On Thursday (17th) and Friday (18th), I was lucky enough to visit three of the four main national radio headquarters in London.
Ironically, we were staying in Leicester Square and didn't call in to Global on this occasion (this month and Fridays generally are particularly busy there) - but I had done so before attending the ARIAS in May 2023 and, other than new brand extensions and talent moves, not a huge amount has changed... yet. However, a walk past and a late-night pint in Spoons next door was very much able to happen!
After arriving into Waterloo at 3pm, taking the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and a speedy walk up Regent Street, the first of our adventures was New Broadcasting House - home to the UK's only Caffè Nero with no exterior branding... oh, and the BBC.
There was much activity in the newsroom during our tour owing to breaking news at the time that Israel was claiming to have killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. BBC Verify was about to go live from its corner of the mezzanine floor above the newsroom to dig deeper into these reports as we walked through.
As the industry has evolved, and with significant advances in technology, commercial broadcast centres have lived up more and more to standards initially set by the BBC - but anyone who works in a commercial newsroom will appreciate there is little to no comparison in terms of resources. This is the mother of all hubs.
It was then time to head up to the 8th floor, in a glass more claustrophobia-friendly lift (the best kind), home to most of BBC pop radio. Up here, we first came to 1Xtra and the new home of 6 Music followed by Radio 1 (including a visit to the world-famous Live Lounge) and lastly Radio 2's new home which is still being painted / decorated following its move from Wogan House earlier this year.
I would also like to show my appreciation for how the absolute pro that is Sara Cox was able to seamlessly smile and wave through the glass mid-link - so much so that it would be impossible to pinpoint this moment when listening back on Sounds!
Friday morning saw us embark on a half-hour walk to The Lantern in Euston, the new home of Bauer, where it was a delight to join none other than Mr Ken Bruce and his producer Andy at Greatest Hits Radio. You forget just how many splits there are until you can see them all!
I'm used to playing along with PopMaster at home or in the car but sitting next to the man himself wearing guest cans was quite the experience for a radio nerd!
Ken kindly gave us a tour of the wider building and I was amused by the somewhat starstruck looks on the faces of his Bauer colleagues at other brands and in other departments as we wandered (something he wouldn't ordinarily do).
Ken is far too humble to accept such an idea but we all know he is true radio royalty!
Perhaps owing to it being lunchtime - and the fact GHR and Hits were both out of Manchester from 1pm - but one thing that struck me was how quiet it seemed compared to others, despite housing its nine national radio networks and a plethora of magazine brands.
It was pleasant, spacious and despite being a powerhouse felt more like a traditional single big city radio station building than a group hub. One of Bauer's strengths - a notable example being the Hits network talent - is creating national media job opportunities in the North as well as in London.
The final stop on our two-day trip was Rupert Murdoch's News UK. Home to talkSPORT, TalkRadio, Virgin Radio and Times Radio, despite being part of one of the world's biggest media conglomerates and owner of The Sun and The Times, this is by far the smallest of the big four radio businesses.
We were on the 17th floor which houses all studios (apart from that of Times Radio, formerly used for talkRADIO, which is on the 14th floor) and I was delighted to be reunited with Ian Collins, one of my radio heroes, for a good old-fashioned chinwag.
This was my first time at The News Building which, in spite of its 17 floors, seemed quite a small space for multiple national radio stations - but a good atmosphere nonetheless - and Ricky Wilson didn't seem to remember me from our last encounter at Victorious Festival 2023!
There has been much change at Talk in recent months, following its ill-fated venture into linear TV which nobody really understood in practice. As a strategy, it's clear to anyone that Murdoch was rattled by his failed attempt to take over Sky and this was a desperate bid to re-enter the British TV market.
The current incarnation of TalkRadio began life in 2016 with a mix of newstalk and entertainment / comedy from personality presenters before increasing current affairs output over a number of years. Traditionally, it had little to no marketing / cross-promotion despite having unique access to its hugely influential sister newspaper titles.
There was speculation in 2020 that Times Radio would replace it but a decision was made for both stations to exist which led TalkRadio to morph into more of an "angry white men" Fox News-style outlet - effectively aligned with The Sun - generating millions of social media hits even though the radio station and live YouTube stream saw much slower growth.
GB News was a consequence of this, and that led to unconsidered plans for TalkTV which wasn't able to compete with anyone. For all its flaws, GB News stands for something - Talk was always a bit flaky, at least trying to be more balanced and serious at times (which annoyed the right / core audience) and at the same time retaining the "shock jock" element as a key part of its business model (which wrecks all credibility).
The difference with LBC is that it isn't tabloid and doesn't promote "shock jocks" or political theatre in the same way, at least not anymore. It is opinionated but more journalistic in its approach - not tearing up newspapers and shouting at clouds.
Anyway, I've gone off on one again - it was a fascinating and insightful few days during which I saw some old friends and met even more great people, including a new generation of radio pros. The facilities and quality of on-air / digital content are proof of how far we've come as an industry.
The future is bright!
