Mr. John Purcell:

On the advertising minuteage and flexibility, currently the maximum is ten minutes per hour, and that is each hour. What we are seeking is that it can be averaged over a number of hours. For example, if a radio station is doing a live match commentary, because of the particular broadcast format, it is unable to put advertising in it. It might not have been match commentary during the height of the pandemic; it might have been mass, for example, which was broadcast on many stations. You cannot broadcast ads during that particular time, so maybe you could do four minutes of ads in one hour and ten minutes in the next hour, which is the maximum. For those 14 minutes, we would ask that we could do four in one hour and 12 in the next hour so we could balance it. We would not seek to do that the whole time but it is about that flexibility. At the moment, it is very rigid. This points out the rigidness of the way that we are regulated. This issue has been going on for years.

It is about whether you can do ten minutes in one hour and 11 minutes in another hour, nine minutes in one and eight in another. Meanwhile nothing is being done about the use of data by the online operators under discussion. The idea of the advertising minute is a good examplar of the burden under which we operate, unlike those who operate online. In regard to the amendments, we have argued consistently that we would like to see the broadcasting levy removed for independent radio also so that we can invest that money in journalism. We have asked for that also for many years. The key thing is that the amalgamation, or integration, of the broadcasting (amendment) Act with the online safety and media regulation Bill is that it is done sooner rather than later. At the moment there is regulatory uncertainty. The re-licensing process for radio stations is due to begin in the next 18 months and we currently do not know how that will be handled.