More than the First 3 Letters of the Alphabet by Roger Norman

​If you have an involvement of any kind with Triple H, the first lot of letters that you hear about is CBAA.
No, it’s not an extension of the Commonwealth Bank – it stands for Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. In very simple terms it is the industry body for Community Radio and Television Stations in Australia with Triple H 100.1fm being one of its 300 odd members. It is a company limited by guarantee, registered as a charitable institution and managed by a board of eight directors elected by member stations. CBAA offices are in Sydney and its team of staff are led by its CEO Jon Bisset. However it promotes itself as providing services to not only the ‘Broadcasters’ but also to ‘Listeners’ and ‘Musicians.’
The CBAA provides leadership, advocacy and support for our radio station to actively provide independent broadcasting services to build and strengthen local communities. It also provides advice and support over a wide range of issues. In addition CBAA partners with approx. 20 other organisations, many being involved with community media training, to significantly extend its range of services.
Services provided by CBAA to community radio stations such as Triple H are certainly many and varied viz:

• Its Community Radio Network allows access to share some of the sectors best news, talk, music and entertainment programs 24/7. It is a valuable source for community radio station’s content made possible by CBAA’s satellite service.
• Provides audio streaming, on-demand and podcasting solutions
• CBAA’s Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (known as AMRAP) promotes new Australian music by distributing to community radio stations – greatly benefitting Australian artists, composers etc
• CBAA’S Digital Radio Project provides a source of reference for digital radio matters as well as assisting with station programming and content.
• provides a reference point for all community radio broadcasting information and advice. This includes free access to independent legal and dispute resolution services, use of online learning resources as well as HR support.
• Organises its annual conference, the CBAA Awards, Webinars and program development initiatives and issues a fortnightly newsletter.
• Undertakes comprehensive data options to community radio stations from the National Listeners Survey and the Station Community Engagement Survey as well as providing Station Listeners Reports.
• Carries out independent/commissioned research eg Financial Health of Community Radio Survey, Programming and Technology Survey Report etc
• Conducts other sector research eg The Joy of Social Connection, More than Radio – a Community Asset, Digital Storytelling etc
• Provides financial benefits and other free services such as;
  • 50% off insurance and other fees
  • Savings up to $2500 on Community Radio Network fees
  • 10% off news service
• Provides an advertising platform for Job and Volunteer opportunities in community radio.

So there it is in a much briefer and clearer form than you’ll find on any website!! It certainly  demonstrates that the CBAA is a valuable asset for any community radio station.

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