[cma-l] eRADIO - 28 January

Wed Jan 28 09:52:05 GMT 2015

Can I recommend that you read  "Roy's Radio Ramble?
This is a professional view on the CR situation from Roy Martin - essentially a child of the true ILR format - and I feel firmly backs up the concerns of our small Industry sector.

Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 04:39:16 -0500
From: admin at radiotoday.co.uk
To: ian at transplan.uk.com
Subject: eRADIO... with Broadcast Bionics 28 Jan

eRADIO... with Broadcast Bionics 28 Jan

          #eRADIO with Broadcast Bionics - 28 Jan

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* BBC Local Radio - how can it bri

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                    #eRADIO with Broadcast Bionics - 28 JanLooking for the latest radio news in your inbox each morning? Click here.  * BBC Local Radio - how can it bring back sexy?

* One year since the launch of KIIS 106.5 Sydney

* Radio events, birthdays and anniversaries

* The Quiet Death of the late-night DJ

* Snaps -  Photos from around the radio industryCommunity Radio - the missed opportunity?

This time last week I was a little excited for the announcement of the new Community Radio Order. But sadly it was about as appropriate as sharing a creme egg.

The opportunity to change the way community radio lives and survives could have been changed, but instead we get a buffer zone of just over £1,000 per month which can be raised before the age-old 50% rule kicks in.

But the real shocker was RadioCentre's reaction to it. They said it "is a concern for commercial stations."

They issued a statement as soon as the news was announced, suggesting they just might have had access to the announcement before the rest of us. It said:

"The changes proposed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) risk blurring the lines between community and commercial stations and puts them in direct competition for limited local advertising, alongside local press, local television and online."

This seems a little over the top. If RadioCentre thinks commercial radio stations are really going to suffer because a low-power community radio station serving a small part of its TSA can now fight for a thousand pounds worth of advertising, then we are really in a bad way. Local community websites are bringing in more, and potentially offering a bigger threat.

In reality, everything will continue as it was and even more community radio stations will close thanks to the decreasing amount of sources offering grants and community funding.Roy

Roy Martin is Managing Editor of RadioToday. Local Radio - how can it bring back sexy?

An #eRADIO article by Justin KingsBBC Local Radio and sexy. I accept this may be the first time ever you have read a sentence with these words in it but my question is serious and it is a very personal one for me, so please keep reading.

You see my love affair with radio started more than 30 years ago with my then local station, BBC Radio Northampton. Apparently in the mid-Eighties it was a rebellious star in the network, nicknamed “commercial radio without the adverts”.

Young, enthusiastic but hugely warm broadcasters such as Howard Stableford, who went onto BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, and Martin Stanford, now Sky News star, ruled the local airwaves. They talked everyday about where we lived and, even as a kid, we connected. They became heroes to me. As a 13 year old I struggled to believe that this big, shiny, sexy radio station broadcast down the road from me.

Ok, it was a different time (let’s face it a different century) but there are learnings. BBC Radio Northampton of 1984 was bold, fresh sounding and continually upbeat. (Can you think of a certain RAJAR busting national station from the BBC that currently exudes these characteristics?) BBC Northampton was what I would call a sexy listen. So, the question for me is how can the network bring sexy back?

In his much debated blog post, John Myers asks where is the vision? I would reframe this slightly and ask, after monumental changes in our industry, what is BBC Local Radio? I was Assistant Editor at BBC London from 2007-2008, probably the best job I have ever had by the way, and in a market well served by clearly defined radio stations, I often wondered where it left us. I would say this has been one of the smartest moves of LBC over the years, clearly and confidently positioning itself as a news/talk station, “Leading Britain’s Conversation”.

I do not think it is an easy question for BBC Local Radio management to answer but for me it is fundamental – for listeners and staff. It is not enough to think that in a market of increasingly networked content, BBC Local stations are genuinely local because the likes of Capital, Heart, Smooth and increasingly Bauer’s City stations are so smart at localising the audience doesn’t know the difference.

So, is it the speech? If it IS, then isn’t BBC Radio York, for example, “Talk Radio For North Yorkshire”? Admittedly it doesn’t tell the whole story but it focuses on what makes BBC Local Radio unique and unique locally. It’s a starting thought at least.

What of that speech? I want to focus on news which John Myers feels there is presently too much emphasis on. Perhaps he would be happier if the definition of news was broadened out and teams were encouraged to be more creative.  For me, local journalism is very important but so is creating unmissable radio.

Let me unpack this. Typically with BBC Local Radio I find engaged journalists (reporters and producers) who work really hard and care an awful lot. Fantastic! But often I feel they are trying to cover too many local stories. Resources then get stretched and it can result in frankly average packages or radio car hits.

So, let me make a few suggestions: What if News and Programme Editors took bolder decisions? Focused on 3 or 4 local stories a day to cover? Used this time to think of fresh new ways to tell stories? Experimented with treatments? Got listeners talking?I was honoured to be a judge of the network’s Gillard Awards this year and I can tell you the quality of news content was extremely high. Again, fantastic! BBC Local Radio is still breaking big stories, such as BBC WM’s Trojan Horse scoop last year. This was a local story it invested time into, stuck with, owned and it made a big impact. I think the network needs to make more of these impacts and it shouldn’t be shy about claiming them either. LBC does it almost weekly through the A List politicians it attracts to its super branded, You Tube streaming radio station.

It aims high, it is bold and it reaps the results.

I worked for many years in commercial radio with the Managing Editor now charged with developing the BBC Local network and I would say his appointment is a very positive one. He’s served his time in news and programming roles and I have always found him to be ambitious, bold, creative and committed to talent. He’s a good guy. Most importantly he’s a radio guy.

And let’s not lose sight of the many positives within BBC Local Radio. Brilliant formats such as Robert Elms’ wonderful championing of local culture on BBC London every lunchtime.

An example of non-news but local compelling speech I would want other stations to learn from.  Also, I would mine the rich experiences and lessons from the genius story tellers on air everyday across England to support training and development, the likes of Sheffield’s Toby Foster and Rony Robinson.

I am a glass half full kind of bloke and I believe there is so much potential and, as uncomfortable as the debate may have been for Local Radio managers over the past week, it does show as an industry we care about BBC Local Radio. Without its inspiration 30 years ago I probably wouldn’t be writing this now.

By Justin Kings who enjoyed 25 years in local radio before becoming a consultant and trainer, working worldwide specialising in news/talk radio and social media. Find him on Twitter @newsleader The Quiet Death of the late-night DJ

An article by Andrew Gray, Freelance Journalist

The nocturnal radio host is a familiar figure from movies and TV dramas — but the BBC has decided it can’t afford a real one.

To explain his love of radio, John Peel, the late and much lauded BBC Radio 1 DJ, often recalled a night in the 1960s when he lived in the United States:

I was driving back once from New Orleans and it was about 3 o’clock in the morning, and I was in the car on my own and I’d left my two friends down in New Orleans, because in those days before we knew about sexism, we used to follow the fortunes of a young woman who was called ‘Chris Colt, the girl with the 45s’, and we used to follow her around from strip joint to strip joint.

And I was driving back, as I say at 3 o’clock in the morning — moonlit night, driving through the piney woods of East Texas, and dead straight road, just rising and falling through the woods — and every once in a while you came across a little wide place in the road, which would be a small town, or village really, but they don’t call them villages.

And as I came up over the top of one hill — and the moon was right at the other end of the road so you’ve got this kind of silver ribbon of concrete in front of you — and Elmore James’ ‘Stranger Blues’ came on, which starts off “I’m a stranger here / I just drove in your town”. And as I came down, I was whizzing through this little town — and it was just the perfect record in the perfect context, and I’ve never forgotten the setting. And I love the idea of perhaps just once in every programme, once in every month, being able to imprint something that firmly on somebody else’s memory, you know?

That powerful, personal connection between broadcaster and listener is one of radio’s enduring strengths. The relationship between the lone, late-night DJ and the listener, often also on their own, can feel especially close. The broadcaster’s words and music tell the solitary driver, the insomniac, the invalid, the shift worker: You are not alone.

Now, suppose you are driving along a moonlit road in Britain in 2015, just after 3 a.m. Or you find yourself awake at that time. You tune to the nation’s most popular radio station for some company.

It turns out you are alone.

There will be some chat and music but the programme will be a repeat or a pre-recorded show. That’s because BBC Radio 2 decided a few months ago that it would no longer employ a human to talk and play records through the night.

The late-night radio host is a recognisable figure in popular culture, portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the film Play Misty for Me and Gary Cole in the TV show Midnight Caller. But the threat to overnight Radio 2 came not from a knife-wielding listener declaring undying love as in Play Misty, but an axe-wielding manager complaining about budgets.

Radio 2 has £46 million to spend this year but controller Bob Shennan said budget cuts meant the station had to make “the tough decision to reduce the number of hours of live programming overnight”.

Shennan’s message seemed to be: we need all our cash just to do things that are popular and public-service. Having someone talking and playing records through the night may not be hugely popular but it is a public service, just as much as a documentary or a specialist music show.

By definition, the audience at that time is marginalised. These are people who do not work or sleep at the same time as most of us. Often they are low-paid shift workers or people who can’t sleep due to illness or stress.

It also seems strange to end live overnight radio in an increasingly 24-hour society, with more people working at night.

Continue reading..THE RADIO TODAY PROGRAMME

On the Radio Today Programme with Broadcast Bionics, Trevor Dann finds out RadioDays Europe 2015. Will it be bigger than last year’s event in Dublin which attracted over a thousand delegates?

Can it replace the Radio Festival for UK delegates? Who will be the star speakers in Milan? Organisers Ralf Brandrud & Anders Held tell all.

Plus this week's radio news and Radio Moments with David Lloyd - online later this afternoon.AUDIO PRODUCTION MASTERS

This new podcast about audio production is updated weekly by Mike Russell from Music Radio Creative. Grab weekly tips and information here.EARSHOT CREATIVE REVIEW

Two of the world’s leading station imaging production companies pitch their demos head-to-head. Wise Buddah’s Mark Goodier and Anthony Gay from Reelworld Europe explain how their organisations are tracking the changing needs of radio stations across the world. Paul Plant introduces No Sheet Music – a new production library designed to lift the production standards of radio and more.One year ago, on 19th January 2014, KIIS 1065 launched in Sydney.

A blog by Francis Currie - an international radio consultant with over 25 years of Programming experience.In its very first ratings survey the new radio station sky-rocketed to become the Number One FM commercial radio station in Sydney with the Number One FM Morning Show.

It was a spectacular launch that attracted the attention of the radio world. The previous commercial radio market-leader, 2DAY FM, collapsed.

12 months on and the Morning Shows of KIIS FM and stable-mate WSFM continue to battle for first and second place on FM and 2DAY FM continues to struggle.

Duncan Campbell is the National Content Director of ARN (The Australian Radio Network). He was the mastermind and driving force behind the launch of KIIS 1065 with the Kyle & Jackie O Morning Show.

In this exclusive half-hour interview with Francis Currie, recorded six months after the launch and available publicly for the first time, Duncan Campbell explains in detail the events leading up to the launch of KIIS 1065.  He also reveals the key components that made the launch such a dramatic success.

Click here to see the full interview..Each week we take at look at aircheckdownloads.com to see what audio goodies have been added to the archives.

The website has over 2,200 scoped airchecks from the 80s to today all available as mp3 files and is the largest online collection in the UK. Every week we highlight three of our favourites.Steve Collins at Jazz FM London! Recorded Jun 26th 1992Gary King at Radio Luxembourg! Recorded Nov 1988Pete Wagstaff at Chiltern Radio Dunstable! Recorded Nov 22nd 1982These airchecks and many, many more are online now at aircheckdownloads.comUpcoming radio eventsIRN Awards - nominations announced - today at 11:15 am (Online)

RAJAR Q4, 2014 delivered to radio stations - February 4, 2015 at 10:30 am (Online)

Drive to Digital: NOW - February 6, 2015 at 9:00 am (London)

Salon de la Radio - February 8, 2015 at 9:00 am (Paris, France)

EBU Digital Radio Summit - February 11, 2015 at 9:00 am (Geneva, Switzerland)

RadioHack 2015 - February 12, 2015 at 2:00 pm (Geneva, Switzerland)

Beds and Beats re-launch party - February 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm (London)

Radiodays Europe - March 15, 2015 at 7:30 pm (Congressi, Milano)

IRN Awards - March 19, 2015 at 3:00 pm (London)

Arqiva Awards - Entries close - March 20, 2015 at 5:00 pm (Online)Anniversaries and birthdays this week:

Heart North Wales's Oli Kemp on January 28 (presenter)

Rick Houghton on January 28 (presenter)

City Talk 105.9 on January 28

UTV's Terry Underhill on January 30 (group programme director)

Heart North East's Tom Campbell on January 31 (presenter)

The Breeze on January 31

BBC Radio Nottingham on January 31

Smooth North West's Crissy Cohen on February 1

Brett Orchard on February 1

Premier Gospel on February 1

Subcity Radio on February 1

Mountain FM on February 1

Mansfield 103.2 on February 1

The Bay's Darren Milby on February 5 (presenter)

Let us know when your birthday is for inclusion here!See more events at RadioToday.co.uk/eventsLauren launching 6 Music FestivalEd Vaizey in the WCR studio with Lunchtime presenter Helen CashWhat to do when you're locked out of your studioHappy Birthday Forth!Today FM has it sorted. Radio from the pub.More Free cash from Adam Wilbourn!Bates goes on location again!Heart giving out free selfies with a bear at Bournemouth Station And another location. Let's play Where is Simon this week?Here he is again!They start them young these days!Brilliant.Kate wonders what's inside Andrew Castle's bag! Open it and let us know..Go on, send us your snaps! news at radiotoday.co.ukSMALL PRINT

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