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Station News
What's happening with The Light? Download our August Newsletter
The Light Works Towards A Long Term Licence
Posted by Stephen McDonald
13 August 2010
Thanks to everyone who responded to our audience survey. It is yet another way that we listen to our community and seek to respond.
One issue that continues to arise is the need to improve our reception. Sadly, the Australian Communication and Media Authority is not increasing our power output even when we move to 98.5 FM in December nor did they consider increasing our licence area to cover Albury and surrounding areas or even to include a more suitable transmission site. In the meantime, we are considering replacing our current horizontally polarised antennas (suited for providing in-car reception) with mixed horizontal and vertical antennas to provide better reception in houses as well. We are also looking at streaming on the internet, depending on audience interest and licensing fees.
There has been progress on the programming front. 100.7 The Light is now a full service radio station with the addition of AIR News on the hour. Between 6am and 6pm weekdays and 7am and 5pm weekends, we are bringing you the latest news from across Australia and around the globe.
In addition to hourly bulletins, we examine the latest from the state news desks at 8:30 am for Victoria and 9:30 am for New South Wales. Straight after Focus on the Family, we digest global affairs on The World at 10:30 am. All this is made possible by the sponsorship of Ikon Suspension.
In another development on the sponsorship front, Gloria Jean’s Coffees have included us in a national campaign to begin on 2 August. We are thankful for our friends at Christian Media Sales Australia who put together the campaign and are looking forward to partnering with them in many more. We still need to build a firm base of support from local businesses, churches and individuals.
Improving our financial support is a key requirement as we work towards applying for a long term licence. We pray that the ACMA will stick to the timetable they outlined to begin the process in January 2011. In the meantime, we need to gather evidence that the community needs, supports and participates in our broadcasting service. We would appreciate invitations to speak to you, your church or business about how you can help through donations, sponsorship and volunteering. As always, we value your prayers for us. Prayer points are included overleaf along with details of our monthly prayer meetings.
Annual Meeting to consider changes to AWCB's Constitution
Posted by Stephen McDonald
13 August 2010
The Board of Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters has set the date for the Annual General Meeting to be Saturday 9th October, 2010 from 4:30pm. The AGM will be held at Grace Presbyterian Church, 59 Mitchell Street, Wodonga (half a block south of Wodonga Primary School).
Members are strongly encouraged to attend and participate in the election of officers and particularly in considering revisions to the organisation’s constitution. The proposed changes are designed to ensure that we qualify for the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) which will allow us to apply for tax-deductibility status for donations over $2. Other revisions would give the Board authority to adjust the membership fees without a vote of the members of AWCB to change the Constitution each time.
An outline of the changes will be provided to all members of Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters by post prior to the meeting in October.
Coming Soon: Australian Independent Radio News
Posted by Stephen McDonald
17 May 2010
In February, we signed a sponsorship agreement with local motorcycle components manufacturer Ikon Suspension which has provided the necessary funding for hourly news bulletins.
Bulletins will air every hour from 6am till 6pm weekdays and 7am to 5pm on weekends. To be able to broadcast fresh bulletins while the studio is unattended has required us to change the broadcast automation system we use. This process is almost done and we hope to begin airing the news in the coming weeks.
Bulletins will be provided by Australian Independent Radio News (AIRNews). This Melbourne-based news service is used by around 35 stations across Australia including Life FM Wagga Wagga, Rhema FM Darwin, Rhema FM Sunshine Coast and Riverland Life FM. Their bulletins are balanced and non-sensationalist and are supplemented by daily current affairs specials for the state in which they are broadcast. We are convinced that they will help to inform a discerning outlook on the events of our world.
Alan Prentice Steps Down
Posted by Stephen McDonald
17 May 2010
Long-serving board member Alan Prentice resigned from the board of Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters Inc. at its meeting on 20 February. Alan brought particular expertise to the role of Public Officer from his previous employment with the Australian Communications Authority, a predecessor to ACMA.
Alan is handing over administrative responsibilities to Tanya Bergmeier. His place on the board was filled by the election of the Station Manager Stephen McDonald to the vacancy.
Alan continues to be an immense help with construction of backup transmission equipment which will play a very important role as we anticipate a change of frequency later in the year.
Board members for 2010-11 will be elected at the Annual General Meeting on 14th August 2010.
ACMA to move The Light to 98.5 FM
Posted by Stephen McDonald
7 May 2010
On 15 March, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) released its decision on the revision of the Albury Local Area Plan (LAP). Their final decision is very similar to the proposed outcome on which we were invited to make submissions, except there was no increase in the transmission power.
The ACMA has allocated 100.9 FM to ABC NewsRadio to operate at a strength of 1000 watts and are moving the community licence for Wodonga to 98.5 FM, but not increasing the transmission strength from 200 watts to 500 watts as it originally proposed.
Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters’ other proposal for increasing the licence area was also not addressed. The official notification from the ACMA stated that these sorts of changes are not usually considered for temporary licences, despite at least one officer of the ACMA advising AWCB that the LAP review process was a good time to request these changes.
We have lodged an application for another temporary licence to run until 31 November and we will be able to apply for a further licence on the new frequency to begin on 1 December. This will require us to freight our current transmission equipment to Gippsland to be tuned to 98.5 FM. We hope to have our backup equipment working and tuned to the new frequency by that time, but if we do not we will have to go off air while the work is done.
On the upside, the ACMA has advised us that the process for issuing a long-term licence will begin in January 2011. The process for gaining a long-term licence is notoriously difficult, but the ACMA is making changes to simplify the paperwork. Nevertheless, we will need to prove that there is a need for the radio service, community support for us providing the service, that we have the ability to provide it and that we are financially viable. There is a lot of work to be done to get us in a state to be able to prove each of these points.
Liam Returns to Breakfast
Posted by Stephen McDonald
28 January 2010
 100.7 The Light is proud to announce that Border radio legend Liam Renton will return to the early morning airwaves to wake up Albury-Wodonga.
Liam’s national countdown the Hot25 is a must listen Saturday night fixture at 8pm and now he’s teaming up with Robbie and Jo for the Family Show.
Once one of the top rating breakfast host in the region, Liam will team up with newcomer Jo and one-time movie extra Robbie for The Family Show on 100.7 The Light. Their aim is to make a show that you don't have to worry about turning the volume down on in front of the kids.
Since leaving the breakfast airwaves in 2005, Liam has become a father and with 2 young girls he is still used to getting up early. He has made a return to TV, having previously been the news presenter on Channel 7's The Big Breakfast.
The Family Show 7am weekdays from 1 February.
Change is ComingPosted by Stephen McDonald
28 January 2010
In 2007 then Communications Minister Helen Coonan announced the government’s intention to extend the ABC News Radio network to every community with a population of 10,000 or more. The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) informed us of an impending review of the Local Area Plan (LAP) for the Albury licence area.
In November 2009 this review was finally started. ACMA proposed locating the ABC News Radio service on 100.9 FM with a broadcast power of 2,000 watts and that the community licence on which we operate, be moved to 98.5 FM with a broadcast power of 500 Watts. Currently we are limited to 200 Watts, but the two other local community broadcasters can broadcast up to 2,000 Watts.
We responded to ACMA’s call for submissions with several proposals.
We asked that our licence area be extended to include Rutherglen, Chiltern, Wangaratta, Beechworth, Castle Creek, Yackandandah, Allans Flat, Kergunyah, Kiewa, Tallangatta, Howlong, Corowa, Balldale, Brocklesby, Culcairn, Walla Walla, Gerogery, Holbrook, Mullengandra, and Bethanga, or at a minimum the urban area of Albury-Wodonga. Currently our licence is only for Wodonga and does not include any of the surrounding hills, making finding a new location for our transmitter hard. In addition, we have asked that whichever frequency the licence is issued on should be capable of servicing this area, or at least broadcast at 2,000 Watts like the other local community services.
Changing frequencies will require us to send our transmitter back to the manufacturer for retuning, which could take weeks. We should be able to stay on air at lower power during this time. We hope that any changes will allow us to broadcast a better signal to a larger area.
Our submission was supported by a large number of local councils, MPs and the Albury and Wodonga ministers’ fellowship groups. ACMA had not indicated when the LAP review will be completed. We’ll keep you informed.
A Review of Albury-Wodonga Christian BroadcastersPosted by Stephen McDonald
Friday 6th November 2009
On 11 September I flew out of Sydney International Airport for Nadi, Fiji. In the course of my teaching role at Wodonga Institute of TAFE I had been put in touch with Australian Business Volunteers, who provide consultative assistance to businesses in developing countries. They sent myself and the coordinator of the broadcasting course to assist a radio station in Lautoka, on the west coast of Fiji's main island.
The station broadcasts to 70% of Fiji's 850,000 residents and holds a 20% market share. We provided training for announcers, audio producers and music and programming staff and assisted with setting up a new broadcast automation system (the same one as Wodonga TAFE uses and which I am implementing at The Light). We also made recommendations on changes to processes, the business structure and management team.
My stay lasted 1 month. I imparted a lot of information and leant quite a lot myself. After returning to Australia I had some time to consider how valuable that kind of review would be to Albury-Wodonga Christian Broadcasters. The Board has decided to spend time before its next regular meeting to step back and consider the big questions: What is our aim? How are we planning to reach our goals? What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? What people and resources do we need to get there? How are we communicating our goals and needs to the Christian community?
This will be the start of a wide-spread process which will include reviewing our organisational structure and constitution (particularly to allow us to gain tax deductibility for donations). We also plan to develop business and marketing plans and define the roles of the people within the organisation.
We are seeking input and expertise from people with experience in Christian broadcasting, business or non-profit organisations.
Our eventual goal is to sure up the groundwork that underlies the organisation so that we have a good base from which to move forward. Your prayers and input are always appreciated.
Results of 2009 AWCB Annual General MeetingPosted by Stephen McDonald
Friday 6th November 2009
Two new members were elected to the Board of Albury-Wodonga Christian Broadcasters at our Annual General Meeting on 8th August 2009.
Tanya Bergmeier began volunteering at The Light earlier this year. She has a background in marketing and administration and is assisting us in those areas. She was elected to the Board as secretary, which was vacant since the resignation of Jenny Spong last year. During the vacancy board member Jenny McDonald served temporarily as secretary.
Sam Alfieri has been a volunteer announcer in community radio for several years. After moving to Albury-Wodonga earlier this year, he took on the Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon and evening programs. He is our new public officer, with responsibility for our interaction with government departments and authorities. The outgoing public officer was Stephen McDonald.
Neil McDonald was elected President, with David James Vice President and Treasurer. Carl Booth, Alan Prentice and Jenny McDonald were elected regular members of the board.
We continue to seek people with Christian ministry, broadcasting and business skills to join the board.
The Light Needs Your Input & SupportPosted by Stephen McDonald
Thursday 13th August 2009
At the start of May the Australian Communications and Media Authority issued another 12 month licence for 100.7 The Light to stay on air. It is a great achievement that we can broadcast Bible teaching, wise counsel and Christian music reflecting on faith and life. We can keep doing this indefinitely as some kind of jukebox, but is that all we want it to be?
Do we want The Light to be a permanent presence in Albury Wodonga and surrounding areas? This requires getting permission to move our transmitter from the riverbanks to a suitable hill and to increase our transmission power. ACMA are willing for us to do this, but it will require changing our frequency and the purchase of some new equipment.
To secure a long term licence we need to demonstrate community support and financial viability. During a visit to Rhema FM Newcastle last year, I was shown their application for such a licence. It filled 5 large 3-ring folders. Their General Manager John Marks and 2 other staff members were spending 2-3 days a week on a process described to me as being worse than writing a university dissertation. I and our present volunteers are stretched keeping our current lineup on air without even thinking about these big tasks. We need help.
We have two goals bigger than having The Light permanently on air. The first is that people who do not know God come to know Him as Lord and Saviour. The second is that Christians will be strengthened and equipped to share the Gospel. Tensions between these two goals have torn Christian Broadcasters groups apart, but I do not propose to sell out either one to reach the other.
For both goals, we need to clearly broadcast the truth God’s Word without fear or favour, with an attitude of grace and love, realising that there is no one so sinful that God cannot save them and understanding the horrible consequences for those who do not accept the offer of salvation.
From a more practical viewpoint, for a radio station to attract and retain an audience, it needs more than good music and quality Bible teaching programs. It requires the regular presence of announcers with the ability to connect with the listener through their voices alone, for the listeners to interact with the program by telephone, SMS or internet, news bulletins that inform the listener of current events from a Christian perspective and entertainment programs centred around music of many forms or radio drama which teach us to value to best over the good. This is more than we can expect to do on our current budget of around $10,000 per year.
I am genuinely disappointed that so little progress has been made these goals in the 3 years that we have been on air. Whether we ever reach these goals depends as much on the input and support of people like you as on our hard work.
Allow me to say thank you to those who already make monetary donations towards running and developing The Light. I am also immensely appreciative to the volunteers who staff the station and help with administration. Without you we couldn’t do the valuable work we are already doing, and I hope that we will be joined by others to do even greater things to the glory of God.
Stephen McDonald
Station Manager
New licence issued!
Posted by Stephen McDonald
Tuesday 19th May 2009
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has issued another 12 month licence to allow us to stay on air! This licence will expire on 20 May 2010. Please thank God for His continued provision. We're excited to be able to keep broadcasting the truth of Jesus' message to Albury Wodonga.
100.7 The Light operates on temporary licences which have a maximum length of 12 months. One day we'd love to have a long term licence, but we're not ready for that yet.
To get a long term licence we need to prove 3 important things:
1. Need for service.
2. Community Support.
3. Community Involvement.
4. Ability to provide the service.
To meet these goals we need local people on the air, enough finances to run our equipment, promote the station and pay for staff and expressions of support from listeners, ministers and community leaders.
If you can help, please get in contact with us.
Station Watch May 2009 From quarterly newsletter
Posted by Stephen McDonald
Wednesday 29th April 2009
Transmission problems
On Monday 23 March
our regular transmitter went off air. Since we were not able to fix it
ourselves, we shipped it to the manufacturer in Gippsland. Alan Prentice, Paul
Dickinson and Trent Geddes got our backup transmitter working, with some
hiccups, and on 21 April reinstalled our original setup and fixed the cause of
the faults.
License renewal
Our current Temporary
Community Broadcasting License will expire on 20 May 2009 and we have lodged an
application for another license to commence from that date. Please pray that
the Australian Communication and Media Authority will grant this license for 12
months and that they will favourably consider our request for
more output power.
Meeting with ACMA at CMA Conference 2009
I will attend the
Christian Media Australian Conference on the Gold Coast (6 & 8 May). I will
take this opportunity to meet with ACMA's Community Broadcasting division about
relocating our transmission site, increasing transmission power, enlarging our
broadcast area and the anticipated Local Area Plan review, which aims to find
space for ABC News Radio with perhaps a re-allocation of frequencies.
Relocation options
In the last edition
of this newsletter, I indicated that we would need $5,000 a year to move to our
preferred broadcast site. While not abandoning this option, we now have a new
preferred site which we do not anticipate paying a commercial rent on.
Discussions are only in an early stage, but when they are complete we will
appeal for financial and manpower support to relocate.
We are also in
preliminary discussion about relocating our broadcast studios to a local
church.
In
Christ’s service,
Stephen McDonald
Station
Manager
100.7 The Light back on air!
Posted by Stephen McDonald
Friday 27 march 2009
A fault in our exciter put 100.7 The Light off air late Monday
afternoon. Our technicians dropped everything to get us back on air
with our backup exciter which was still in the process of being
constructed. We aren't out of the woods yet, but we're back on air. Now
to see if we are as consistent at thanking God as we were at asking Him
for things!
100.7 The Light off air!Posted by Stephen McDonald
Friday 27 March 2009
No, we didn't lose our licence (just the password to update you on our website!). Part of our transmitter failed on Monday afternoon and our technicians have been working long hours to get us back on air.
Part of our transmission setup will need to be sent away for repairs, but we hope to have our backup transmitter running very soon.
We particularly appreciate you prayers at this time, and remind you of our new monthly prayer meetings held at Grace Presbyterian Church, 59 Mitchell Street, Wodonga from 7:30pm on the second Monday of the month (April 13th is the next one).
A New Line-up for Summer!Posted by Stephen McDonald
Monday 29 December 2008
The small programming team at 100.7 The light have spent the past 4 months listening to hours of programs to bring you a fresh new line-up of program for summer, and the first ones started airing today!
Behind the Music is your backstage pass to the makers of Christian music. It airs weekdays at 12 noon (just in time for lunch!) with a repeat at 6pm to start our evening of programs (also including Adventures in Odyssey at 6:30, Focus on the Family at 7pm and Insight for Living with Chuck Swindol at 7:30).
Talking Life is a light talk show hosted by Peter Janetzki. He speaks to experts on all kinds of family and life issues. Join Peter weeknights from 10pm.
We're sure you loved the Christmas music specials from Sixpence None the Richer and BarlowGirl, so now you can catch Soul2Soul every Saturday from 11am. We're also planning a repeat (probably on a weeknight) so stay tuned for details!
Your help is neededPosted by Stephen McDonald
Wednesday 10 December 2008
The Light expects the resignation of two very valuable board members at its board meeting on Saturday, following the resignation of our treasurer last month. All 3 resignations are due to family commitments.
Please pray that God will provide people with a heart for Albury-Wodonga and a mind for this work to make themselves available. We particularly need people with administrative and financial skills for these roles.
All people interested in the work of The Light are welcome to attend the board meeting at 45 Sans Souci Drive, Wodonga, 4pm this Saturday and every 2nd Saturday of the month (except January).
If you would like to know anything about the board of management or getting involved, please contact Stephen McDonald on 0421 798 205 or by email at manager(at)thelight.org.au
The Creation Answers Book GiveawayPosted by Stephen McDonald
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Thanks to Creation Ministries International, we have giveaway copies of
The Creation Answers Book edited by Dr Don Batten who is speaking in Albury-Wodonga this weekend, see creationontheweb.com.au. To pick up a copy of The Creation Answers Book
and a Creation magazine, be listening to Mornings with Stephen McDonald
between 8 - 10 am for the rest of this week for your cue to call!
Dr Don Batten, editor of
The Creation Answers Book, is speaking at:
Albury Seventh Day Adventist Church, David St Friday 7:30pm
St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Wagga Rd, Saturday 8am
Wodonga District Baptist Church, Melrose Dr, Saturday 7:30pm
Christian Fellowship Centre, Kiewa St, Sunday 10am
Licence ExtendedPosted by Stephen McDonald
Thursday 6th November 2008
I received a call from the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) in the past 10 minutes to say that the Temporary Community Broadcasting Licence (TCBL) which allows us to broadcast as 100.7 The Light has been extended by 6 months until 20 May 2008. Praise God!
Usually we have to apply for a new TCBL, which means filling out an application and paying a nominal licence fee, but because ACMA expected to be doing a review of the Albury area before this licence expired we were only given 6 months. The review has not started yet, and we don't know when it will, so we've been given another 6 months, for which we give God thanks.
Please join us in thanking God and upholding 100.7 The Light in prayer.
Challenges or Opportunities?from AWCB Quarterly Newsletter Nov 08 - Jan 09
Many challenges face Albury Wodonga Christian Broadcasters/100.7 The Light. These challenges, if met, will turn out to be great opportunities. Opportunities which will greatly enhance our service to God and the community.
The relocation of our studios will allow us to be more accessible to the community which we serve and allow us to present a wider range of programs, including more interviews and potentially talkback. Moving our transmitter should improve our reception, and approval from ACMA for a greater output power would help too.
We also want to add a news service, which will require an overhaul of our computer systems and the assistance of people skilled in IT and broadcast automation, a couple of whom I know from my teaching at Wodonga TAFE.
ACMA have still not called the Local Area Plan (LAP) review which we have been expecting for 12 months. Instead they plan to extend our current Temporary Community Broadcasting Licence (TCBL) for 6 months from 20 November until 20 March 2009 while they arrange the review. It aims to find a spot for an ABC News Radio service, but all topics relating to broadcasting in Albury/Wodonga will be open for consideration. I have drafted an outline for our submission and am scouting out people to do the research needed to support our arguments. Your input and prayers are appreciated.
Thanks to those who completed audience surveys and promoted them in their churches. I particularly thank Estelle Williams for collating the responses. We have met this challenge well.
Part 1 of our program review (looking at teaching, music and interview programs) is in its last stages. Part 2 looking at our music mix is in planning with analysis of the audience survey to be considered before completion. Work has been slow because an anticipated change of automation software will mean that much of this work will need to be redone.
These many points all sound like challenges. If they go bad and things fall in a heap, we know that God uses even the bad things for our ultimate good, whether we see the good in this life or not (Romans 8:28). I've found the past two and a half years to very challenging, but God is using it for good.
In Christ’s service,
Stephen McDonald
Station Manager
Licence up in the airPosted by Stephen McDonald Saturday 18 October 2008
No need to panic, but please pray
The Australian Communications and Media Authority have still not called the Local Area Plan (LAP) review which we have been expecting for the past 12 months. I am hopeful that they will extend our current Temporary Community Broadcasting Licence (TCBL) for a further 6 months from 20 November while they arrange for this review. The purpose of the LAP review is to find a spot on the spectrum for an ABC NewsRadio service, but all other topics relating to broadcasting are also open for consideration.
The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has been concerned about decisions made by ACMA in LAP reviews in other places. In Geelong, Ballarat, Colac and Townsville community stations have been allocated new frequencies in lower-powered parts of the spectrum. CBAA has expressed its concerns to ACMA on the grounds that community station find it hard to find the extra technical and human resources to adjust to the change, finding new transmission equipment and replacing printed and on air publicity. See their press release: Community broadcasters singled out in frequency fiasco http://www.cbaa.org.au/content.php/236.html?newsid=1369
I have drafted an outline for our submission to the LAP Review and am scouting out people to help gather the statistics and background research needed to support our arguements. Your input and prayers are appreciated.
Where the rubber hits the roadPosted by Stephen McDonald
Saturday 18 October 2008
Get in and give us a hand
We have been seeking people with skills to join the board and I had hoped that we would welcome at least one new member to the board at the Annual General Meeting. Sadly the most likely candidate was not available and 3 members of the board announced their ability to serve only until the end of the year. Our treasurer, Richard Campbell, secretary Jenny Spong, and board member and former treasurer Grant Spong will all resign due to family commitments. (Details of appointments and other decisions of the AGM are also included in this newsletter).
Further to this, our membership secretary Alan Prentice is unable to continue production of this quarterly newsletter. I am overseeing its production on this occasion and Alan hopes to induct a new editor in time for the next edition.
I have a bunch of announcements in production to encourage more community participation. This is vital for purely pragmatic reasons because we need to demonstrate it to ACMA, but also because we exist to serve the community and its involvement is the only way to be sure we are serving it properly. There are jobs to be done in financial and administrative areas as well as in promotions and sponsorship sales, broadcast engineering, audio production and the obvious on air roles. People with any skills or a willingness to learn and a passion for seeing a long term Christian radio station in Albury/Wodonga, please let us know. Our contact details are included in this newsletter. In the end, whether the Christians of Albury Wodonga think Christian radio is worth their time and effort, rather than their nice compliments, will determine whether we last or like the first try at Christian radio here, we fall in a heap.
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