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 from his new home in Brisbane, Australia.
James Cridland’s Articles
- Delighted that South Africa’s trusted media news source is now publishing my regular weekly column. This week: Christmas format stations around the world
- In case you missed it… BBC THREE going online only doesn’t save money
United Kingdom
- Jonathan Marks spots what he calls Chinese propaganda on the BBC international homepage. Concerning; particularly since the BBC likes to say how careful it is with the advertising that appears
- “The sort of interview that got Iain Lee the sack” – Iain Dale (no relation) shares a few clips of actual opinion on the radio
- Another viewpoint on the Iain Lee debate.
- A new world record for BFBS’s Hal Stewart – clearly I had no fun at all writing this story
- DJ patter is harder than it sounds, says my quite literally best mate David Hepworth (I met him two weeks ago)
- Seemingly obvious, but BBC World Service’s schedule page now gives you programmes in your own, local, time.
United States
- US radio doesn’t miss any opportunity to talk itself down. Why invite these dinosaurs to speak? Irrelevant witterings about how much better things were in the past – in a massively different media landscape – help nobody and do the industry down
- Thirty years of classic rock radio. Fred Jacobs has done a thing to celebrate.
- Pandora CEO: This is why giving people access to music that’s ‘free all the time’ is a problem [aka “aren’t our competitors big meanies?”]
- Worldwide Radio Summit 2016 – my friends at AllAccess.com run a great radio conference in Los Angeles
- Digital audience grows for NPR and stations, but live streaming stalls – this is a recurring theme all over the world. I really must write an article about it. It’s a big trend.
Australia
- The station under threat from the recent deadly bush fires – and no, they didn’t just go into automation
- Media students might like to watch this TV report from Australia and work out how much would be illegal under legal reporting rules in the UK. It’s a story about some legal challenges to, among others, 2GB/4BC’s Alan Jones.
- An overview of DAB+ in Australia from SCA’s Guy Dobson. Does he think the UK will switch off FM? What do you think…
Elsewhere
- Kenya: where community radio is under threat from, amongst others, the mess the music industry is in
- Italy: a new home for the International Radio Festival – delighted to see this
- Ireland: some interesting stats on female voices on the radio. Wonder how they compare to the UK, where there’s been a big campaign for more gender equality on radio?