Local radio – an endangered species? The Polish case

Abstract

A great majority of broadcasters in Poland have local licences. However, it does not mean they play roles typical of local radio. Similarly to other countries the networking process has its negative impact on this sector. Networking leads to unification of the programme and a significant reduction of the local content. What is more, there is no fully recognized third sector which could be a supplement to commercial local broadcasting. In this paper special attention is paid to public and community stations as providers of localness disappearing from the airwaves. The authors, taking into account global trends concerning these two sectors, try to analyse what the chances and the limitations of the development of local radio in Poland within these two sectors are. This analysis is based on official documents, results of public consultations regarding the third sector of broadcasting as well as observations of the functioning of local public radio made by one of the authors working as the Chairman of the Board of the Polish Radio. However, the authors would also like to characterize the current situation of independent local broadcasting in Poland as a whole, specify what the main obstacles in local broadcasting development are, speculate what can be done to improve the situation of this sector.