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
- My weekly column – why the NAB Show’s shrinking radio section isn’t anything to worry about
- Radio Dead sees record audiences, as Prince joins their playlist. It’s a nice gimmick, this, though not entirely sure that death alone is an algorithm for a viable music policy!
- Personalised radio advertising – part of the future, but available now from Bauer Media Group – nicely done.
- Indonesia: this large country switches on DAB+ – pretty big market for digital, if they can make it work
United States
- Podcasts come to Google Play Music (in the US and Canada). Big news to get them installed on every Android device. Here’s a good piece of analysis on the interface from The Verge: particularly its discovery mechanism. If you’re irritated that this is US/Canada only for now, here’s something that works globally: just search for a podcast and play it in the Google app. If, of course, you’re listed.
- “With young people trading AM/FM for streaming, will radio find a home in your next car?” A good overview – quoting me, briefly, but also Michael Hill from Radioplayer.
- What Smartphone Owners Actually Listen To – coverage of Edison Research at the Las Vegas RAIN Summit.
- Proud to have played my part in this: Futuri Media announces POST system for turning broadcast into on-demand
- NPR tries a Facebook audio player, and learns lots in the process. Great reading for radio social media types: lots of learnings here. (And this is what all public media should be doing – sharing learnings with others, not just patronising bragging.)
- Radio’s Success Depends on Choice and Control – I enjoyed Kurt Hanson’s speech at RAIN Summit
- Lazy Buggles headline from Engadget – and entirely incomprehensible one, too.
United Kingdon
- The BBC needs to forget about the internet and find another Countryfile, says this think-piece from the UK Telegraph. The knee-jerk response is the wrong one, because this isn’t actually saying the internet is bad, it’s actually saying that there’s a problem with the BBC’s focus. Comments on Facebook appear to show a significant amount of support for the Telegraph’s stance.
- BBC Radio 1 pledges to play more British music – interesting move. One suspects this is driven by politics and a need to ensure Radio 1’s survival in a smaller organisation; yet the UK is one country which doesn’t have a local music quota to hit (Canada, Australia, Ireland and France are just some that do).
- A bunch of old UK radio ads rescued from cassettes. The lack of advertising creativity in the US is, I think, one of the things that is harming that industry – particularly if you have to wade through really long advertising breaks that are, essentially, one man shouting at you to buy a used car.
- BBC Radio’s budgets for the year ahead. R1 and Local down, R2 and R4 up.
- Good piece from Matt Deegan, sharing my concern at radio’s ability to compete on mobile
- talkSPORT International receives Queen’s Award for Enterprise – proud to have played a small part in the launch of this service.
- Radio Dead sees record audiences, as Prince joins their playlist. It’s a nice gimmick, this, though not entirely sure that death alone is an algorithm for a viable music policy!
- Personalised radio advertising – part of the future, but available now from Bauer Media Group – nicely done.
Australia
- Congratulations, 612 ABC Brisbane’s Spencer Howson (newsletter subscriber!) for his continued success in the ratings. In spite of being on AM, too. Also, congratulations to clients ARN for 97.3’s tenth survey at the top.
- The only business “radio” streaming services have disrupted is record stores, says Peter Saxon. An interesting viewpoint, and one that many others appear to agree with; though not sure it holds true in every daypart.
Elsewhere
- Indonesia: this large country switches on DAB+ – pretty big market for digital, if they can make it work
- Mali: Radio still the dominant medium