Manx Radio = White Elephant?

[Roger Smelly]

The Treasury Minister will ask members to approve funding of £933,000 for the financial year 2007-2008, subject to annual review based on inflationary considerations.

 

Other recommendations would require Manx Radio to provide a business case comparing the cost of relocation to that of extending the existing building on Douglas Head, and consider appointing an employee with strong professional accounting skills.

 

Isnt it time something was done regarding manx radio, a million a year is disgusting.

 

They should be forced to make at least 50% of the budget through advertising, what also makes my blood boil is you have energyFM and 3fm who do not get any funding but they can carry on trading/operating.

 

I know this is an old topic but i think something needs to be Done, and before the Manx Radio ego's come on and try to justify there wages just see it from the tax payers point of view.

[Tugger]

I haven't been involved in earlier discussions of this nature. MR does provide something of a public information service, but a million a year's worth? Plus, if it's information that's worth hearing, won't people listen in to it anyway?

[3v0]

Close the thing down, what a load of cr@p! I can't beleive that "Radio Station" costs us a million a year!!

[matty]

IIRC IOM Newspapers get around half a million a year to print Govt Notices, would you complain about that?

 

Manx Radio provide a relatively good news service (miles ahead of the local competition) and have a lot more 'community' based programming than the other stations, so if there's money to be allocated to providing the above services then I see no reason why MR shouldn't get it.

 

If the other stations wish to start providing a good news service and community based programming instead of (IMHO) the awful music they play then maybe the government money could be put out to tender.

 

£933,000 for MR / IOM Population (80,000?) = £11.66-ish per person per year

 

I'm more than happy for MR to have about a 'pound a month' off me for the service it provides!

[thebees]

Manx Radio is a national institution.....and as such should be institutionalised.

[Albert Tatlock]

A million quid is nothing in a business this size these days. Most of it will go on salaries I imagine (which aren't that high) and they have a fair amount of equipment to maintain.

 

I like the idea of having a national station with (albeit poor) UK reach via AM, and worldwide via the Interweb, as it represents the culture of the island.

 

If everything was simply left to 'to the market' we'd be in a right mess.

[Lonan3]

My personal view (which will be no surprise to anyone), is that Manx Radio provides an excellent service that is more than worth supporting to the tune of £11-12 per month per person.

Information and local content are, in my opinion, the key to the question - both of which are supplied in abundance by Manx Radio. If I want nothing but music to entertain me, I'll put a CD on, thanks very much, and choose the music that suits me rather than have a radio station deciding for me.

It would, of course, be infinitely preferable to have their funds supplied from a portion of the licence fee, but that simply opens up another question that has plenty of discussion on here.

From personal observation (totally unreliable, I know!), there seem to be very few people who don't an opinion about Manx Radio - simply because there are times when they rely on it for news, information about events and discussions about matters that concern them.

Although they have their own - often vociferous - supporters, I don't believe that many of the local population would be anything like as concerned about the futures of 3fm or Energy if they found themselves in difficulties.

[incidentally, my only connection with Manx radio is as a listener.]

[pamplemousse]

IIRC IOM Newspapers get around half a million a year to print Govt Notices, would you complain about that?

 

Manx Radio provide a relatively good news service (miles ahead of the local competition) and have a lot more 'community' based programming than the other stations, so if there's money to be allocated to providing the above services then I see no reason why MR shouldn't get it.

 

If the other stations wish to start providing a good news service and community based programming instead of (IMHO) the awful music they play then maybe the government money could be put out to tender.

 

£933,000 for MR / IOM Population (80,000?) = £11.66-ish per person per year

 

I'm more than happy for MR to have about a 'pound a month' off me for the service it provides!

 

Surprised to find myself saying I agree in theory. But in practice, I can't listen to it for more than three seconds without feeling violent. A little off at a tangent, but I'd pay for Alex Brindley to be interred in a soundproof bunker.

[sarahc]

I'd pay for Alex Brindley to be interred in a soundproof bunker.

 

I'll have a piece of that.

[Grandma]

I enjoy listening to Manx Radio. It's that or Radio 4 for me. My UK visitors over Xmas thought Manx Radio was more informative than than their Local Radio stations and better presented. If a person has an opinion that programmes on Manx radio are rubbish they need to realise that many others do not share their views. I hate TV Soaps but realise others love them. I have never ever watched an episode of Coronation Street but when visiting guests want to watch Corrie I let them (on my Tele) and take myself off to listen to Manx Radio!

[hboy]

Its nice to see public service broadcasting used to almost exclusively trumpet your own cause!

 

http://www.manxradio.com/readItem.aspx?ID=...mp;cate=General

[Declan]

£933,000 for MR / IOM Population (80,000?) = £11.66-ish per person per year

 

I'm more than happy for MR to have about a 'pound a month' off me for the service it provides!

 

 

How your licence is spent[/size]']

Each household's colour TV licence cost £10.54 every month in 2005/2006. On average this was how the BBC used your money:

 

Nations and English regions

television and local radio (£1.72)

 

 

Simple give the money our licence fee pays for BBC Local Radio to Manx Radio.

[Albert Tatlock]

How your licence is spent[/size]']

Each household's colour TV licence cost £10.54 every month in 2005/2006. On average this was how the BBC used your money:

 

Nations and English regions

television and local radio (£1.72)

 

 

Simple give the money our licence fee pays for BBC Local Radio to Manx Radio.

There are 30,000 homes on the island. 20,000 colour licences is around £2.5 million. Approx 16% of that total is around £400K.

 

But who wants BBC Manx Radio? - No thanks.

[Declan]

But £400k out of the licence fee would reduce the Government subsidy. BBC wouldn't need to be involved.

[Gladys]

But surely the money is mainly required for investment in the fixed assets of MR?

 

I would back MR as a true national broadcaster, you can't compare it with the other local stations as they do not have the local content. 3FM may have music more to my liking, but it is the local input that I think MR has honed very well.

 

Did you know that Charles Dickens visited the Island? I didn't, and wouldn't have done were it not for Terry Cringle's piece to be broadcast this Sunday. There is much to be applauded from MR and, of course, much to be criticsed.

 

But overall, it achieves its aims and I hope continues to do so without intervention from the BBC. Although the BBC should be shamed into giving some of its licence fee back to MR without any strings, but in acknowledgement of the fact that we have been paying a licence fee and not receiving a local radio service from them for years. During which time we have created a far superior broadcaster to anything that they could offer. Thank you.