James Cridland is Managing Director of media.info, and an Australia-based radio futurologist. He is a consultant, writer and public speaker who concentrates on the effect that new platforms and technology are having on the radio business. Find out more or subscribe at http://james.cridland.net
James Cridland’s articles
- Podcast stats: what we (don’t) know – my latest column, which you’ll also find in good media websites across the world. A snarky comment from a podcaster has led me to learn more about this; there is some interesting data you can learn in a minority of cases, and I hope to write a follow-up soon.
- Is radio losing its voice? – another weekly column, and the reason there was no newsletter last week.
United States
- Last week in his newsletter, Paige Nienaber shared some awesome promo ideas. You should subscribe here; and he’ll be at Next Radio in September.
- How Long Should Your Podcast Be? – some good data-gathering from Steven Goldstein. To my mind, it’s less about actual length, and more about respect for listeners; I listened to one podcast the other week and four-minutes forty-five seconds in, I was still listening to the presenter earnestly telling me about how to get in touch with Twitter and what his email address was and all that. Respect your audience: don’t waffle, don’t love the sound of your own voice. Those are probably good things to live by. Meanwhile, elsewhere, I discover Steven’s also responsible for a lazy Buggles headline – though he says it was a sub-editor and nothing to do with him. Hmm… 😉
- Mitch Secrett says that live, linear radio doesn’t work on a smartphone. I’ve been saying this for a while: and there’s a wealth of difference between a smartphone and a “box with a speaker”, like a radio receiver, incidentally
- “I’m a Christian radio host: Our music isn’t high art — but it’s just what people want.” (Oh, no, it isn’t – not me, anyway. But I see your point.)
- The Benefits of Using Streaming Data to Pick Music – some quite interesting case studies
- The media’s coming increasingly under fire for its old-fashioned, well-meaning approach to covering news that, many argue, isn’t really working in this day and age. Here’s an interesting piece about the media’s false impression of balance, which is – to a degree – to blame for Brexit, Pauline Hanson or Donald Trump (delete as applicable, preferably all three). Meanwhile, Jeff Jarvis reckons he’s spotted how to save news, and here’s a comic treatment of a tragically broken process in journalism which again makes you think a bit. I’m now steering clear of news – broadcast news, at least: I find it all simply too depressing and bewildering.
- Interesting US ruling that internet radio is not radio. It is, you know.
- Podcasting Has An Ad-Skipping Problem, Too – fascinating, and with some (if limited) actual data.
- 20 Headphone brands ranked from worst to best – based on more than 100,000 customer reviews, and apparently quite a decent article
- Nashville Reporter Sacked After Returning From Father’s Funeral – horrid story, but highlights a growing trend of firing experienced reporters because they’re simply too expensive
- Apple CarPlay, Android Auto: Sanity Check – car makers still haven’t sorted out the connected experience, it seems.
- Is director James Cameron going to be making radio drama? /ht Matt Deegan
- Local radio: there’s still an audience – a story in a small US newspaper about “to be candid […], hodgepodge, hit-or-miss radio”
- Radio Companies Collaborate On Audience Measurement Solution – this is fascinating, since this piece of work with Shazam has come as a surprise to many in the US radio industry. I’m keen to see the results: and a comparison between Nielsen and this new tech should be interesting to see, too.
- Pandora’s quarterly results in radio language: fall in cume, increase in TSL, ad yield improves, lost lots of money. (I think I ask every quarter how this service will ever pay its way, and never get an answer)
- Another form of downloadable audio, besides podcasts, that is building up steam…
United Kingdom
- David Lloyd loves the Radiocentre campaigns at the moment. They’re excellently clever ways to appeal to important radio buyers, and – it seems – work well. More about those at Next Radio by the way…
- The new trick to get you spending more – it’s the power of music, or, in this case, why PRS charges shops for it
- What a brilliant Rio trail (for the Paralympics) by Channel 4. Wow.
- Be Prepared, says David Lloyd, explaining why preparation matters. I so wish I had him as my first PD.
- Interesting case of mistaken identity… or brain-dead complainers – and this is why regulation based on audience complaint numbers makes little sense (and, actually, why one complaint can have the same effect as a few hundred thousand)
- The last ever radio DJ – a black piece of observation from Christopher England on the marvellous Tony Blackburn. Christopher is, as ever, rather over-egging the pudding here – and, dare I say it, many people listen to the radio who don’t care much about music. However, he makes a good point (and the comments, too); and a point not a hundred miles away from my weekly column last week.
- The Fabulous Martin Kelner returns to regular radio shows across Yorkshire – well, this is most satisfactory
- The Guardian to scale back media coverage in cost-cutting move – yet more slow shaving of staff in the hope few will notice. It would be fascinating to compare newspapers from thirty years ago and today in terms of quality.
- Good to see that TechCon is back this year.
Australia
- Astonishingly good segment from #TheProjectTV; and inexcusable and baffling that this isn’t officially on YouTube. Ten did upload it to Facebook, however.
- Greg Burns – formerly of the UK’s Capital and Virgin – has just had his first show on Nova Sydney. It didn’t quite go to plan. Mean trick.
- The training has left the station. John Maizels is concerned about radio’s multiplatform future. I see it as an opportunity to publish a photograph of a stream train.
- ABC should partner with Netflix to raise revenue, says Michelle Guthrie. The new Managing Director of the ABC has said some intelligent things the past few weeks, including this; the ABC have been forced to close their shops to save money, but there are opportunities online.
- Working in radio is great. Here’s a career film where “Trish” shows the different roles on offer.
- ABC station older than the ABC itself celebrates 85 years of radio – some lovely stories in here
- SCAsat – fascinating tech walkthrough about how SCA in Australia distribute audio
Elsewhere
- Belgium: Good, detailed document from egta about ad-blocking, and what media companies need to know. (I was interviewed as part of the research)
- Switzerland: EBU awarded right to manage .radio Top Level Domain name – good news that .radio is given its own domain. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s managed. As an aside, .fm registrations are available.
- Ireland: i-Believe to Handle Sales for the Irish Radioplayer App – unlike the UK, where radio broadcasters handle sales themselves, the Irish have folded all digital opportunities together. Will be interesting to watch.
- Zimbabwe: ZBC Licence Fees Must Be Paid, Concourt Rules – in this case, you need to pay a licence fee if you own either a radio or a TV; and the rules were challenged recently. Interesting how many countries still charge a licence fee.
- New Zealand: Newstalk ZB Number One Radio Station, and MediaWorks Radio No. 1 Network Nationwide
- France: Media to stop publishing photos and names of terrorists – seems a sensible idea to deny them the publicity
- Netherlands: Notes from an academic radio conference in Utrecht a few weeks ago: the Transnational Radio conference.