Audio Content Fund pilot phase to end March 2022

Following discussions with DCMS – and following the resolution of their negotiations with the BBC over the Licence Fee settlement – it has been confirmed that TV Licence Fee funding will not be used to extend the Audio Content Fund beyond the initial pilot project. 

As such, Round 9 of the ACF – which closes on Jan 31st – will be the final funding round of that original pilot grant. The ACF will not currently introduce any further funding rounds. 

As the ACF moves into exploring new ways to keep funding great content, Managing Director Sam Bailey will continue in his part-time post to oversee the delivery of outstanding projects. 

Sam Bailey said:  “We are incredibly proud of our achievements during this three-year pilot period, which will have seen £3.3m distributed to more than 80 indie production companies, for more than 150 projects broadcast on more than 340 different radio stations. We are grateful to DCMS for the grant that enabled us to deliver this extraordinary portfolio of content for tens of millions of listeners. We will now move to an evaluation stage and explore alternative sources of funding.”