Category: Radio

So this week it finally happened; the Danny Baker podcast went to subscription only. A bit of background. Danny Baker’s been on the radio for years. In 2005, after a good stint on breakfast on BBC Radio London, he won the Sony Radio Award for DJ of the year. He promptly quit, returning to the…

I’m often going on about the iniquity of record companies and the things that they do or try to do. In particular, the foiled (so far) attempts to increase the performance copyright from the current fifty years. But I must admit, I do have sympathy with the current campaign, highlighted in this week’s Music Week…

Once upon a time you could be pretty sure that if you wanted to listen to your local football team, one station locally or another would be carrying a commentary. In recent years the prices for rights have increased as local clubs, especially Premiership ones, have more competition, and stations battled to win the rights.…

The BBC finally announced today what The Stage had already told us – there is to be a Stoppard season on BBC Radio this summer. The headline piece is the radio debut of Stoppard’s most recent work, Rock ‘n’ Roll, which is shortly to transfer to Broadway. I was hoping for a repeat of Radio…

Here’s a little known fact: it’s easier to win radio competitions than you might think. Most people assume that there are thousands of people phoning in to try to win tickets, cash, a holiday or maybe even a car. But the truth is that it can be easier than you think to get through. I’m…

So what is localness? I’m just wondering because today Xfm announced its much rumoured (within the radio industry at least) initiative to get rid of its daytime DJs and run an “all music” daytime schedule. Between 10am and 4pm each day, Xfm will be running “Radio to the Power of U.” And this will happen…

There’ve been one or two pieces recently bemoaning the sad departure of several treasures from Radio 4 and Five Live including in particular A World In Your Ear. Essentially, it’s too expensive and labour intensive to put together. I must admit that it’s one of those programmes that I know I enjoy, but never find…

According to The Stage, Radio 3 is putting together a Stoppard Season. This is expected to include the recent Rock’n’Roll as well as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I’m hoping that Radio 3 opens up its archives and repeats its 1993 production of Arcadia featuring the original cast. I never did get around to cleaning…

Sadly, not the late, and quite probably unlamented cinema chain (not that Cineworld is a whole lot better with useless security guards supposedly checking that I did video-phone films, and too few people manning the ticket desk at the weekend), but that ultimate flavour-of-the-nanosecond buzzword “user generated content.” Today we learnt that LBC is rebranding…

Bids went in yesterday for the second national commercial multiplex. There are two bidders – Channel 4 and National Grid Wireless. Channel 4 we know about – James has all the details. National Grid Wireless (NGW) are one of the two radio transmission comapnies in the UK (the other is Arqiva), and the big story…

BBC Radio Five Live is running a campaign to persuade us to go digital at the moment. It’s awful and condescending. Have a listen yourself. powered by ODEO I listen to a lot of Five Live outside work, and I’m certainly in the digital community with DAB, broadband, Freeview and Sky as ways of listening…