James Cridland is Managing Director of media.info, and a U.K.-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.nets
James Cridland has been traveling recently, and has this to say about his radio-listening experience in Cologne: “Listening to digital radio last week in Cologne, Germany. This is broadcast radio – and every single radio station I found on DAB+ had “slideshow”, a visual accompaniment.”
Links by James Cridland
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- A blog, by me – Will Top Gear destroy BBC Radio 2? I really hope not. But the signs are there. I also make it onto the Radio Stuff Podcast where I say much the same kind of thing but sound much less cogent.
- What people are saying about Apple Music and Beats 1 – nice compilation of links from, oh, me. In radioinfo.com.au
US- The first – ever – radio station for the LGBT community in the US. Surprisingly late to the party; there are similar stations in the UK, Australia and even Ireland I think.
- Podcasts Are Saving NPR claims WIRED magazine – the revenue they generate is keeping the whole thing afloat, apparently.
- Will Beats 1 kill traditional audience research in radio? (There’s certainly no need to do exhaustive music testing).
- Stats: The (lack of) app store metrics – Android has twice as many app installsas Apple
- “Making radio clickable” is this new SoundHound and Westwood One integration
- Great management tips. Valid for every company, even though this is a post from a tech company: they’re simple and effective. /via Simon Cross
- Podcasting Blossoms, but in Slow Motion – interesting NYT article /via guylaine l’heureux
UK
- My wind-up channel is a radio first, says Steve Penk – and he’s right. And I know I’ve said it before, but Steve Penk’s music channel is a great listen. And now it’s in media.info too.
- Heartening that opening up the digital airwaves means more new stations – likeManchester Business Radio.
- “Disc jockeys are the very last people I would seek recommendations from.” – David Hepworth
- Bizarre. Bauer’s apps use really old branding. “Radio Hallam”?! (Via Twitter, the man responsible says that a regional brand was needed, since the apps contain Hallam FM, Hallam 2 and Hallam 3.)
- Eddie Mair vs RBS – the kind of interviewing that makes me proud of BBC Radio 4
- 2BR admits to playing stunt on listeners. Presumably an Ofcom fine is on the way? If not… why?
- Does DAB+ offer better coverage than DAB? Kind of, but not much. Ash Elfordexplains in the comments
- Reviewing Next Radio talks from last year. Kate Cocker tells a great story:Being an Authentic Radio Presenter
- Just something interesting: Paris Hilton might be a hardcore [ham] radio enthusiast. Because, you know, why not?
The rest of the world
- Switzerland: Swiss vote to keep the licence fee in its current format passed by50.08% of the electorate. Are you watching, BBC?
- Deutschlandradio Labkonferenz – a nice overview of where I was last week. (In German) Incidentally, it worked really rather well using Google Translate’s live camera translation on the slides. New trick.
- Canada: Voltair, thing that makes PPM codes easier to hear by PPM (and thus increases audience figures), outlawed (kind of)
- Canada: “Will Hubris Be the Downfall of CBC?” – interesting article about Canadian public service broadcaster
- France: Boss of RTL says “even Apple believes in the future of radio”, but he doesn’t think DAB (RNT in French) is. (In French)
- Myanmar: 95% of people listen to the radio, while only 5% use smart phones
- Russia: Fascinating piece about UVB-76, a Russian radio station you’ve probably never heard.
- Ireland: Nice to see a good success with the Irish Radioplayer. Proud to have played my part. “Radio app gets 70k downloads“
- Australia: Forward Listening – The Future of Radio… a 20-minute programme about the future of radio from G di Giovanni, worth a listen