Radio suffers in ABC funding war

THE ABC's Radio National has blown its budget, has been ordered not to replace departing staff and is struggling to fill some programming slots.

Now one of the ABC's best program makers, Jane Connors, is undertaking an emergency review of resources to find a solution and quell growing industrial unrest within the national broadcaster.

The ABC's other radio networks - Local Radio, ABC NewsRadio, Classic FM and Triple J have little sympathy for RN. They joke that RN staff lie around peeling each other's grapes. They scoff at suggestions that they need a big budget to make quality programs. But, whether it is over-spending or genuinely under-resourced, Radio National is at the crossroads. It cannot continue to make highly specialised, richly-produced programs without more money.

The ABC refuses to release a breakdown of its radio budget, but it is understood RN's discrete funding is $13-$14 million from ABC radio's total budget of $90 million but is supplemented by resources from other departments, such as production. Because its programs are mainly original and are researched and produced from the ground up, the majority of the budget is spent on staff. It is believed to employ about 150 of the ABC's 900 staff. The newest network, NewsRadio, is believed to operate on about $2.5million a year, but it is a "rip and read" network, taking copy from other ABC sources including overseas broadcasters and reading it to air.

Connors, the deputy director of programming, will be asking how long the largest single network in the country can afford to cover the diverse subjects it examines, which include technology, environment, architecture, design, media, law, books and science. She would not discuss the review yesterday but said through a spokesman: "It is true that Radio National is undergoing an internal review of its programming. This is a normal and healthy process within ABC Radio."

Due to be submitted at the end of May, the Connors report may result in RN running more repeats, changing the briefs of the programs, splicing the interviews up with more music or cutting shows altogether. Some managers see the review as a chance to take a good hard look at the purpose and output of Radio National, and an opportunity to fix the entrenched problems of resources and poor morale and to "rediscover and reinvigorate".

Unlike its sister network Local Radio, Radio National does not provide any serious ratings competition to the commercial industry. Tuesday's radio ratings survey reveals 702 ABC Sydney won its best results in 38 years, remaining in second position in the market. But Radio National experienced a slight drop in the station's audience in every city except Perth - Sydney's 2RN fell to 1.9 from 2.7 (-0.8), Brisbane's 4RN fell to 1.8 from 2.4 (-0.6), Melbourne's 3RN fell to 2.0 from 2.4 (-0.4), Adelaide's 5RN fell to 1.7 from 2.2 (-0.5) and Perth's 6RN rose to 2.4 from 1.5 (+0.9).

Internally, director of radio Sue Howard is accused of failing to secure a bigger piece of the pie for the ABC's five radio networks. Radio is often overshadowed by the powerful TV division run by Sandra Levy and news and current affairs under John Cameron. She has a background in Local Radio, which in the rarefied world of the ABC is seen as the enemy of Radio National's intellectual fare. However, last year she was quoted in The Age as saying closing RN to shave costs was "not something I would ever contemplate".

It is true Radio National is better resourced than the other networks. But it is the nature of the beast. As ABC managing director Russell Balding told a Senate estimates committee hearing last week: "There is a lot more research done in respect of the programs that go to air with Radio National. It does require a lot more resources in putting a program to air. If one was to look at the cost per hour of broadcast for Radio National, it would be significantly higher, for a number of justifiable reasons, than it would be for local radio, which is flow programming."

But when Balding was asked by the committee if there was a "recognised budget problem within Radio National", he said: "Not that I am aware of, other than continual budget pressures across the corporation."

Media understands there is indeed a budgetary crisis, which came to a head when five resignations last year created five vacancies. In December - after finalising the schedule for 2005 - the bean counters froze all positions because of inadequate funds to pay for new staff. Radio National had to make over 60 distinct programs each week without the resources it had in 2004.

The secretary of the ABC section of the Community and Public Sector Union, Graeme Thomson, said there was then "huge turmoil" in the ranks as 12 to 14 staff were moved across the network to cover the gaps. Programs were put to air without checking and some people were working on two shows at once.

While a mooted strike earlier this week has so far been avoided because staff have welcomed the review, it is far from certain that Connors will be able to keep the network running smoothly without industrial action or program mishaps until she hands down her results in three months.