17 November 2005
ACMA finds Forster community radio service broadcast advertisements during John Laws Morning Show
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that Great Lakes Area FM Community Radio Ltd, the licensee of community radio service 2GLA Forster, breached the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the Act), by broadcasting advertisements during its broadcast of the John Laws Morning Show.
On 24 June 2005, the former Australian Broadcasting Authority received a written complaint alleging that the licensee of 2GLA was in breach of its licence conditions as it broadcast advertisements and more than five minutes of sponsorship announcements in an hour during the John Laws Morning Show broadcast on 10 May 2005.
From 1 July 2005, the Australian Communications and Media Authority continued the investigation in accordance with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005.
ACMA determined that the licensee of 2GLA breached paragraph 9(1)(b) of Part 5 of Schedule 2 to the Broadcasting Services Act by broadcasting advertisements
ACMA found the licensee did not breach paragraph 9(3) of Part 5 of Schedule 2 to the Act as it did not broadcast more than five minutes of sponsorship announcements during the hour 11:00am to 12 noon on 10 May 2005.
The licensee has taken action to address the compliance issues raised by this breach finding, including training for all volunteers, particularly panel operators and on-air personnel.
ACMA considers these actions address the compliance issues raised by the investigation, particularly as the licensee has not breached these licence conditions in the last four years. The licensee’s performance will continue to monitored in this regard.
A copy of investigation report #1561 is available on the ACMA website.
Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980.
