While close to 62 percent of Bermuda residents support some kind of Government subsidy for local music radio programmes, the idea is drawing a mixed response from broadcasting executives.

The statistic is just one of the results of a recently conducted survey commissioned by the Bermuda Broadcasting Company to gauge public attitudes to local music on the airwaves.

Meanwhile the broadcaster is working "very feverishly" to set up an all local music radio station.

Asked whether Government should provide financial assistance to a local radio music programme should commercial support fall short, 62 percent agreed that Government should step in, while 28 percent opposed Government support.

Bermuda Broadcasting CEO Rick Richardson revealed the survey results at this week's forum on a proposal to introduce minimum local content regulations for broadcasters.

Mr. Richardson told the audience that his company has always been supportive of local musicians.

Besides footing the bill for a number of artists to take part in events overseas, the company had been in talks for over a year with the Bermuda Project about converting one of their stations to a full time "Island music" FM station.

The idea had received the green light from the company's board and the question now was whether the Island's advertising community would support it, he said.

Programme manager Darlene Ming told this newspaper afterward that corporate sponsorship had been "less than anticipated" so far.

Broadcasters agree that in general advertisers' interest in local programming has been on the decline in recent years.

But while VSB's programme manager Mike Bishop thinks Government subsidisation of a local music programme would be a win situation for a broadcaster, he said the broader issues of the music industry needed to be urgently tackled.

He said Tuesday's forum was not well attended by musicians despite copious publicity leading up to it.

"That indicates there is a problem within the music industry," he said.

And, while the survey also showed that most residents want more local music on the airwaves, Mr. Bishop had some searching questions for the Bermuda public.

"I heard everybody calling up on the radio and, quite rightly, talking about (recently passed) Hubert Smith,'' he said.

"But how many of these people have a Hubert Smith record in their collection?"

The survey also reported that 85 percent of residents wanted more local music played on BBC's stations but 84 percent did not make requests for it to be played on the air, while 16 percent did.

Sixty four percent of the respondents said they would support a full time "religious/gospel" station.

And almost all of the respondents - 95 percent - said they would support a once-a-week radio programme featuring local artists.

Mr. Bishop said his company's effort in the 1980s to maintain a full time local music station failed commercially because it was not supported by advertisers.

"In the best possible scenario the advertising community would come to the fore" and support local programming, given the survey results he told The Royal Gazette.

But, he added, there was no "hue and cry" from the public when VSB's full time station went off the air after at least three years in operation.

Bermuda Broadcasting does not have a position on Government subsidisation.

"I just know that somebody has to pay for the airtime," said Ms Ming.

"It has a price to it - we have to sell our product.

"We cannot go to Trimingham's and say give me a free dress," Ms Ming said.

"Our airtime is our bread and butter."

She added that the station already received some Government support in terms of specific programmes and that the station would have to be sure that any subsidies did not impact on their independence.

Conducted by Wave Marketing from November 28 through December 1, the survey has a five percent margin of error.

Interviewers established that the respondents were regular radio listeners.

A total of 201 questionnaires were filled out - 61 percent of the respondents identified themselves as black, 34 as white and five percent said they were "other".