Commercial broadcasters, such as local radio, play an important role in providing valuable public service content to the Irish public. The Future of Media Commission, in examining the challenges faced by the media sector and consequent impact on the provision of public service content, made a number of recommendations to counter these challenges and to support the provision of public service content. This included the establishment of a new Media Fund to provide support for the provision of public service content by the wider media sector at local, regional and national levels on a platform neutral basis.
In Budget 2024, I secured €6m for two pilot schemes under this new Media Fund. The Local Democracy Scheme and the Courts Reporting Scheme, for which applications will close at the end of this month, are being administered by Coimisiún na Meán on a platform neutral basis, so television, radio, print, online and community media are all eligible to apply for funding.
I am conscious that IBI have decided not to participate in the pilot Schemes and my Department continues to engage strongly with them to understand their concerns, while also being conscious of the fact that the Schemes had to be approved by the European Commission for State Aid and there are limitations on the capacity to adjust them.
I have secured a further €10m for the Media Fund in 2025 to allow for additional Schemes to be brought forward, such as supports regarding digitalisation and news. Stakeholder feedback, including the views of the IBI will be taken into account as part of the design process of future schemes to the greatest extent possible.
I am conscious of the pressures on all commercial media, not least as regards the provision of important news and current affairs programming. I have also committed to changing legislation to allow for the Sound and Vision Scheme to fund news and current affairs and I expect to bring forward that General Scheme this Autumn.
These new provisions are in addition to supports already provided to the independent media sector:
• In 2023, €16.7m in funding was awarded to applicants of the Sound and Vision scheme, providing support to a range of independent producers, commercial radio and community broadcasters. This included an additional €6m of Exchequer funding which I secured, enabling the expansion of the funding rounds and a dedicated €2.4m independent commercial radio round.
• The radio sector also received significant funding from other Sound and Vision rounds announced in 2023. 35 projects received a total of €543,000 from announcements made last August, while another 67 radio projects received €636,000 from Round 47 which was announced in April 2023.
• In April 2024, Coimisiún na Meán announced the allocation of €8.6m of Sound and Vision funding for broadcasters and independent producers. Round 51 provided over €1.1m for 38 radio projects and Round 52 allocated over €700k to the community radio sector.
• In September 2024, Coimisiún na Meán announced the largest single funding round of the Sound and Vision scheme to date after I secured an additional €2m of Exchequer funding for Round 53 of the scheme. Over €10.1m in funding has been allocated for Round 53, which will provide funding of over €1.1 million to 56 radio projects. 39 of these will be broadcast on independent commercial radio stations and includes an allocation of €300,000 to a collective application from IBI on behalf of 16 independent commercial radio stations for a second series of ‘Ours to Protect’.
• A further 2 rounds of Sound & Vision will operate this year. Applications to Round 54 of the Scheme, for which I secured €2m of Exchequer funding, closed on 8th August and are currently being assessed. Round 55 of the Scheme opens in October for broadcasters and independent producers, including radio.
Given the importance of the radio sector, at my request Coimisiún na Meán prepared a Report into the Economic Viability of the Commercial Radio Sector, which was published on 3rd May 2024. The report provides valuable insights into the revenues, costs, and profits in the sector over the past number of years, and the challenges and opportunities facing the sector which it identifies, in particular regarding independent local radio stations. The report indicates a consistently profitable commercial radio sector that has been resilient over the past number of years but that will need to adapt to changing consumption habits and modes of delivering audio content in the coming years. In that context, the report identifies the digitalisation of sound services as both an opportunity and challenge for the sector. My officials will continue to engage with Coimisiún na Meán regarding the findings of the report.
I am fully committed to examining longer-term supports to commercial radio that reflect the unique needs and characteristics of the sector. Given the importance of the sector, and having particular regard to the issues raised, I will continue to engage with my officials on the most appropriate mechanism to support the radio sector in delivering vital public service content for our democracy and society.
