Finances

Income

According to the Database figures, the combined income of all fully licensed radio stations during the period was $50,769,710 - a rise of 9% over the previous year. The Community Broadcasting Foundation has estimated that the turnover of community broadcasting sector as a whole exceeds $212 million per annum when the value of volunteer labour is recognised

Total Income - Comparison Between 2002-03 and 2003-04

Individual station incomes varied widely. At one end of the spectrum, there were stations operating on less than $1,500 gross per annum. At the other end, the turnover of some stations in metropolitan areas exceeded $1 million during the period. Therefore, the overall average station income figure of $190,149 can be quite misleading. As the figure below indicates, most community broadcasters have a turnover of less than $100,000 and nearly 20% make under $25,000 per annum.

Number Of Stations In Income Brackets

The average income of stations in rural and regional areas was $109,675, while stations operating with metropolitan-wide licences averaged $501,460 during the period. In the case of stations holding limited metropolitan or suburban licences the average income was $108,241.

Income (Excluding GST) - All Stations/National, 2003-04
Income	Total	%	No. Of Station (Weighted)	Average
Educational Institutions	$1,408,947	2.8	16.5	$85,391
ATSIC	$7030539	13.8	21	$334,788
Federal Government Grants	$1398179	2.8	48.5	$28,828
State Government Grants	$1403775	2.8	55.3	$25,385
Local Government Grants	$115404	0.2	33.8	$3,414
Government Grants Combined	$2917358	5.7	138	$21,140
CBF Grants	$3265690	6.4	141	$12,231
Philanthropic Organisations	$223468	0.4	12.9	$17,323
Sponsorship	$17914330	35.3	258.1	$69,408
Subscriptions	$3928343	7.7	242.5	$16199
Donations	$5249291	10.3	242.5	$16199
Fundraising	$2075730	4.1	190.4	$10902
Access Fees	$2794972	5.5	81.8	$34168
Production or Studio Fees	$303081	0.6	62.1	$4881
Training	$232628	0.5	55.1	$4222
Access / Production / Training Fees Combined	$3330681	6.6	146	$22813
Other	$3425343	6.7	215	$15932
Total	$47504020	93.6	267	$177918
Grand Total	$50769710	100	267	$190149

Note: 'Other Income' is made up of miscellaneous income for all stations and income received by a proportionally small number of stations from either educational institutions or via the now dissolved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS).

Sponsorship was the largest income item and accounted for more than a third of the total income for the sector. Nearly all stations (97%) received some sponsorship income. Donations and subscriptions were also a common source of income with more 90% of the stations gaining some income from these sources.

Recurrent Commonwealth funding for community broadcasting is channelled from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) via the sector's funding body, the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF). However, not all stations apply for or receive any CBF funding, and overall it accounted for 6% of total income for the sector.

Stations may also receive grants from other Federal Government departments, as well from their respective state and local governments for specific projects or purposes. When this income was added to the funding channelled through the CBF, government grant income accounted for 12%²⁴ of total station income during the period.

It is important to note that grant income was unevenly distributed. For instance, state government grants accounted for 3% of overall station income across the sector in the 2002/03 financial year, but only 21% of stations received a grant from their state government during that period. The situation was similar in the case of federal and local government grants and those from philanthropic organisations. Also, the level of grants received by different sub-sectors varied; for instance, the religious sector received the smallest amount of government grants, making up only 0.1% to its total income.

Training income too was restricted with less than a quarter of stations (21%) receiving any income from training fees during the period.

The improved level of income in the sector in 2003-04 was fuelled by a 21% increase sponsorship income. Most sub-sectors had higher sponsorship income but the youth stations increased their sponsorship income by a massive 155%. This is explained by the fact that 2003-4 represented the first full year of operations for the newly-licensed youth stations: 2FBI, Edge FM and SYN-FM.

Religious stations also received a solid increase in sponsorship of more than 1 million dollars over the previous year.

An overall increase in funds from ATSIS for Indigenous stations also lifted the income for the sector. Fundraising and 'other' income sources showed the largest drop in income between 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Comparison Of Income 02-03 and 03-04

Expenditure

The sector spent most of its income on station operations. Total station expenditure during the period was $48,636,180 - an average of $182,158 per station. Wages, salaries and related on-costs accounted for the single largest expenditure item during the period at 46% of total average station spending. The sector showed a 17% increase in wages and salaries over the previous year. This increase was largely the effect of the burgeoning youth sub-sector during this period. Religious and Indigenous stations also had significant increases in salaries and wages.

Expenditure (Excluding GST) - All Stations / National
Expenditure	Total	%	No. Of Stations (Weighted)	Average
Transmission Link	$1613173	3.3	142.5	$11321
Salaries, wages & on costs	$33203090	45.9	173.4	$128617
Transmission Equipment	$1069192	2.2	93.2	$11472
Studio / Production Equipment	$1411074	2.9	172.1	$8199
Equipment Other	$744570	1.5	160.6	$4636
Transmission All Costs	$3301392	6.8	186.1	$17740
Copyright	$1352269	2.8	261.6	$5169
Other	$16842420	34.6	255.5	$65919
Total	$48636180	100	267	$182158

Expenditure Items 2003-04 Compared with 2002-03

The purchase of all categories of capital equipment was down on the previous year to $3,224,836 for the period, accounting for 7% of total expenditure. Copyright fees increased by 17% to $1,352, 269 and made-up 3% of total expenditure.

Finally, the Database figures show that during the period stations paid $4,914,565 in transmission related costs, including site access fees and transmission linking costs (excluding transmission equipment purchase). This represents a 22% increase over the previous year. An average or model of transmission costs, however, would be difficult to represent given the wide variation in transmission access conditions faced by community broadcasters²⁵.