The Training Zone
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Badvertising
Most people don’t know this, but I was almost an advertising executive. Back in 1990 the Dorset Institute of Higher Education was offering a course called BA Creative Advertising. Unfortunately the academic board of the day deemed the course, well, not very academic. So they cancelled it. After giving me and several other applicants an…
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Radio : A Social Service
When reception desks are closed at radio stations, the newsroom becomes the de facto switchboard. And it’s only a matter of time when, on a late shift, the phone will ring and an exasperated voice will say the immortal words : “I don’t know if I’ve got the right number for this but…” Anything and…
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Serving Up A Cliche
I don’t often do requests. And I doubt that many of the relevant people will be reading this anyway. But here goes. A plea to talk radio producers : tomorrow daytime, please spare us from the affliction that might be termed Tenuous Elbow. Don’t get me wrong. There is much to celebrate in Andy Murray’s…
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Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
I should know better by now, but I had just a bit of an anorak moment this week when I finally got my foot in the door of the BBC’s spanking new HQ, the refurbished Broadcasting House. Much has been written about the millions spent on this vast project in Central London, but spending just…
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Down Your Local
“This is Simon Bates and Jade Goody, and we’re LIVE on Asda FM.” You couldn’t make it up. And I didn’t. The opening quote was one of my favourite ever “links you never thought you’d hear” from 2005, when the whole of the UK commercial radio industry joined forces to raise money for survivors of…
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Evolution, not Devolution
Networked radio shows are nothing new, and for the vast majority of listeners, where a particular show comes from is rather less important than what comes out of the speakers. I realise that this comment may be unpopular with some enthusiasts, who yearn for the days of 24/7 “live and local” output, as it was…
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It’s Smooth Sailing?
In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a renewed optimism in commercial radio in the East Midlands. At last, the dominant Trent FM had some proper competition, in the shape of not one but two regional competitors. Smooth and Century were giving the heritage station a run for its money, with significant investment…
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Playlist Ping Pong
This evening, I’m going to be doing something that most 42 year olds would never dream of – unless they were stuck in a car with their teenage children. I’m going to listen to a Chart Show. Natch, my curiosity has been driven by this week’s furore over Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, and…
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Moral Rumpus
Last night I was called a “jumped up fanatic union socialist” in an online message. I suppose I should be flattered. But context is everything, and I think its only fair that I should clarify. I well remember the time I attended a student union conference in the late 1980s and decided to sit in…
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Crossing The Tees
Today marks the end of an era, and further evidence of the harsh realities of business, as after almost forty years the North East effectively loses one of its best known radio stations. Bauer Media has decided to network all of its programmes on Teesside’s TFM with its neighbouring station Metro, based in Newcastle. Although…
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