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 sends us his weekly links with this note:
While the rest of the world might have returned to work this week, Australia is still on holiday: something which confuses me while trying to listen to some of the output of radio. Everyone’s sitting in for something else. It mostly seems to get back to normal next week. Looking forward to it.
James Cridland articles
- The transmitter mindset – and why we need to get out of it – “the transmitter mindset”, something that reinforces the primacy of live, and dilutes radio’s real purpose, is something I suspect might be a theme of my writing for a bit. This is a rather rushed introduction to the idea.
- Radio industry gets its own radio station – what a good idea this is.
- Brand new radio station to launch in Kent – kind of. I didn’t take this story too seriously: see if you can tell.
United States
- Ford introducing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to [US] vehicles. I believe “the connected dash” means big news for podcasts: as barriers are reduced to be able to actually listen to the things. I think it’s less big news for streaming internet radio: that’s still not really reliable enough for most people to use, and costs a lot of data when used in similar volumes as broadcast radio.
- Do people switch stations a lot? New, interesting data from the US (where competing formats abound) says no. I’d probably agree with that, even though I’m not convinced that the PPM data won’t be polluted by people walking around the office, confused with loud noises, and other things.
- jācapps adds Android Audio to radio apps – and it’s important to be there, too.
- When Television Is More Than an ‘Idiot Box’ – thought-provoking article showing the power of television for education
United Kingdom
- New music stations are making this listener spend money on music. Shh, don’t tell the record industry, they don’t think that happens.
- There’s plenty of good stuff on BBC Local Radio. Here’s a good blog entry with some of the very best to listen to.
- In praise of radio on TV – this is a wonderful piece from Dave Lee.
- Here’s why running video at all times in your studio is a good idea – so you can share stuff like this… – another BoJo classic
- Brilliant. Using technology to get old Teletext pages from VHS cassettes. – wonderful piece of time travel.
- UK Commercial Radio awards are open for entries – all quiet on the Radio Academy front? Or have I missed an email?
Australia
- Many Australian radio stations haven’t been broadcasting online. They’re slowly coming back.
- Radio revenue rises by 4.6% (again) – though it appears to be “softening” into December, apparently.
- How We Got Em Rusciano’s Podcast to the Top of the Charts – and you can do it too – golden advice in here. I’m a particular fan of the focus on editing – edit the interview down, and edit it again, and keep editing so it’s really focused. That is something lost by many podcasters.
Other places
- France: What makes a good public speaker? Loic Le Meur posts a great piece. Useful for radio conferences especially: we’re in the showbusiness, er, business, but many of our conferences aren’t.
- France: Radiodays Europe is this March, and I’ll be there – it’s the last few days to get the early-bird discount
- Nepal: Helping save lives through radio – something via the BBC’s Media Action charity
- The Netherlands: public broadcaster NPO brings a number of new stations to DAB+