James Cridland’s Future of Radio: Tony Blackburn’s magic trick that we can all learn from, plus data from NPR and lots of jobs

james cridland canvasJames 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

United States

United Kingdom

  • Most-shared this week: Radio remains relevant over a century after its invention. Contains quotes from me, but also some other people who know what they’re talking about.
  • The Wireless Group are having a hiring spree, wanting presenters, producers, journos and content controllers.
  • Interesting tech: Cleanfeed is a (free) replacement for Skype or ISDN for broadcasters. Already used by some quite big names. Worth a look?
  • The Guardian unwisely allows someone who knows nothing about anything to vomit up some words on a page. This article has had widespread condemnation from radio folks on social media – but it’s nothing especially unusual for journalism around radio, where one person assumes everyone else is like them. Crimes committed by this journalist include: not understanding how RAJAR works, equating one person’s show with an entire format, and the heinous line: “who doesn’t have a Spotify wake-up playlist?” – almost everyone, is the answer.
  • Bargain? Unusable tat? Or a total scam? A portable DAB+/FM radio, with SD card player, for £1. Includes delivery. Of course I have, and I’ve absolutely no doubt that it’ll be rubbish – if it ever arrives.
  • “Why the Americanisation of English Is a Good Thing” – a BBC Radio 4 program y’all should hear.
  • An old Radio 4 programme on mysterious numbers stations

Australia

Elsewhere

  • Norway: think the FM-DAB transition is going smoothly? This thread (hit those ‘translate’ links!) says otherwise. Of course, Facebook is a magnet for discontents; and Aftenposten, the Norwegian newspaper, is delighting in it, with a seemingly neverending set of articles about how dreadfully the transition is going. Wait a second: it earns its money from advertising, and all of a sudden, there are significantly more commercial radio stations on the dial with DAB+? Surprise… the newspapers are fighting for their survival.
  • Germany: SoundCloud’s Investors May Terminate the Company In 24 Hours – they didn’t, and the company has now had a reprieve, but for how long is anyone’s guess.

James Cridland