Category: Radio
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RAJAR Q4 2013
If it’s early February, it means it’s time for another RAJAR release. So what are the big stories? Well I reckon they Radio 2, Radio 1 and commercial radio in general in London are the main themes. But let’s go through things in a bit more detail. National The first thing to note is that…
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Why DAB Radio in the UK Isn’t Broken and Doesn’t Need Fixing
A bold title, I think. But read on for the reason. There’s a Techradar piece – Why DAB in the the UK is broken, and how to fix it – that recently got a certain amount of traction and lots of retweeting amongst radio types. But it really needs some robust countering. I half expected…
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LBC Going National
The news today that LBC is going to be broadcast nationally from next month is really good for lots of reasons. Here are just a few: – It’s good for LBC. The station must be a reasonably expensive service to run since speech is always more expensive to do well than music. And a greater…
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Links Worth Reading
The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating and frankly depressing story about how US radio stations are playing the hits more to battle against the likes of Spotify and iTunes Radio. Because if there’s one thing I can find easily without listening to the radio, it’s the biggest hit songs. The piece ends with this…
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Logo Lolly
“Logo Lolly” is, or was, the practice of paying radio news reporters a bonus if they managed to get their radio microphone muffs (ie. covers) or collars into shot on the TV news. I’ve heard of at least two places where this certainly used to be the case. You’d get more money if you made…
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Radio and TV Favourites
I think my favourite TV programmes over the Christmas and New Year period were a series of films that I didn’t spot at all when I was going through the Radio Times. Endeavour: Everest was a series of three films made by Leo Dickinson shot in and around Mount Everest between 1976 and 1991. They…
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Down The Line
Since the BBC moved large parts of their new output – notably Five Live and BBC Breakfast – up to Salford, one inevitability is an increased number of “down the lines” from London. It’s almost inevitable in the case of politicians, but other experts or guests, who cannot make it up to Salford the night…
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Radio Design – A Moan
I spent Christmas with my family – as many other folk do. But the room I was staying in didn’t have a radio! Now this is a calamitous state of affairs in my book. There wasn’t a spare kicking around. And while I carry a portable, it doesn’t have a speaker. No problem – I…
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A Digital Radio Future
This morning, I was in the BBC Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House along with several hundred colleagues who work for broadcasters, regulators, hardware manufacturers, car manufacturers and assorted others to hear Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, stand up and talk about the future of digital radio in this country. The event…
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Radio 1 Listening by Age – A Closer Examination
One of the things that I noted in my Q3 2013 RAJAR summary was that Radio 1’s average age was just not shifting. And despite an overall fall in audience over recent quarters, notably following the departure of Chris Moyles, it just hasn’t fallen. I thought that this was worth exploring some more, because I…
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RAJAR Q3 2013
In some ways, this quarter’s RAJAR results are a little disappointing – certainly if you’re comparing results with the previous quarter. But then this is a third quarter result, and RAJAR always dips a little during those periods with listening patterns changing in the summer months. Commercial radio has closed the gap a little with…
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Some Final Thoughts on Radio Festival 2013
Well it’s only been a little under twenty-four hours, but having essentially just published notes on what took place during the sessions I saw, I thought it was better to step back and have a more considered view. First of all, there are a few things I missed, but have since caught up with. Charlotte…
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Radio Festival 2013 – Day 2
Note: Again, these are uncorrected “notes” that I’m publishing live. Sorry for any typos or mistakes. I’ll try to tidy things up later. Day One’s notes are here. And we’re back with day two of the Radio Festival. Jane Garvey and Fi Glover are still our hosts in the main auditorium. The first session is…