THIS WEEK’S Budget gave the clearest signal yet that the much-talked about Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) will actually come into being in 2009.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has had its 2009 budget slashed by 26 per cent – from €6.4 million to €4.7 million.
This is in the expectation that the BAI will be running by the end of March next, with a scheme agreed shortly thereafter for an industry-wide levy to fund day-to- day running of the super-regulator. This will relieve the taxpayer financially in relation to broadcasting regulation.
The BAI has been in the pipeline since 2002, when the decision was made to establish it.
The organisation will incorporate the current activities of the BCI and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, and will have an oversight role in relation to RTÉ, which should prove interesting given the tensions between Donnybrook and the independent sector in relation to the licence fee.
Legislation giving force to the BAI is expected to be passed by the end of 2008, with the body then operating in a few months.
The current term of the BCI’s board ends in December, with long-serving chairman and senior counsel Conor Maguire indicating that he will take his leave of the body at that point.
Appointing a chair for the new body will be in the gift of Minister for Communications Éamon Ryan. Whoever gets the job will have their hands full. In addition to agreeing a framework for the levy, two new radio stations – 4FM and Radio Nova – are due to hit the airwaves in 2009 while the Boxer consortium and RTÉ are progressing plans for the launch of digital terrestrial TV.
