The BBC expects attacks on alleged profligacy from commercial competitors. There's a new, and more dangerous one this morning, from the vastly experienced Lord (Charles) Allen, former boss of Granada, former chairman of ITV and EMI, now chairman of Global Radio, and worryingly, a Labour peer who's chairman of the Executive Board of the party, appointed by Ed Miliband.
Here's a quote from an interview in today's Independent.
"I bumped into Tony Hall [the BBC Director-General] yesterday and said ‘I want to get you in and have a look at how we work’. Do you know, BBC Radio 1, 2 and 3 have a combined content budget of £123.6m, and Capital, which is up against Radio 1, Heart, which is against Radio 2, and Classic, which takes on Radio 3, have a combined content budget of £19m. Look at Radio 4 in the morning. On LBC we will have a presenter like Nick Ferrari and a producer, and that’s about all – and we’re all the better for that.”
Experience does not always lead to understanding.
Showing posts with label commercial radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commercial radio. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
19th ?
Is the future of UK commercial radio being sorted out on the golf courses of Ireland ?
Global Radio (CEO Ashley Tabor, dad bookmaker and horse racing magnate Michael Tabor) has done a deal with Communicorp (prop Ireland's second richest man, Denis O'Brien) to sell them eight UK radio stations. Three of them - currently branded "Real" - will re-emerge as "Heart" stations, but apparently Communicorp has also licenced the names Smooth and Capital for the remainder - and Global will still sell the national ads. It looks like a cash injection of around £35m for Ashley, and a cute way of dealing with the strictures set on his purchase of the old Guardian Media Group chains (for £70m).
Tabor Snr is into racing; O'Brien is more political - into radio, newspapers as well as mobile phones - but they're both golfers - both played in the JPMcManus Invitational in 2010. There were plans for another such tournament in 2015, but it's not going ahead because JP is now, officially, resident in Geneva, and can only spend 183 days per year in Ireland. Denis O'Brien has homes in Quinta de Lago, Portugal and Sliema, Malta and last year won a battle with the Irish Revenue, who sought £57m in back tax.
Global Radio (CEO Ashley Tabor, dad bookmaker and horse racing magnate Michael Tabor) has done a deal with Communicorp (prop Ireland's second richest man, Denis O'Brien) to sell them eight UK radio stations. Three of them - currently branded "Real" - will re-emerge as "Heart" stations, but apparently Communicorp has also licenced the names Smooth and Capital for the remainder - and Global will still sell the national ads. It looks like a cash injection of around £35m for Ashley, and a cute way of dealing with the strictures set on his purchase of the old Guardian Media Group chains (for £70m).
Tabor Snr is into racing; O'Brien is more political - into radio, newspapers as well as mobile phones - but they're both golfers - both played in the JPMcManus Invitational in 2010. There were plans for another such tournament in 2015, but it's not going ahead because JP is now, officially, resident in Geneva, and can only spend 183 days per year in Ireland. Denis O'Brien has homes in Quinta de Lago, Portugal and Sliema, Malta and last year won a battle with the Irish Revenue, who sought £57m in back tax.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Radio Ga Ga Ga Ga
So the onus is now on commercial radio to make DAB work. Next year Ofcom will set up a second nationwide DAB multiplex, likely to offer over 20 slots - and the BBC has made it plain, that whilst it'll stump up £7m as part of its ongoing commitment to better coverage, it won't be bidding to run new stations.
The trouble for commercial radio is that a national DAB slot costs over £1m a year, before you've made a programme or hired talent or programmed the iPod. And at the moment, the traffic is the other way: JazzFM surrenders its slot on the Digital One multiplex from January 1, following Absolute Classic Rock in a move to selected, cheaper local DAB slots and online delivery.
There's no word on applicants yet to fill the JazzFM national hole. Is there really the energy, investment and commitment to deliver 20 new national stations to listeners across the UK in two years ?
The trouble for commercial radio is that a national DAB slot costs over £1m a year, before you've made a programme or hired talent or programmed the iPod. And at the moment, the traffic is the other way: JazzFM surrenders its slot on the Digital One multiplex from January 1, following Absolute Classic Rock in a move to selected, cheaper local DAB slots and online delivery.
There's no word on applicants yet to fill the JazzFM national hole. Is there really the energy, investment and commitment to deliver 20 new national stations to listeners across the UK in two years ?
- Wednesday update: Please read Matt's comments below: he's better informed and more optimistic than me. Which is good.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Mapped out
I don't want to get too soppy about my wonderful readers, but thanks to HB for solving the mystery of the pub that used to sit on the site of Broadcasting House extension.
It was called The Devonshire Arms, and at the time of our ancient map, in the 1890s, fronted onto Duke Street (now Hallam Street) more or less exactly at the entrance to the 1960s extension to Broadcasting House, now superceded by Sir Richard MacCormac's redevelopment.
The landlord in 1891 was Joseph Maslen, 50, originally from Bethnal Green. He ran the pub with his wife, Eliza, 48, and son James, 25, who was a barman. They employed Posie Hughes, 17, from Ramsgate as a barmaid and Florence Brett, 18, from Aldershot as a general servant. Also there were Joe's daughter Eliza, 19, and son Charles, 17, who were both students.
Before taking the Devonshire Arms,Joe Maslen was a carman driving a horse-drawn delivery wagon, probably for a railway company, and the family had lived in Chelsea and then Southwark. In 1881 they were at Sutherland Square in Newington, and Joe was a commercial traveller selling mineral water. He probably made a fair amount of money from The Devonshire because, by 1901, he'd gone up in the world and was a cab proprietor living at Gibson Square in Islington.
The Devonshire Arms was still going strong in 1935 and by then, the landlord, Arthur Walter Jones, was serving customers from the BBC, which had moved to the newly-built Broadcasting House three years earlier; it was the closest pub to BH, a matter of significance to this day. Next door was the Hallam Motor
Club, and at 11 Duke Street was the International Broadcasting Company, set up in 1931 as a commercial rival to the BBC. Owned by Tory MP Captain Leonard Plugge, it made programmes which were aired by radio stations on the continent, including Radio Luxembourg and Radio Normandy (early employer of Roy Plomley).
Which begs the question: Were the elite of the Corporation sitting down for a beer with their downmarket rivals or glaring at each other from opposite ends of the bar?
It was called The Devonshire Arms, and at the time of our ancient map, in the 1890s, fronted onto Duke Street (now Hallam Street) more or less exactly at the entrance to the 1960s extension to Broadcasting House, now superceded by Sir Richard MacCormac's redevelopment.
The landlord in 1891 was Joseph Maslen, 50, originally from Bethnal Green. He ran the pub with his wife, Eliza, 48, and son James, 25, who was a barman. They employed Posie Hughes, 17, from Ramsgate as a barmaid and Florence Brett, 18, from Aldershot as a general servant. Also there were Joe's daughter Eliza, 19, and son Charles, 17, who were both students.
Before taking the Devonshire Arms,Joe Maslen was a carman driving a horse-drawn delivery wagon, probably for a railway company, and the family had lived in Chelsea and then Southwark. In 1881 they were at Sutherland Square in Newington, and Joe was a commercial traveller selling mineral water. He probably made a fair amount of money from The Devonshire because, by 1901, he'd gone up in the world and was a cab proprietor living at Gibson Square in Islington.
The Devonshire Arms was still going strong in 1935 and by then, the landlord, Arthur Walter Jones, was serving customers from the BBC, which had moved to the newly-built Broadcasting House three years earlier; it was the closest pub to BH, a matter of significance to this day. Next door was the Hallam Motor
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| Plugge |
Which begs the question: Were the elite of the Corporation sitting down for a beer with their downmarket rivals or glaring at each other from opposite ends of the bar?
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Down whose way ?
BBC local radio types will be scratching their head at this odd bunch of stats from the annual Ofcom media tracker.
Radio listeners were asked to rate the extent to which they personally relied on BBC/commercial radio stations for coverage of certain local issues and events, with a score of 1 being ‘completely rely on’ and 5 ‘do not rely on at all’. Looking at the top two ratings, commercial radio listeners were more likely than BBC radio listeners to say that they relied on the radio for coverage of local news (25% vs 35%), travel/weather (29% vs 38%), information about events/the community (17% vs 27%), and emergencies such as snow and floods (26% vs 34%).
Radio listeners were asked to rate the extent to which they personally relied on BBC/commercial radio stations for coverage of certain local issues and events, with a score of 1 being ‘completely rely on’ and 5 ‘do not rely on at all’. Looking at the top two ratings, commercial radio listeners were more likely than BBC radio listeners to say that they relied on the radio for coverage of local news (25% vs 35%), travel/weather (29% vs 38%), information about events/the community (17% vs 27%), and emergencies such as snow and floods (26% vs 34%).
Monday, March 4, 2013
Radio strategy
For aficionados of the commercial radio market in the UK, this is very well written, particularly the line "We must make sure that the North of England gets Toby Anstis". Found via RadioGoss.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Strong government
For the bewildered, here's two process charts for dealing with the proposed merger of GMG Radio and Global Radio. The first, the preferred Global Radio/Ashley Tabor line, included a six month's fast track assessment by the Competition Commission. The second, the change in process required by Jeremy Hunt. The only difference is time - a longer time before Ashley can reduce costs and increase profits across the new group, and a longer time for Jeremy Hunt to be in a different job when the wails come...
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Rajar radar
The latest quarterly listening figures make it hard for the BBC to provide a warm bath of joy for all; total BBC listening is down 1,000,000 year on year - so those swimming even a little against the tide are doing well.
So, using year-on-year stats, Radio 2 has 491k more listeners, 6Music has 109k more, and The Asian Network has 47k more, up to a new record. A triple whammy for Bob Shennan. He must think he's in pole position, should Tim Davie still be bothering the headhunters. Or will Olympic sheen slide Roger Mosey into Broadcasting House ?
Radio 4 Extra has hit a new record, up 31k. Meanwhile Radio Cymru has lost 15k, down to 131,000. Figures for Radio nan Gaidheal aren't published.
Radio Manchester, now in the bosom of the MediacityUK mothership, will be pleased with an extra 65,000 listeners year on year - up to 230,000 - but still a little off 2001 peaks of 361,000.
At Talksport, a strategy blip for Moz Dee, never riddled with self-doubt. Making sport, sorry, football, the sole topic of conversation 24 hours a day coincided with a loss of 293k listeners.
So, using year-on-year stats, Radio 2 has 491k more listeners, 6Music has 109k more, and The Asian Network has 47k more, up to a new record. A triple whammy for Bob Shennan. He must think he's in pole position, should Tim Davie still be bothering the headhunters. Or will Olympic sheen slide Roger Mosey into Broadcasting House ?
Radio 4 Extra has hit a new record, up 31k. Meanwhile Radio Cymru has lost 15k, down to 131,000. Figures for Radio nan Gaidheal aren't published.
Radio Manchester, now in the bosom of the MediacityUK mothership, will be pleased with an extra 65,000 listeners year on year - up to 230,000 - but still a little off 2001 peaks of 361,000.
At Talksport, a strategy blip for Moz Dee, never riddled with self-doubt. Making sport, sorry, football, the sole topic of conversation 24 hours a day coincided with a loss of 293k listeners.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Regulators
Trevor Dann, former chief executive of the Radio Academy, and quondam producer of Dave Lee Travis, went on the Today Programme this week talking about the future of commercial local radio.
It comes as Global Radio is trying to win "fast-track" Competition Commission (the old Monopolies and Mergers Commission) sanction for its takeover of GMG's radio interests - likely to result in further consolidation of local stations into larger networks.
Trevor said there's been a failure to regulate the local radio landscape "on a scale to match the banking crisis"; the future for local was "not radio stations but relay stations of playlists and DJs making programmes in London".
Global seem oddly keen at this stage to avoid scrutiny through the normal Ofcom channels, but Ofcom will presumably contribute to the Competition Commission's report. The radio side at Ofcom is run by Peter Davies -Director, Radio Content & Broadcast Licensing. He ought to know his way round local - at the BBC, he was Head of Strategy for Nations and Regions, and involved in a relaunch of BBC London 94.9 (away from the Matthew Bannister/Trevor Dann GLR strategy) and claims involvement in BBC Local Radio's DAB strategy and the BBC's digital radio strategy.
Here he is on the right, at a radio Christmas charity quiz with Ofcom colleagues, in this candid shot from Mediaweek.
Trevor said there's been a failure to regulate the local radio landscape "on a scale to match the banking crisis"; the future for local was "not radio stations but relay stations of playlists and DJs making programmes in London".
Global seem oddly keen at this stage to avoid scrutiny through the normal Ofcom channels, but Ofcom will presumably contribute to the Competition Commission's report. The radio side at Ofcom is run by Peter Davies -Director, Radio Content & Broadcast Licensing. He ought to know his way round local - at the BBC, he was Head of Strategy for Nations and Regions, and involved in a relaunch of BBC London 94.9 (away from the Matthew Bannister/Trevor Dann GLR strategy) and claims involvement in BBC Local Radio's DAB strategy and the BBC's digital radio strategy.
Here he is on the right, at a radio Christmas charity quiz with Ofcom colleagues, in this candid shot from Mediaweek.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Sporting
Just before we drift off into Olympic overdrive, a few thoughts on the news that Radio Five Live AND Talksport can both cover FA Cup matches, in a new deal with the FA lasting until 2018.
In 2000, the first year of Talksport, boss Kelvin Mackenzie said he'd bid £27m for Premier League rights, and claimed the BBC secured the three-year deal by paying £45m. Kelvin's complaint from then on was that the BBC was over-paying. He concentrated on some London rights, and the European games of big clubs like Manchester United - plus guerilla tactics. Talksport's "unofficial" coverage of Euro 2000 came from The Jolly Hotel, Amsterdam. This continued in the World Cup 2002 -“It’s unauthorised. It’s unofficial. And it’s brilliant.”
In 2004, when the BBC re-secured its "usual" radio rights to FA Cup coverage, Talksport complained to Ofcom - fruitlessly. Meanwhile, Talksport acquired its first "legit" national commentary deal, to cover Euro 2004. Then it was time to renegotiate on the Premiership; Kelvin claimed the BBC paid £36m for three years - "utterly disgraceful - a tax-payer-funded monopoly".
In 2006, Talksport won one of the 7 Premiership radio packages, and now have exclusive commentary rights to 32 games a season.
In 2008, the BBC re-secured its "usual" rights to FA Cup coverage, and Talksport, run now by UTV, complained to the BBC Trust. The Trust duly yellow-carded BBC Sport - The Trust said management "must note that achieving value for money does not necessarily mean securing exclusive sports rights" and that the BBC had failed to conduct a competitive impact assessment when bidding for the rights which was a "breach of the executive's duty to endeavour to minimise the BBC's negative competitive impact on the wider market".
So it was hardly a shock that sharing was the order of the day this time. What would be useful to know is the price both parties paid.
In 2000, the first year of Talksport, boss Kelvin Mackenzie said he'd bid £27m for Premier League rights, and claimed the BBC secured the three-year deal by paying £45m. Kelvin's complaint from then on was that the BBC was over-paying. He concentrated on some London rights, and the European games of big clubs like Manchester United - plus guerilla tactics. Talksport's "unofficial" coverage of Euro 2000 came from The Jolly Hotel, Amsterdam. This continued in the World Cup 2002 -“It’s unauthorised. It’s unofficial. And it’s brilliant.”
In 2004, when the BBC re-secured its "usual" radio rights to FA Cup coverage, Talksport complained to Ofcom - fruitlessly. Meanwhile, Talksport acquired its first "legit" national commentary deal, to cover Euro 2004. Then it was time to renegotiate on the Premiership; Kelvin claimed the BBC paid £36m for three years - "utterly disgraceful - a tax-payer-funded monopoly".
In 2006, Talksport won one of the 7 Premiership radio packages, and now have exclusive commentary rights to 32 games a season.
In 2008, the BBC re-secured its "usual" rights to FA Cup coverage, and Talksport, run now by UTV, complained to the BBC Trust. The Trust duly yellow-carded BBC Sport - The Trust said management "must note that achieving value for money does not necessarily mean securing exclusive sports rights" and that the BBC had failed to conduct a competitive impact assessment when bidding for the rights which was a "breach of the executive's duty to endeavour to minimise the BBC's negative competitive impact on the wider market".
So it was hardly a shock that sharing was the order of the day this time. What would be useful to know is the price both parties paid.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Early works
OK, I'll do it myself. Tim Lihoreau, creative director and weekend presenter, has now emerged as Classic FM's weekday breakfast presenter. (Hat tip to Radio Today). This after the station lost 10% of its audience year-on-year in the last set of figures - and where the trend, in this chart from the excellent Media UK, is clear.
Mark Forrest, whose radio career has encompassed hospital radio on Tyneside, Metro, Virgin, Heart and a few stabs at 5Live's Up All Night, has been dropped, and has already turned up doing cover shifts on Smooth. (Spookily, Global now own both Classic and Smooth, subject to competition hurdles).
Tim is something of a polymath. He read music at Leeds, came to London to do a composition PhD, but dropped out to tinkle the piano in various branches of Pizza Express. He joined Jazz FM when it started, and then transferred to Classic on the production side. He's written books, blogs intermittently, and runs three community choirs with his wife from his current base in Cambridgeshire.
Mark Forrest, whose radio career has encompassed hospital radio on Tyneside, Metro, Virgin, Heart and a few stabs at 5Live's Up All Night, has been dropped, and has already turned up doing cover shifts on Smooth. (Spookily, Global now own both Classic and Smooth, subject to competition hurdles).
Tim is something of a polymath. He read music at Leeds, came to London to do a composition PhD, but dropped out to tinkle the piano in various branches of Pizza Express. He joined Jazz FM when it started, and then transferred to Classic on the production side. He's written books, blogs intermittently, and runs three community choirs with his wife from his current base in Cambridgeshire.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Legacy
Those interested in news radio in the UK (and many former colleagues) will enjoy this tribute to LBC/IRN by Tim Crook. It's a piece provoked by the recent death of Ron Onions, but reminds us of how many talented people the station and its news service has supplied to other broadcasters over the years.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Marching to the tabor
The most powerful man in UK commercial radio just got a bit more powerful. Still in his mid-thirties, Ashley Tabor, CEO of Global Radio has bought the Guardian Media Group's clutch of radio stations, for an undisclosed figure.
However, the future shape of the merged company remains unclear - whilst the competition authorities review the acquisition, staff and presenters at Smooth and Real Radio will have to wait to see if they'll be rebranded or just subsumed into Global's existing portfolio, which includes Heart, Capital, Gold and XFM as well as Classic FM and LBC. In all, Global stations reached a total of 19.2m listeners in the most recent RAJAR figures; GMG stations attracted 5.6m.
However, the future shape of the merged company remains unclear - whilst the competition authorities review the acquisition, staff and presenters at Smooth and Real Radio will have to wait to see if they'll be rebranded or just subsumed into Global's existing portfolio, which includes Heart, Capital, Gold and XFM as well as Classic FM and LBC. In all, Global stations reached a total of 19.2m listeners in the most recent RAJAR figures; GMG stations attracted 5.6m.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Killjoys
The Radio Centre has enjoyed itself with its submission on the performance of Radio 5 Live to the BBC Trust. 30 pages long, it exhorts the station to cover women's netball, move to DAB only, and bring in a Myers-style trouble-shooter to prove that it can all be done much more cheaply. Moz Dee, I presume.
It wants the categories of content moved from the current 75% news, 25% sport. It proposes four categories - News, majority sport, minority sport, and other content - and leaves the Trust to fill in new percentages, apart from one. Other content should, apparently, be 0%, and people should be disciplined if that rule is broken.
The Centre's current target is the Richard Bacon show, for doing too much "celebrity and entertainment news". I suspect the authors of this report are only recent listeners to the station, and may be quite young. It's always been there. Hark back to The Magazine, with Diana Madill. Remember Eddie Mair's jousts with Cliff Richard - or indeed, attempts to assemble flat-pack furniture in the studio. John Inverdale's tv previews with Ruth Leon. Richard Arnold and Tina Baker. Nicky Campbell's brilliant interview with Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. Then, and now, the station wins awards for its accessible and popular news coverage - and it's news about the way we live, here and around the world.
It wants the categories of content moved from the current 75% news, 25% sport. It proposes four categories - News, majority sport, minority sport, and other content - and leaves the Trust to fill in new percentages, apart from one. Other content should, apparently, be 0%, and people should be disciplined if that rule is broken.
The Centre's current target is the Richard Bacon show, for doing too much "celebrity and entertainment news". I suspect the authors of this report are only recent listeners to the station, and may be quite young. It's always been there. Hark back to The Magazine, with Diana Madill. Remember Eddie Mair's jousts with Cliff Richard - or indeed, attempts to assemble flat-pack furniture in the studio. John Inverdale's tv previews with Ruth Leon. Richard Arnold and Tina Baker. Nicky Campbell's brilliant interview with Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. Then, and now, the station wins awards for its accessible and popular news coverage - and it's news about the way we live, here and around the world.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
RAJAR winners
There's a warm bath of Cava around most radio stations today, with the UK radio audience growing and listening longer.
And, as predicted here, we're are beginning to see the march of the commercial national and quasi-national pop and easy listening stations. The Kiss network is up from 3.4m to 4m, and the Bauer group as a whole (which includes Kiss) is now a major force with 13.4m listeners. At Global Radio, Heart is holding up at 7.4m; Capital at 6.7m; Classic FM is back above 6m (this after Simon Bates's defection to Smooth !); the Gold Network is up to 1.5m and LBC has grown to 1.2m nationally. The group as a whole reaches 19.7m.
Progress has been slower at GMG's Smooth Radio - holding on to 3m listeners nationally; but Simon Bates arrival at breakfast on Smooth London has seen the slot attract 40% more listeners quarter and quarter, and that should feed into the national figures in Q2. Their Real Radio branded network of five stations now pulls in 2.5m.
Still, this listening has not yet impacted on Radio 2 in any big way - losing only 32,000 listeners year-on-year.
Pats-on-the-back are due to the Asian Network team, building their audience to a three year-high. All the more remarkable considering for all but two weeks of the survey period, the axe was still over their heads. It's now back in the tool cupboard, but not yet quite locked up; it should be - it's now the most popular station amongst those aimed at British Asians.
And, as predicted here, we're are beginning to see the march of the commercial national and quasi-national pop and easy listening stations. The Kiss network is up from 3.4m to 4m, and the Bauer group as a whole (which includes Kiss) is now a major force with 13.4m listeners. At Global Radio, Heart is holding up at 7.4m; Capital at 6.7m; Classic FM is back above 6m (this after Simon Bates's defection to Smooth !); the Gold Network is up to 1.5m and LBC has grown to 1.2m nationally. The group as a whole reaches 19.7m.
Progress has been slower at GMG's Smooth Radio - holding on to 3m listeners nationally; but Simon Bates arrival at breakfast on Smooth London has seen the slot attract 40% more listeners quarter and quarter, and that should feed into the national figures in Q2. Their Real Radio branded network of five stations now pulls in 2.5m.
Still, this listening has not yet impacted on Radio 2 in any big way - losing only 32,000 listeners year-on-year.
Pats-on-the-back are due to the Asian Network team, building their audience to a three year-high. All the more remarkable considering for all but two weeks of the survey period, the axe was still over their heads. It's now back in the tool cupboard, but not yet quite locked up; it should be - it's now the most popular station amongst those aimed at British Asians.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Cached
I've suddenly done well on a post featuring youthful Jimmy Buckland, Director of Strategy at UTV Media (GB), the parent company of TalkSPORT. His friends point out that he's recently edited his own history at RAW, the wiki site for the University of Warwick radio station, to which I provided a link. The mugshot has changed to one which makes Jimmy happier. I can't see why. Here's some old shots of Moz Dee's strategist, including a blurry one of days when Jimmy was closer to Five Live...
Monday, April 25, 2011
News analysis
The Organ Grinder blog in the Bank Holiday Media Guardian offers a debate between Five Live and TalkSPORT executives on the topic of news content at the BBC station.
All rather odd. The BBC defence of news output comes from Deputy Controller Jonathan Wall - there at the top to provide the sporting balance to Controller (and newsman) Adrian Van Klaveren. It uses the phrase "sports entertainment" to describe Fighting Talk - that's where Five Live have to hang on to this element of the station's service licence: "Programming should be designed to inform, entertain and involve".
For TalkSPORT, the egregious Moz Dee describes an unlikely journey "Whilst driving across the country the other night my passengers and I scanned the dial for news of what was happening in the Arab world after a heated debate on the subject. Two national radio stations were competing with sports output (one of them being TalkSport ), there was classical music to soothe the soul, specialist music shows, local radio, an interesting documentary, but nowhere could we find a real time national news service".
From my (often faulty) memory, it was Bob Shennan and Moz Dee who finally stripped sports and sports-related output across the Five Live weekday output between 7pm and 10pm. It made sense; the Jenny Abramsky schedule meant you really never knew what to expect at that time - and the increasing amount of European football made commentary a possibility every night of the week some weeks. The deal is - you get brought up to date with important news, even in live commentary. Relax if they're talking about Millwall or Barnsley.
Anyway, the discussion is currently more gentlemanly than the AV debate. And nowhere near the fun of Kelvin MacKenzie's days at TalkSPORT when, in a row over football rights, he described Bob Shennan as "an amiable cove, but not the sharpest tack in the carpet".
All rather odd. The BBC defence of news output comes from Deputy Controller Jonathan Wall - there at the top to provide the sporting balance to Controller (and newsman) Adrian Van Klaveren. It uses the phrase "sports entertainment" to describe Fighting Talk - that's where Five Live have to hang on to this element of the station's service licence: "Programming should be designed to inform, entertain and involve".
For TalkSPORT, the egregious Moz Dee describes an unlikely journey "Whilst driving across the country the other night my passengers and I scanned the dial for news of what was happening in the Arab world after a heated debate on the subject. Two national radio stations were competing with sports output (one of them being TalkSport ), there was classical music to soothe the soul, specialist music shows, local radio, an interesting documentary, but nowhere could we find a real time national news service".
From my (often faulty) memory, it was Bob Shennan and Moz Dee who finally stripped sports and sports-related output across the Five Live weekday output between 7pm and 10pm. It made sense; the Jenny Abramsky schedule meant you really never knew what to expect at that time - and the increasing amount of European football made commentary a possibility every night of the week some weeks. The deal is - you get brought up to date with important news, even in live commentary. Relax if they're talking about Millwall or Barnsley.
Anyway, the discussion is currently more gentlemanly than the AV debate. And nowhere near the fun of Kelvin MacKenzie's days at TalkSPORT when, in a row over football rights, he described Bob Shennan as "an amiable cove, but not the sharpest tack in the carpet".
Friday, April 22, 2011
Teasers
The cheeky monkeys at TalkSPORT won't give up trying to tweak the tail of 5Live. Having failed in a complaint that their BBC rival "wasn't doing enough news" (it's supposed to be 75%), they have at least got a concession from the BBC Trust that there were "significant and valid questions about what constitutes news on 5 Live".
So, from this week, there'll be to-and-fro between MediaCityUK, TVC and Great Portland Street over the year ahead, as the Trust reviews Controller Adrian Van Klaveren's "compliance" with the station's "service licence".
To help the Trust with their judgement, TalkSPORT commissioned interviews with 1,000 people who listen to 5Live for at least one hour a week, and weighted their answers to balance the 5Live average audience. They asked which programmes THEY thought were "News" and "Not News".
You can expect the "News" score to improve as Shelagh Fogarty takes Gabby Logan's seat at lunchtime. And perhaps not enough people had heard the overnight output to make a correct guess.
It'll rumble on, with youthful Jimmy-the-B, now Jimmy Buckland, running strategy for TalkSPORT parent UTV Media (GB). And to think the BBC gave him work experience.
So, from this week, there'll be to-and-fro between MediaCityUK, TVC and Great Portland Street over the year ahead, as the Trust reviews Controller Adrian Van Klaveren's "compliance" with the station's "service licence".
To help the Trust with their judgement, TalkSPORT commissioned interviews with 1,000 people who listen to 5Live for at least one hour a week, and weighted their answers to balance the 5Live average audience. They asked which programmes THEY thought were "News" and "Not News".
You can expect the "News" score to improve as Shelagh Fogarty takes Gabby Logan's seat at lunchtime. And perhaps not enough people had heard the overnight output to make a correct guess.
It'll rumble on, with youthful Jimmy-the-B, now Jimmy Buckland, running strategy for TalkSPORT parent UTV Media (GB). And to think the BBC gave him work experience.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Beans, for the counting of...
It's taken nearly a year, but the BBC Trust has opined on a charge from TalkSPORT that BBC Radio 5Live is not doing enough news. The requirement, of 75% "news", comes from the Trust, and is restated, in gentle terms, in 5Live's "service licence" re-issued this month - "BBC Radio Five Live should ensure that news represents three quarters of output each year".
The TalkSPORT claim was that at least 13% of the station's output consisted of "entertainment programming, such as interviews with television personalities, trivia, and listeners' humorous anecdotes." By its analysis, 37% of 5Live's schedule could be counted as "sports programming". Unsaid, but explicit, the charge was that, however you do the maths, banter, fun, jokes, etc, are TalkSPORT prerogatives, and the BBC shouldn't count them as "news".
The Trust's verdict: OK - for now. Clearly the old way of counting simply said "Is this a news programme or a sports programme ?", which apparently gets 5Live to 75%. But, says the Trust, the complaint had raised
"significant and valid questions about what constitutes news on 5 Live" and said a "more nuanced method of monitoring the proportion of news output" was needed. It could be that 5Live Controller Adrian Van Klaveren will have to hire more bean-counters in Salford to fend off Moz Dee.
The TalkSPORT claim was that at least 13% of the station's output consisted of "entertainment programming, such as interviews with television personalities, trivia, and listeners' humorous anecdotes." By its analysis, 37% of 5Live's schedule could be counted as "sports programming". Unsaid, but explicit, the charge was that, however you do the maths, banter, fun, jokes, etc, are TalkSPORT prerogatives, and the BBC shouldn't count them as "news".
The Trust's verdict: OK - for now. Clearly the old way of counting simply said "Is this a news programme or a sports programme ?", which apparently gets 5Live to 75%. But, says the Trust, the complaint had raised
"significant and valid questions about what constitutes news on 5 Live" and said a "more nuanced method of monitoring the proportion of news output" was needed. It could be that 5Live Controller Adrian Van Klaveren will have to hire more bean-counters in Salford to fend off Moz Dee.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wild west radio
Radio Today reports that Total Star Radio has fallen foul of Ofcom - again - this time for pumping too much power through its transmitter at North Hill, near Minehead. Way too much power: Ofcom says "This case is the most serious example of an unauthorised increase in transmitter power ever recorded by Ofcom. The extent to which the unauthorised replacement transmitter exceeded the technical parameters is greater than in any other case Ofcom has dealt with".
Ofcom engineers found the music was being blasted out with nearly 30kw of juice, rather than the permitted 4kw. It's hard to imagine that Total Star didn't know what it was doing - they either spent too much on a bigger transmitter than was allowed, or ignored a large friendly knob which sets the power on a variable machine.
In July last year, Ofcom found that Total Star had failed to meet their commitment to hourly news bulletins in a sample monitoring; and in October, ruled that on-air promotion for the unlikely sounding car dealers, Fish Brothers Renault, had gone too far.
MD of the operation is one Brett Orchard. Is it possible he's related to that scion of commercial broadcasting, Steve Orchard, of GWR, Classic FM and GCap Radio ? Steve now runs Touch FM from an industrial estate in Stratford-upon-Avon. I hope he knows the correct settings for his transmitters.
Ofcom engineers found the music was being blasted out with nearly 30kw of juice, rather than the permitted 4kw. It's hard to imagine that Total Star didn't know what it was doing - they either spent too much on a bigger transmitter than was allowed, or ignored a large friendly knob which sets the power on a variable machine.
In July last year, Ofcom found that Total Star had failed to meet their commitment to hourly news bulletins in a sample monitoring; and in October, ruled that on-air promotion for the unlikely sounding car dealers, Fish Brothers Renault, had gone too far.
MD of the operation is one Brett Orchard. Is it possible he's related to that scion of commercial broadcasting, Steve Orchard, of GWR, Classic FM and GCap Radio ? Steve now runs Touch FM from an industrial estate in Stratford-upon-Avon. I hope he knows the correct settings for his transmitters.
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