Hills Radio set for closure

By Jonas Lopez in Media News on Tuesday, 22nd September 2020 at 11:35am

Hills Radio 88.9FM office door (photo credit: InDaily) Mt Barker, SA station Hills Radio 88.9FM is now marked for closure, effective 30 September.

The closure was made official after the ACMA awarded Lofty Community Media Inc the long-term community radio broadcasting licence for the 88.9FM frequency.

Hills Radio started airing in 2014, but has shared the frequency with Lofty since November 2018.

Formal applications for the full licence covering Mt Barker, however, have been filed with ACMA since October last year and Hills Radio were asked to detail to ACMA their business and coverage model.

“...in making its decision ACMA considered the extent to which the proposed services would meet the needs of the local community, and the capacity of the applicants to provide the proposed service. It considers that community participation and engagement are the cornerstone of community broadcasting. We considered that we more than met the greatest requirement, but ACMA considered our application did not meet that requirement,” said Hills Radio Board vice-chairman Shawn Hutchinson.

Although Hills Radio is going off the air, the station board is considering continued service over digital radio and podcast shows.

“We didn’t expect this to happen, we’ve been going for less than two years. We’re financially stable … but now with some certainty, we can get some sponsors. But we’re not about the money, our thing is the social benefit value, that’s what community radio is about,” said Lofty GM Lindsay Campbell upon learning of the decision.

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