Manx Radio’s bosses want more money to run the station.

And, in a report by the broadcaster on its plans for a sustainable operational and funding future, the management suggests ownership of the station should be placed in a trust operated on the Treasury’s behalf.

In addition, Tynwald members, who were yesterday (Monday) given a briefing on the report, will next week be asked to approve a recommendation that Manx Radio remains at its Broadcasting House base at Douglas Head.

The board says relocation ’would not be the best use of public funds’.

In its report, the station management admit it may have been ’slow to react’ to the changing nature of public service media.

The Manx Radio board is seeking an increase in the station’s annual subvention to just under £1 million.

Manx Radio’s subsidy was £875,000 in 2018-19. It increased this year by £24,830 to £899,830 in line with inflation.

It also received £113,000 from the Department for Enterprise to provide this year’s Radio TT coverage - although that figure is not specifically mentioned in the report.

The report seeks an increase in the annual public service subvention from £899,830 to a level of £995,000 plus CPI inflation from April 1 next year.

It says: ’For the past four years up to April 1, 2019, it has remained static with no CPI increase and, over the course of time this has had a cumulative effect on the funding and functioning of the station.

’By comparison BBC local radio had a 4.7% increase in funding in the most recent figures published (16/17 - £112.9m, 17/18 - £118.2m).

static

’The average cost of a BBC local radio station in the year 2017/18 was £2.95 million. Manx Radio’s publicly funded contribution has remained static for a number of years.’

Current ownership of the station by the Treasury leads to a ’conflict’ between the department’s role as a shareholder seeking to support the station and its job in allocating funding says the report.

This in turn creates tension between the Treasury and the Manx Radio board.

So station bosses are suggesting an ’intermediate ownership vehicle’ between the government and the operating company, in the form of a standard trust. The trustees would hold shares in Manx Radio for the benefit of the Treasury an would ensure the station met the obligations of its licence.

It would be for trustees to negotiate a ’multi-year operational funding’ arrangement.

The report and its three recommendations will be moved by Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan in Tynwald next week. But as it is a parliamentary motion, government support is not guaranteed.

In the report, management sets out how the station ’will keep itself at the forefront of the changes in the way that the community engages with content both on-air and online’.

The report states: ’The management of Manx Radio accept that it has possibly been slow to react to the changing nature of public service media.

’Across the entire organisation there is a desire and genuine passion to change and be more reflective of the broader community we serve as the source of trustworthy news, information and debate.’

The new direction will include ’new radio and digital content, greater and more open discussion and interaction’.

The station’s role as the island’s public service broadcaster has been under the spotlight with moves to amend the legal definition of public service broadcaster so that it could apply to more than one provider.

In the report, station bosses say: ’A strong and trusted public service station such as Manx Radio offers a balanced, open and honest opportunity to hear and engage with the story from every perspective. Informing and helping to shape public debate and offering real engagement with the issues of the day by all parties.’

A survey of Tynwald members found that 90% enjoyed the station’s coverage of news and current affairs, the report says, while the figure in the general community was 73%.

transmission

Figures for Manx Radio’s subvention outlined in the Budget Pink Book include an extra £80,000 to cover the costs of transferring the transmission equipment from the Department of Home Affairs, taking the total this year to about £980,000.

In relation to funding for Radio TT, the report says: ’With the rights to future TT events still in the balance, for the purpose of this report we’ve included the costs and income on a like-for-like basis for providing full radio coverage of the event.’

It explains that new arrangements for TT radio in 2019 meant the station had a ’technical facilities contract’ to cover the infrastructure and output but was unable to exploit advertising opportunities previously available.