Radio Stuff
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Let’s Face The Music
Much has been said about the BBC’s launch of a new, all-encompassing strand to promote our musical heritage. On paper, BBC Music has much to celebrate – a new annual award support by the main radio networks, and a mission to reconnect schoolchildren with classical music. And the strategy has been shaped in no small…
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Living The Dream
Even with cloudy weather, I’ll never tire of this view. Which is just as well, as I’m going to be seeing quite a bit of it for the next few months. This is the Devon coast between Teignmouth and Dawlish, one of the most scenic views from a railway carriage anywhere in the UK. You…
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Here Isn’t The News
It’s the end of an era. Paxman quits Newsnight, and amid the speculation of who can fill the space left by his gnashers there’s a raft of superlatives from the bosses saying how wonderful he’s been. I admire Paxo for many reasons – not least the fact that he won’t cross an NUJ picket line.…
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Information Underload
When large numbers of your listeners are caught up in the heart of a story, involving and engaging them is just as important as informing them. Aside from on air content, a radio station’s website can add context and detail which you simply can’t fit into a three minute news bulletin. But how you do…
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I Didn’t Tell You So
Lesson number one in the media industry is : never listen to the gossip. It’s notoriously wrong. And so it was when, a few weeks ago, I wrongly predicted that the end was nigh for Smooth Radio. Told to sell assets by the Competition Commission, and having taken Smooth off the national DAB Radio network,…
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Embargo-a-go-go
Managing the news is something PRs are paid to do. As journalists, we get that. Drip feed a story at an appropriate time to your target outlet, hope that both sides play by the unwritten rules and everyone’s happy. It’s a neat arrangement. And one that is completely unworkable in 2014. This morning I heard…
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Smooth goes into the rough
It’s ten months since the Competition Commission ordered Global Radio to sell some of its stations following its acquisition of the Real Radio and Smooth Radio brands. Much speculation has followed about how Global might get around the tricky business of offloading some of its assets, whilst continuing to concentrate on its two biggest brands,…
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A Talk On The Wild Side
Last week, London’s talk radio station LBC announced that it was “going national” across the UK. It was a big claim – and not without a certain amount of irony – since LBC was previously available on several local Digital Radio multiplexes but was subsequently pulled, most probably for financial reasons. Nevertheless, it’s still an…
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Three Is The Magic Number
Every so often, commercial radio has a dig at the BBC. In the run up to Charter Renewal (the process by which the Licence Fee is ultimately rubber stamped by Government) it’s become something of a sport to try and expose dear old Auntie as a wicked witch. More often than not, the Corporation is…
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A (Tamar) Bridge Too Far
Around a year and a half ago, I wrote this blog about Global Radio’s plans to remove their local drive show from Cornwall. The Heart South West licence is somewhat unique within the network, since it combines a number of different licences with slightly different formats. No problem, you might think. A network is a…
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