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 sends his weekly newsletter with a note:
After an exhausting day at the Next Radio Conference – which appears to have been received quite well, which is nice – here’s a slightly delayed newsletter this week from London.
James Cridland’s articles
- Does radio need to be “live”? In my weekly column (in audio), I argue that it’s – in many cases – a disadvantage.
- Finally, an impressive-looking receiver for DRM
All Over the World
- Norway: some great advice on how to fit a DAB adaptor for your car. More for UK industry to watch and copy. Notably clarity on getting polarity correct (which one DAB broadcast engineer told me in the UK wouldn’t have any effect).
- China/India: Finally, an impressive-looking receiver for DRM
- Germany recommends banning the sale of FM-only radio receivers from 2019 to help DAB takeup. Is this an idea for the UK, too?
- Germany: xHE AAC – nerdy talk about audio codecs. But fascinating. But nerdy.
United States
- Fascinating. Could the removal of the iPhone 3.5mm headphone jack lead to more DRM-like control by the media?
- How to launch a radio station. A great piece from Paige Nienaber (and also possibly covers how not to launch one)
- Facebook fact-check: from Hillary’s health to 9/11, the latest lies we read spread by Facebook’s algorithms. This is rather fine, and does show than an algorithm may not be the ideal editor.
- Spurious stat headline: Bluetooth Headphone Sales Surpass Non-Bluetooth Sales – but only by revenue, not by volume.
- Why Apple Killed The Headphone Jack – nice in-depth piece. It’s about water-proofing, apparently. /via Matt Deegan
- “How hot is podcasting? Stupid V.C. money hot.” – indeed. A good overview of the podcasting boom in the US.
United Kingdom
- Nice review of Union JACK from a hitherto unknown blog to me
- Must confess to being completely confused about Capital popping up on national DAB. Can’t work out the strategy. Phil Riley pointed out on Twitter that this will reach a further 13-15m people who currently don’t have access to Capital on FM or DAB, and Capital should add an extra 1m people to their figures as a result.
- 5 predictions in pop songs that were spot on, 5 that weren’t: I heart BBC Music for #1 in 2nd list /via Ann Charles
- This kind of radio doesn’t make me very proud
- Stats: DAB has now sold 50m receivers globally
- Facebook Instant Articles – how they’re working in the UK. For media.info, if you wondered, adding Facebook Instant Articles has added significant visibility (i.e. articles appear in many more peoples’ newsfeeds). Worthwhile doing if you can spare the tech effort.