Supporting Audiences During Coronavirus
Opens : 18th Mar 20 at 11:00 am
Closes : 11th May 20 at 11:00 am
A special rolling round for ideas that will improve listeners' lives
We live in extraordinary times, and it’s already clear that radio will play a vital role in keeping communities and families together while they are physically apart. To help with that, we've created this special bidding round to make ACF funding available for radio stations and suppliers that have incredible ideas that will improve listeners’ lives during Covid-19 restrictions.
It is our feeling (though we’re happy to be proved wrong) that this probably isn’t public health information content - we feel that is likely to be well covered by news and current affairs content and official information campaigns. Instead, we think this is about identifying and filling gaps - how are audiences' lifestyles and livelihoods being affected by the restrictions brought about by the situation, and how can radio improve listeners’ quality of life?
The standard guidelines and eligibility criteria for ACF funding still apply, and are attached below. Please read them carefully.
- As ever, we’re looking for ideas that are too costly to make without our support, and bids must be from independent producers with a guarantee of broadcast on Ofcom-regulated services.
- Consideration should be given to how the content can be made safely and in-line with any restrictions of movement that may be in place.
- We’d also encourage bidders to think of ways to maximise audience impact and reach, and bring together widespread production expertise, by forming innovative partnerships of suppliers and broadcasters.
- Please be specific about broadcast dates - though our guidelines reference a 12-month broadcast requirement, we'd clearly expect projects from this round to be broadcast whilst the crisis is on-going.
The deadline for bids on this round is now confirmed as 11 May at 10am. We are advising bidders to focus on content to be broadcast before the end of June. We will commit to reviewing all ideas from this round within two weeks (and hopefully faster), with funding in place promptly and paid upfront.
A final reminder to please read the attached guidelines carefully. In particular, note that the Audio Content Fund supports independent production companies bidding for funds to support content broadcast on partner radio stations, and that small and community radio stations should be formed into partnerships to maximise audience impact.