Jacquie Golding-Duffy
BROADCAST RESOURCES (BR), the network programming services arm of Primedia Broadcasting, is reassessing its role in the market with rumours persisting that the network may even shut shop.
Resources managing director Chris Gibbons this week said the network is “reconfigurating”.
BR is operating at a loss and the market it was planning to cater for, when it was established in late 1994, is “not developing the way we anticipated”, he said.
Gibbons refused to put a price tag on how much money has been pumped into the operation, but said “several millions of rands” has been ploughed into the network during the past two years.
However, the network is still making a loss having lost its only two commercial radio clients: Highveld Stereo and Radio KFM.
Highveld terminated BR’s services shortly after its sale to Africa on Air was finalised. Primedia owns 40% of Highveld Stereo via the Africa on Air consortium.
“Highveld Stereo felt we offered too much national and international news and were not meeting their needs,” Gibbons says.
He adds that the current broadcasting market does not favour networks such as BR because the emerging commercial radio stations are eager to devise unique news formats without any outside network influences. The trend among radio stations, says Gibbons, is to focus on local news which is forcing BR to revisit its product mix.
After ditching BR, Highveld Stereo began using the services of BR’s rival – Network Radio Services (NRS).
Owned by Sapa, NRS was formed in 1995 and has successfully made an inroad into an otherwise impenetrable market.
NRS chief executive James Lorimer argues that there is a place in the market for networks, but admits that the market is “tough” and “constantly changing”.
Gibbons argues that the developing broadcasting market is causing “some concern” for BR.
“No finality can be reached until the Independent Broadcasting Authority has issued its final number of radio licences, but we feel that at this stage a degree of caution is required,” he said.
Although Gibbons is confident that the market will use syndicated network material in one or other format, the industry was not yet ready for network feeds. “Abroad you will find that most radio stations use networks late at night to take the heat off their resources,” he says.
BR provides news and sports to about 30 community radio stations, while NRS has 44 community radio stations to which it feeds bulletins.
The cost of the tailored package varies, with BR and NRS charging about R150 000 per annum.