Radio's greatest strength lies in its unique local relevance and reach. Commercial Radio serves communities in a manner unequalled by any other medium. Local news, information and updates keep communities constantly informed.
Austereo's connection with its many communities also broadens into involvement with a range of important causes. The Today and Triple M Networks have promoted a range of community causes through airtime, news infonet and website information.
Last year, ending 30th June 2009, Austereo undertook an independently verified benchmarking process; through the London Benchmarking Group [LBG] (http://www.lbg-australia.com) to consistently track and account for Austereo’s charitable and community investments. This process was undertaken by all VRL Group related companies.
Under the London Benchmarking system, Austereo mainly through its ongoing support of Community Service Announcements (CSA’s) donated over $7.4M in airtime. This value is not calculated on the basis of what charities would have been charged but in accordance with LBG methodology this is the cost to the business of providing this service.
In addition to running CSA’s, Austereo also leverages its broadcast power to enable charities and community groups to receive donations directly from Austereo’s listeners. These donations are not included in the figure above. Examples of these events include: •The Bushfire Appeal •The B105 Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Christmas Appeal
These two events alone raised over $3.4M in on-air pledges and clearly demonstrates the power of radio to connect with people and the incredible generosity of Austereo’s listening public.
