Who’s got it right John or Fru?

Not so long after GCaps Fru Hazlitt pulled back from their commitment to DAB Radio, reducing their commitment from being part-owners of Digital One and operators of 2 National DAB channels to effectively only offering relays of London stations to the regions, plus local services FUN Radio (A partnership with HIT) and Chill. A commitment, yes but nowhere nearly as big as it was. Their reasoning? (I summarise) DAB isn’t working the future is online… of course, as we all know the move was more to do with persuading shareholders to stick with them and not sell to Global Radio who are still circling ready to pounce with a new offer to buy the group.

But whilst GCap are cutting back it’s interesting to note that here in the North East GMG are launching a new service, which promises not a relay but locally generated content. GMG have a real history in using DAB to develop their brands, Smooth was launched (and I assume tweaked and improved) on DAB before rolling out on FM when Jazz FM was consigned to the radio graveyard in the North West and London. They now of course have rolled the brand out further, using to rebrand the Saga stations. Rock Radio is already on the air in Scotland (a rebrand of a purchased station) and will launch on FM in Manchester in May.

So, GMG are using a brand they have and are rolling it out on local DAB… nothing new here but rather than hearing content from wherever the relay is coming from (don’t you just love hearing the travel news for London on XFM or Kiss?) but it’s locally created, which means investment. It won’t be huge as the group already run 2 stations in the region but still it needs resources both physical and human. So, well done John Myers the new saviour of DAB.

It’s also worth pointing out that Jazz FM does live, but online where to be fair it always had a big audience but not within it’s licenced areas but overseas, especially the US (I’ve seen the numbers but can’t find them now) Now, this is where GCap have a point but the lesson here is that big brands work best on the platfoms where people can hear them (like FM and to a lesser extent DAB) but niches work best online where the coverage area is bigger because it’s global…

Rock On

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Tags: radiorock jazz GMG GCap

Charlie Bit Me

Charlie bit me

OK, this is nuts. A really funny family video, posted on YouTube that somehow has gone around the world gaining mainstream attention and listing alongside the PR spin for US primaries and Indiana Jones. At time of writing this video has been viewed close to 7 million times. Even assuming some of those viewers came back it still means this one video has been viewed by more people than watch the BBC News at Ten (BARB data) OK, so this is sod all to do with radio but the world is changing, I’m currently reading Andrew Keen’s ‘the cult of the amateur’ and he largely dismisses this as a waste of time and erosion of culture. In that the mediated media controls what we see, gets ride of crap and focuses on the accurate and the quality.

We assume here of course that the media ever really did that. It will look for mass audiences and media around the world have all used videos of babies biting little children to bring in the audiences. So, the only difference we don’t get sent £50 and we get to keep our tapes. I agree there’s a lot of rubbish out there bu give anything space to breath and there will be, there will always be bad restaurants in amongst the good ones but that doesn’t mean that only the big chains should own them all?

Anyway, I’ll post more when I’ve read the book.
/muse

Regretting the Podcamp

I’ve just been looking at the videos from last years podcamp and sort of now regret not being there, partly as it looked interesting but partly as it might have given me the kick up the arse I need to get my book finished off and out of the way.

I did watch Trevor ‘Radio Academy’ Dann’s opening address and just like when he spoke at Lincoln Radio Conference a few months earlier I agreed with much of what he had to say about radio… and have said so myself in academic papers and in lectures here. There is an un-doubtable bond between Podcasting and Radio, both are auditory and both often use similar techniques. As Dann suggests so many Podcasters still say ‘hello and welcome to the show’ and use jingles just like they would in the radio. In some ways Podcasting is just another pipe to shove radio down and get it to the audience, where-ever and when-ever they might be listening. I’m fine with this, it’s a great way to use the medium especially for a public service medium or as a way to build reach for a particular programme. It might even make programmers invest a little if their investment hangs around longer than the moment in time it leaves a transmitters and shoots down our earholes. In an article a few years back in Media, Culture and Society, David Black argues that radio is in effect whatever we think it is. he’s talking streaming audio but we could extend that to podcasts on an iPod. If the listener *thinks* it’s radio, then it’s radio. It’s a good thought and for most people it’s right… but are blessed in some ways as Podcasting has a name, unlike Internet or Web Radio, which used a familiar term to explain it. 

So, as Dann suggests there should be a point of difference here and I agree with him (has he been reading my stuff?) Podcasts exist in a different time and space to radio, they don’t need fancy studios and in fact half the appeal is that they’re not radio as the ‘radio-ness’ of the medium is what made us find the podcasts in the first place! Free from time, advertiser and regulatory pressures a podcast can and should offer the audience what it wants. Something very niche and very in touch with the audience and all they want…. even if that’s a small group of your mates. It doesn’t matter, do what you need to do and celebrate the medium. A listener could be anywhere in space and time and that makes life interesting but because they’ve sought you out they’re already more loyal than most radio listeners and that too can be harnessed via blogs, forums, audio posts or social networking.

Anyway, sorry I didn’t go but there were reasons I am sure but at least now my brain is moving and sooner or later I’ll get time to sit down and start writing again. It would be good to see some thoughts here about you think?

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Tags: radiopodcasting technology

Journalists getting the ‘mojo’

I’ve just been reading Jeff Jarvis’ excellent column in The Guardian and whilst it’s naff all to do with radio and I did say something about it. To summarise… Jarvis writes about new media and about journalism, he’s great, he speaks sense and writes far better than I ever could. So, it’s worth reading. (check the blogroll folks)

Anyway, this week he’s writing about a neat adaptation of a mobile phone that Reuters are using for reporters in the field - the ‘mojo’ lets them record audio and video and upload from the field. This is exciting stuff, especially for geeks like me. You don’t need laptops, ISDN, satellite trucks or all the hugely and expensive pieces of kits we once had to use to get something back to the office or studio. Jarvis says this is great because it’s far less threAnd there is the first fundamental change brought on by the mojo phone:

It’s small, unobtrusive, unthreatening. You don’t feel as if you’re
talking to a camera and, in turn, to thousands or millions online.
You’re talking to a phone; how silly. Other Reuters mojo journalists
told me they had the same experience: It makes recording people more
casual and perhaps candid and certainly easier.

Of course you get the same with a little MP3 player and there’s evidence that these can work and that’s great, people are relaxed, they don’t perform and you get a good story. The risk of course in all of this is that sometimes you may lack the credibility or authority that you really need - we have had this HHB flash mics, even though they cost the same as portable recorder, because they’re small and look simple people do wonder how ‘real’ you really are! The issue is also in all of this rush to get content ‘out there’ do we miss out that crucial stage that we used to have… thinking about what we say, giving the story space to be told rather than letting the audience work it out themselves?

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GCap changes

Big news from GCap Media this morning, although not totally unexpected they’re pulling back from all but their ‘core’ business, which really seems to be London and Classic FM. They’re in the process of selling their share in Digital One to Arqiva, closing their 2 remaining national DAB stations (thejazz and Planet Rock) and disposing of the 3 Xfm licences outside London, either through sale or a hand-back. I’m guessing Global Radio could be in the wings here.

Before their merger with Capital the GWR group had really pushed ahead with digital radio, pouring (probably) millions into getting going and keeping it going despite still rather slow growth, there’s still only a few million sets out there and only a small (but increasing) percentage listen via DAB. According the last RAJAR sweep (Q4 2007) 9.9% of the audience listen via DAB by the 22.3% who own a DAB set… so either half the people who own a set don’t use them, don’t report them or don’t know their listening to it. But then this is the problem with radio, we listen to it all over. I have a DAB radio in my kitchen and one by my bed. So my night-time, morning and ‘while I am cooking’ listening is all digital. I have sky in the lounge and use that for radio too (like 3.1% of the audience in Q4) BUT… I have a normal analogue radio in the car, so all the listening I did whilst driving about this weekend was analogue. Unlike TV, where I do 99% of my viewing in the front room with sky… in fact I have freeview in the bedroom, my girlfriend has digital tv and so do my friends. I can’t think of the last time I watched analogue TV. For DAB to really take hold we all need DAB everywhere and that will take a long time. And that’s a problem for radio even before we start the argument about how crap the actual DAB technology is!

So, can we blame GCap for this? Well, yes and no. In business if it’s not maxmising your profits it goes, whether you’re tescos, a media giant or the corner shop. But this is about developing a platform and yes, it is taking longer than some thought to make the kinds of dividends the city would hope for. DAB also faces unexpected challenges, with almost 2% is listening online. In Q4 RAJAR also report that 8.1 million people listen to radio online (live and listen again) EVERY week. Radio is in more places and whilst RAJAR says that this has a positive impact on radio generally it doesn’t do much for poor old DAB… and could still be replaced by the better DAB+ being use elsewhere in Europe or the much lauded DRM. So getting out now and focusing on the tried and tested and new, cheaper online platforms make economic sense.

There always a promise of ‘Jam tomorrow’ with DAB, the money WILL come when the audiences and there… thing is they’re taking too long. It’s been a waiting game and one that clearly GCap is bored with.

It is always a shame when a radio station closes, the people who loved it will feel lost, angry and a bit detached. The problem is however bad, unprofitable a radio station is someone will still love it… a bit like a dog with a gammy leg and no teeth. It’s no use to anyone but someone loves it. The thing is, I know lots of people who like Planet Rock and some who probably love it. So, it’s shame to lose it. I never listened and maybe I should have done but in all honesty it would have made no difference, as this is about strategy and GCap deciding where it wanted to be and that wasn’t owning a huge chunk of digital real estate and 2 national radio stations - it has already closed Core and Capital Disney.

My only hope is that the one decent station they do run, Fun Radio a joint venture with Hit Entertainment WILL continue. I like it, my kids like and if that means they’ll grow up with radio then that’s a good sign for the future of the medium, DAB of no DAB

Thanks for reading

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Tags: GCAP, radio, DAB

Another day, another blog

OK, so I’ve had blogs before… tried Blogger (a few times) and almost kept it all up with myspace but having just installed Flock (again) I thought I should at least have a crack at using it properly and using all the tools. So, what am I trying to do here? Good question….

Well, I’ve called it ‘Radio Musings’ and it is, sort of, well a bit. I think what I want to do is somewhere (else) to reflect about radio but maybe as well to knock out some more theoretical ideas. It might help research (like I’ve time for that!!) but also my teaching and general anorockdom.

So, who knows what will happen but don’t place bets about me keeping this one up.

Rich
xx

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