Ireland’s Independent Radio Stations are calling for urgent government intervention to sustain the viability of news and current and affairs content in the sector.
It follows the Annual General Meeting of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, in which stations individually examined proposed support schemes and determined they were unfit-for-purpose and couldn’t work economically.
The IBI is composed of all 34 independent Irish radio stations, who together make up 70% of radio listenership in Ireland and have over 2.5 million daily listeners.
There are currently no support schemes in place for current affairs services in radio, which compete against social media platforms and domestic players such as RTÉ and news publishers, who have both benefitted from major government policy interventions in recent years.
Independent Broadcasters of Ireland CEO Michael Kelly says fair and proportionate supports are urgently needed to level the playing field.
