There's more to the BBC than one programme 25 years ago

Are the BBC ever not under attack from someone? More often than not, it’s because they’ve reported facts that don’t suit one’s agenda.

I may criticise the governance of and management within the corporation at times, but I believe it’s one of our proudest institutions as a nation.

It is highly respected around the world and its teams excel in educating, entertaining and informing.

This time, it’s under fire for "falling short of high standards of integrity and transparency" over Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana. The BBC’s Amol Rajan summed up what this means for the BBC well on BBC News:

My bit for #BBCNewsTen on the where the Dyson Report leaves the @bbc: pic.twitter.com/Qd3rQcSTqk

— Amol Rajan (@amolrajan) May 21, 2021

I’ve always found it frustrating when critics of an individual or team within the BBC default to saying "the BBC". Martin Bashir’s actions were found to have breached the corporation’s own rules and others covered it up at the time - appalling, especially for a public body.

No large organisation gets everything right but how can you suggest such an event represents its entire workforce? And this all happened 25 years ago!

Be specific in your criticism.

Mind the Gap

Throughout my childhood, I had two primary interests: radio and trains.

I needn’t comment on the former, as you know where I am with that (it’s probably why you’re here after all!)

My once immense interest in the latter has since dwindled, but I still remember a lot and still find them impressive. I mean - who doesn’t love a train?!

The most obvious links between the two are tech and announcements.

To many, Phil Sayer and Celia Drummond were the voices of the railways.

Sadly both no longer with us, their automated platform announcements were first rolled out in the mid 90s and used at many stations around the country before being gradually replaced by new systems.

Unfortunately, most South Western Railway operated stations phased Phil & Celia’s voices out during 2019.

Phil started his career as a newsreader on BBC North West Tonight before presenting shows at Piccadilly Radio, Red Rose Radio, BBC GMR, Radio City, Jazz FM and Smooth FM.

Together with his wife, Elinor Hamilton, they founded Sayer Hamilton voiceovers in 2002 and both became familiar voices on the London Underground. They both featured in a Manchester Evening News report in 2010.

Celia, a professional voice actor, also voiced adverts, radio drama and cartoon characters. In the early 70s, she was the lead vocalist in Trees, a British folk rock band, and owned a wedding business. She was interviewed on Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 drivetime show four years ago.

Many years ago, when I was massively into trains as a child, the utterly sublime Phil Sayer recorded me a surprise message:

Many years ago I was massively into trains and the sublime Phil Sayer recorded me a surprise message. A familiar voice at stations around the country for over 20 years. Very sadly, both he and his co-announcer Celia Drummond are no longer with us and deeply missed. @sayerhamilton pic.twitter.com/Keh1pjfSGN

— Harrison RB (@HarrisonRBRadio) May 20, 2021

Two stations I regularly visited were Micheldever and Newbury hence them being picked as calling points! No question, his impeccable delivery was always a huge inspiration.

The Heart of Canada

Just over 5 years after iHeartRadio was licensed in Canada to Bell Media, the media conglomerate has rolled out a new Adult Hits brand, Bounce Radio, to 25 stations across the country, each retaining a local morning show.

Bounce plays familiar 80s, 90s and 00s hits, positioning as The Music You Just Can’t Quit.

Looking at Bell Media’s (@iHeartRadioCA) latest national brand rollout - Bounce Radio, an Adult Hits network consisting of 25 stations which have retained local morning shows. They appear to have flipped the Absolute logo. pic.twitter.com/R1DhBqn1ID

— Harrison RB (@HarrisonRBRadio) May 19, 2021

It means the end of Winnipeg's 99.9 Bob FM among 3 other Bobs and animal-themed names such as The Bear, The Fox and Big Dog.

Happy Retirement BOB!! pic.twitter.com/t2aNJdGiiz

— Winnipeg's Bounce 99.9 (@BounceRadio999) May 18, 2021

EZ Rock is no more too - a name first created in 1995 based on the call sign of Telemedia’s Toronto flagship CJEZ-FM (now CHBM-FM, owned by Stingray Group and branded as Boom 973). As of 2021, British Columbia was the last Canadian province to use the branding.

Just as we’ve seen in the UK and elsewhere in the world, Bell Media is building polished national brands to compete with digital media on a bigger scale. Bounce will sit alongside its Virgin (CHR), Pure Country and Move (AC) networks.

Elvis Duran - 25 years at breakfast

 

The legendary Elvis Duran is celebrating 25 years on Z100′s morning show.

Formerly The Z Morning Zoo, now Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, it all began following Tom Poleman’s appointment as PD in April 1996. Z100's alt rock phase came to an end, and Duran was moved to breakfast.

In 2004, the show expanded to Max 106.3 in Sussex County (NJ) and Y100 in Miami two years later before signing a national syndication deal with Premiere Networks in 2009. It can now be heard in almost 80 markets.

Newsreaders are storytellers

Earlier in the year, Jeremy Paxman claimed "any fool" could be a newsreader because (the role lacks) "any grandeur or skill" - and I couldn’t disagree more with this outdated view.

Firstly, "reader" isn’t entirely reflective of what’s involved - the best newsreaders don’t just read the words, they tell the stories. Perfecting the art of storytelling isn’t easy. Tone and delivery are crucial.

Furthermore, almost every broadcast journalist today is multi-skilled. Particularly in radio, you don’t just present, you also write copy, edit audio, drive the desk etc.

During the pre-election period (purdah), it also involves carefully crafting news related to the poll to ensure all candidates get their fair share of airtime.

There’s a lot more to it than you might think. Paxman’s view is a common misconception but particularly disappointing to hear from someone of his calibre.

Subscription radio

Amid the Apple vs Spotify subscription podcasting battle, Twitter’s announcement of ticketed Spaces and with Reuters & CNN International both set to hide behind a paywall, Bauer Media has today announced premium subscription services for four of its national radio brands - Scala, Jazz FM, Kerrang! and Planet Rock.

Subscribers will enjoy an ad-free listening experience offering greater control and flexibility and be able to skip up to 6 tracks per hour.

The £3.99 per month package also includes access to 20 exclusive online radio stations across genres and music moods as well as more than 30 on-demand shows, documentaries, artist interview content and special programming.

LBC had a podcast subscription service where you could catch up on every show minus the ads and news (this was scrapped in 2018 when the Global Player app began hosting these free of charge).

The rock/metal station Primordial Radio uses this model, as does SiriusXM state-side.

When it comes to skipping tracks, the Capital XTRA app first introduced the function some five years ago with Capital following suit before being rolled out to all music stations on Global Player. Despite opting out of the live stream, you still get presenter links and ads.

Will this be a significant revenue stream? It’ll certainly raise expectations and test the water. A key benefit to Bauer is harvesting consumer data and using it for research as well as to personalise the user experience.

We’re already used to paying a premium for ad-free experiences and/or exclusive content elsewhere - and the four stations selected are particularly niche with passionate audiences which undoubtedly helps.

For the last 10 years Bauer’s Absolute Radio has given free account holders access to higher-quality audio with in-stream technology allowing users to hear fewer, but more targeted, ads (tailored to their age, gender and location) with "bonus songs".

GB fends off UK in News battle

Rupert Murdoch’s News UK has scrapped plans to re-enter the linear TV market following a review which found the news channel to be commercially unviable.

In an email to staff, CEO Rebekah Brooks confirmed that David Rhodes, the man hired to oversee the project, was stepping down from his role in June.

Brooks said:

Whilst there is consumer demand for alternative news provision, the costs of running a rolling news channel are considerable, and it is our assessment that the payback for our shareholders wouldn’t be sufficient.

The company’s newly-founded TV division will merge into News UK Broadcasting with Scott Taunton, current CEO of Wireless (its radio/audio operation), appointed as CEO.

It comes as the group’s speech radio stations continue to engage (and, in some cases, enrage) audiences on social media with high quality video content.

This is particularly relevant to talkRADIO which streams live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter throughout the day with TV news channel graphics and remote guests in vision.

In fact, when Murdoch’s TV plans were first rumoured, I was expecting the venture to eventually replace it.

There was talk of a channel that would take inspiration from the Fox News model and include right wing commentary (within the UK’s stricter broadcast code), which is essentially what talkRADIO has become.

Meanwhile, at GB News - the forthcoming channel chaired by Andrew Neil, they’ve recently signed Alastair Stewart, Simon McCoy, Kirsty Gallacher and others, as well as most people in my Twitter timeline to work behind the scenes.

It was founded by media execs Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider and promises a full schedule of opinion and debate-led programming.

Despite controversy surrounding the channel’s perceived political stance, insiders have hit back insisting it will be "committed to impartial journalism".

Of course, due impartiality will need to be preserved across the schedule - but, like stations such as LBC, individual shows can be opinionated. talkRADIO get away with a predominantly right wing lineup by inviting callers and guests who hold different views.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Murdoch looks to get his hands on GB News eventually.