Pieces about DAB on BBC Radio 4 are always a little challenging. Despite many their listeners being some of the earliest investors in DAB technology and the appreciable proportion of listening on that very platform, interrogation on the issue, whether on You & Yours or on the Today programme, is always a tad sniffy. Luckily, the reluctant hosts are usually outwitted by guests who know their stuff. Relish this piece with Mat Deegan from Folder Media on 21st July 2015.
Jul 21, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1051
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending July 17th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jul 15, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1050
Having run a talk station, I can quite imagine what the presenter offices of the old Talk Radio UK must have been like. You hire the greatest talk talent ‘cos they are larger than life. They can debate, argue, generate heat as well as light and win any argument. Off-air they are much the same. Mix James Whale with a dose of Anna Raeburn, a smattering of Simon Bates, a right wing David Starkey and a know it all blunt lawyer like Gary Jacobs, what do you do when Jeremy Beadle walks in with Dale Wi...
Jul 15, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1049
For us mainlanders working in competitive markets, it is truly wonderful to arrive in a place where every radio is locked on to the same station. In every coffee shop, taxi and shop on lovely Guernsey, you hear Island FM. On visiting, the station's small staff - in its modest out of town location - remind you that you don't need hundreds of folk to make valued radio. They are proud of their station, and so they should be. Island FM launched on October 15th 1992, the great JAM jingles at the actu...
Jul 14, 2015•5 min•Ep. 1048
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending July 10th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jul 10, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1047
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending July 3rd 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jul 03, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1046
At midnight GMT (0100 BST here in the UK), the planet gained an extra second. The dial on an atomic clock read 23:59:60 before ticking forward to 00.00.00. This last happened in 2012. On-air in the UK, the shift was neatly accommodated by an extra pip in the Greenwich Time Signal. The addition of this “leap second” allows the Earth’s rotation, which is gradually slowing, to catch up with atomic clocks. Some nations argue that the addition of these naughty seconds is posing an ever-growing proble...
Jul 01, 2015•1 min•Ep. 1045
Jun 29, 2015•2 min•Ep. 1044
Jun 27, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1043
Jun 25, 2015•24 sec•Ep. 1042
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending June 19th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jun 19, 2015•5 min•Ep. 1041
Snow's great news for local radio. Whatever the usual station allegiances, you can bank on the fact that you might attract at least some level of 'curiosity cume' from an audience hungry for information or just seeking to wallow in a great English drama. The timing of such conditions were a little awry for BBC Radio Brighton, coming some weeks before its official launch in February 1968. Little wonder then that the station chose to launch, in a limited way, prematurely. On 8th December 1967, wit...
Jun 13, 2015•33 sec•Ep. 1040
It seemed to be due to an inadvertent oversight that a Christian radio station could not hold a radio licence, so there was considerable joy for the pioneers when, at last, a station like Premier Radio could launch. Hear here the countdown at Battersea Park in 1995, and then the voice of Peter Meadows , in conversation with the then Programme Controller, Mark Seaman.
Jun 11, 2015•4 min•Ep. 1039
Surprise election results are nothing new. In 1970, the Conservatives rallied a majority of 30 even though most opinion polls predicted a very different result, and bristling Ted Heath duly replaced the raincoat of Harold Wilson at Number Ten. It was a noteworthy election as the voting age was lowered to 18 for the first time, and spotty youths hurried to the ballot box on the way to the pub. For radio, if was significant too. This new Government was to announce it would introduce commercial rad...
Jun 11, 2015•1 hr•Ep. 1038
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending June 12th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jun 11, 2015•7 min•Ep. 1037
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending June 5th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
Jun 05, 2015•6 min•Ep. 1036
Not many presenters last 22 years on-air, least of all on commercial radio where tastes of listeners and management can change quickly. Through a multitude of colourful owners, drama and two brand names, the Russ Williams phenomenon survived at the great Golden Square. After 22 years, on 29th May 25, he said his farewells from the station's daytime schedule.
May 30, 2015•5 min•Ep. 1035
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending May 29th 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
May 27, 2015•5 min•Ep. 1034
Some last shows are low key. A nod to the wise. Some are weighed down with a hidden agenda. Others are purely celebratory; as a presenter says goodbye to colleagues, professional acquaintances and listeners. This one falls in the latter category. As the hashtage #FarewellFearne trended, Fearne Cotton waved farewell to Radio 1 after almost ten years in favour of "family and new adventures" as she prepared for the arrival of her second baby. Fearne and the station easily summoned an enviable roll ...
May 22, 2015•41 min•Ep. 1033
Another fond look back to this week in radio history, for the week ending May 22nd 2015, as heard at the end of the week's RadioTalk podcast from Radio Today.
May 22, 2015•5 min•Ep. 1032
