CRA to make any changes to strengthen current quotas instead deciding to simply enforce genre categories. We welcome the ACMA’s commitment to enforcing this, however changes to how categories are defined based on music genres should not have been made without any consultation with the music industry. On new music provisions, ACMA has stated it will work with CRA to ensure existing provisions are enforced and understood.
ARIA and PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd, said: “We are extremely disappointed that despite all the evidence put forward showing that these quotas aren’t working, the ACMA has not pursued any reasonable or practical changes. CRA Code reviews don’t happen very often and yet this has become another instance of Australian radio policy failing the country’s homegrown culture and artists in the very market where they should have a natural advantage.
“Commercial radio uses publicly owned spectrum to generate over $1 billion of revenue annually. That is a privilege, and it comes with a responsibility to surface Australian stories, Australian voices, and Australian music at times when audiences are actually tuned in. Under the current framework, stations are meeting their obligations while relegating Australian music to overnight and off-peak slots. The practical effect is that the quota exists on paper but delivers little for artists or the Australian listeners it was designed to serve.
“For the ACMA to agree to changes to important music genre categories without any input from the music industry is baffling.
“Numerous other countries enact policies to ensure local content on radio is not swamped with international music but in Australia, we continue to leave our artists exposed, undermining the National Cultural Policy and support for Australian artists undertaken across multiple levels of government and industry.
“There is so much excellent Australian music being released right now. Many local artists are seeing large local fan bases and major success internationally. They are winning Grammys, performing to massive international festival audiences and sellout crowds. This is not a supply issue.
“At a minimum we are simply asking for Australian music to be played when Australians are listening. That is a modest and reasonable expectation, and it is disappointing that the opportunity to deliver on it has been rejected by the ACMA.
“It now falls to government to recognise this gap and examine the ways in which it can ensure Australians are hearing local music in their own country. Our artists carry Australian stories to the world: they deserve a framework at home that gives them a genuine foundation to build on.”
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When asked why the updated code didn’t strengthen protection rules around Australian music, (ACMA chair Nerida) O’Loughlin said the proposal put it by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), to shorten the window in which the local content quotas apply from between 6am and midnight to 6am to 6pm, “sat outside the Australian US Free Trade Agreement”.
She explained “they were not things that we felt we could pursue, they would be matters for the government.”
When asked why ACMA felt this was the case, O’Loughlin said its internal legal team advised them on this. She admitted they hadn’t sought advice from foreign affairs and trade, but wrote to the Minister for the Arts and the Minister for Communications “about a week and a half ago” and hadn’t received a reply.
O’Loughlin claimed “there are very particular reservations to do with these time periods in the free trade agreement.”
When asked why ACMA hadn’t sought any independent advice on this, O’Loughlin replied: “I think our advice was very clear.”
‘Predators in the church’: ACMA slammed in Senate over Kyle and Jackie O
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@dxnerd might know the answer to this.. any reason why the area just north/east of Bungendore (in yellow) is excluded from the Goulburn LAP grey area (I checked the Canberra LAPs and that yellow area is not part of that either). Just looked odd to me to exclude it rather than make it a continuous area.
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Someone in Brisbane has joined Digital Bitrate and providing DAB/FM scans (as well as DTV)
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NTS using 40CU and 48kbps EEP-2A is a real waste of spectrum.
An even worse outcome @Laoma more cheap and nasty radio. Probably only $70 for six hours of voice tracking.
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If anyone is looking for a cheap FM radio for the NRL and Super Rugby that can handle Sports ears frequencies, Kmart, believe it or not, maybe of use for you. The (w)Anko MP3 and MP4 players can handle FM frequencies down to 76.0mhz, which will cover the Ref + Commentary frequency on 77.4Mhz. And can record as well.
MP3 Player (black, in other colours)
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/mp3-player-black-43667840/
MP4 Player
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/mp4-player-43667871/
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Impressive. They just need a portable DAB+ radio and they’ll own the budget end of the market for pocket radios & audio.
They stopped selling DAB+ radios a while back as there was so little demand for them. And they were getting so many returns from people who said that the radios didn’t work properly. So they have been there, done that.
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No they still sell them. I count at least 5 different types on their website.
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Those ones don’t look like they have DAB+ though. Just FM or AM/FM only.
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If you scroll to the bottom, there are about half a dozen models of DAB radios.
Sangean, Panasonic and VQ dextor. No Anko models.
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Ahh, though looks like they are all ‘Marketplace’ items, not available in-store at least.
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