Stop playing Blurred Lines

Up until a few years ago, even the most listened-to commercial radio network in the UK had Robin Thicke & Pharrell’s ‘Blurred Lines’ as part of its fairly tight rotation.

The track always got bad press - not least due to its X-rated video and sexually suggestive lyrics (together with the less serious Marvin Gaye court case) - but amid the Me Too movement, this intensified.

Just in the last few days, Emily Ratajkowski alleged that Thicke sexually assaulted her on the music video set.

If you’re a radio station still playing this song - as I can see from social media, astonishingly, some are - why?!

What is the US Emergency Alert System?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted its first nationwide test of the US Emergency Alert System on Wednesday which interrupts regular programming on TV and radio stations with an emergency tone and message.

It replaced the Emergency Broadcast System in 1997 and is primarily designed to allow the President to address the nation in the event of a national emergency.

However, owing to widespread news coverage in these situations, it hasn’t been used for this purpose before.

It’s more commonly used for information regarding imminent threats to public safety at a regional level, such as severe weather.

A network of 77 "Primary Entry Point" stations, in co-ordination with FEMA, distribute emergency information before, during and after major incidents/disasters to other broadcasters.

These stations are fitted with additional backup communications equipment and power generators allowing them to continue broadcasting.

Once an Emergency Action Notification is received, a "daisy chain" is formed as stations send the message to others. Each participant is required to monitor at least two others.

This video shows how EAS codecs respond to an EAN command:

Don't just tease me, surprise me!

Matt Deegan’s blog this week has really got people talking. It’s titled: "Your radio station bores me" - so it’s not surprising.

Matt argues there’s very little on-air at the moment that makes him excited as a listener because very few stations take risks or do anything press-worthy.

There’s little or no stunting, no DJ’s said anything outrageous or even particularly moving.

One of my favourite quotes from the piece is:

I think sometimes there’s a view that the growth in digital media means its almost impossible to cut through and so just being consistent is the best option. I think that’s bollocks.

There’s clearly a place for the consistency and polish that makes pleasant background listening. It’s a popular choice, it’s profitable - it totally works. But when you genuinely don’t know what the presenter might say or do next, that’s exciting.

Speaking as a listener, I feel there’s a real lack of surprise.

These days, I mostly listen to Radio 2 in the car and usually only speech radio at home, but even phone-in radio is relatively predictable when it’s current affairs topics.

The likes of Tommy Boyd, Pete Price, Alan Robson and Iain Lee & Katherine Boyle are missed regularly on the airwaves.

I don’t blame the talent. There are some excellent content creators out there - and my heart sinks when I see they’re attracting big audiences on socials with their personality but they’re playing another five in-a-row on their radio show.

How can we be sure most listening isn’t just a habit?

Let’s give people more reasons to choose radio over other media in the future.

If it's relevant, it's newsworthy

An interesting view from Paul Chantler on Twitter this morning:

Can we please go back to having ‘sport’ at the end of news bulletins not at the start? Thank you.

Can we please go back to having “sport” at the end of news bulletins not at the start? Thank you.

— Paul Chantler (@PaulChantler) July 26, 2021

It’s created quite the discussion. Absolute Radio’s Paul Sylvester replied: "Sorry Paul - disagree with you. It's warm, it's positive, it's what our listeners will be talking about and on a day like today, it's the biggest story for the UK."

Senior BBC journalist Tom Hourigan asks:

Out of interest Paul, if England had won the Euros, would you have expected that to go at the end of a bulletin?

In my view, the most significant, relevant and interesting story in the moment should lead. That might be sport - or it might not be. Look at how England’s EURO 2020 journey captured the heart of the nation.

"News" is defined as "newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events."

To conclude: sport can definitely be news.

Depending on the story - and the demographic - its position in a bulletin varies.

But I know that every drop of positivity and hope is always welcome, especially after such a rotten year.

Allan Beswick vs the music policy

If you follow me on Twitter - or have spoken to me about the wireless in the last year - you’ll probably know my new favourite radio show is Allan Beswick’s Late Night Phone-In, every Saturday & Sunday night from 10-1 on BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Merseyside.

If you lived in the North East in the early 80s, you may remember him from a short-lived stint as the presenter of Night Owls following James Whale’s departure and preceding Tony Crosby (and, of course, the legendary Alan Robson).

But Beswick is best known in Lancashire - and neighbouring counties - for his shows on Red Rose Radio, most notably 'The Allan Beswick Late Night Show' following his Sony award-winning afternoon show on the station.

He’s been with the BBC for more than 30 years, having presented just about every shift on Radio Manchester.

He returned to late-night radio in the North West in 2015, simulcast on Manchester and Lancashire every Sunday-Thursday 10-1. Only in June did he move to weekends after 6 years.

I’d always known of Allan and his legendary status, but it was only last year that I discovered just how entertaining his programme is after Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle - another two of the greats - began playing clips on their Twitch show (now Patreon).

Callers, often real characters, can discuss anything they like. It couldn’t be more random. I guess it’s one of those things you just can’t really explain, but if you listen you’ll see what I mean!

Anyway... what happened here? Well, I’m not so sure. I suspected - and am reliably informed - no music is pre-scheduled in his hours.

There are a handful of tracks across the three hours so he gets a short break from talking (no news in his weekend show and, obviously, no ads), but they’re rarely more modern than 1970.

To my surprise, I heard him introduce Justin Timberlake’s 2002 hit (featuring Clipse) 'Like I Love You' - and it was played in full.

I’ll be honest, as a big JT fan, I’ve never warmed to this particular track. It seems Beswick, who was clearly hearing it for the first time, felt even more strongly about it:

Bloody hellfire... what in the name of God was that?! Justin Timberlake... his music should be just in the lake... dear God, that was an abomination. If you loved it, you need to do something about your musical taste - it was utter crap!

Allan Beswick vs the music policy… pic.twitter.com/WeoDzUyNo0

— Harrison RB (@HarrisonRBRadio) July 13, 2021

It was then that I spat my tea out with laughter! "But why?", you may ask. A presenter being negative about the product, not sharing a passion for the music - the mere thought should make any PD shiver, shouldn’t it?

Oh, it does. If I’m listening to a radio station because I like the targeted music policy and other content, I’d expect the presenter to be equally, if not even more, positive about their offering.

We’ve all had to play songs we don’t personally like (or keep playing songs even if we’re sick of hearing them) because we’re serving an audience, not ourselves.

For a music-led station/show positioning itself and trying to cut through in an increasingly competitive market, this has to be the case.

But nobody - absolutely nobody - listens to Allan Beswick’s show for music. It’s about him and his callers. Similarly, I wouldn’t listen to Liza Tarbuck’s eclectic playlist if it wasn’t for her personality.

Any songs played are purely to give Beswick a short break from talking (often a very short break as they’re usually 60s/70s tracks).

And given his character and the nature of the show, I’d almost expect this from Beswick.

He’s known for being straight-talking and opinionated (within BBC guidelines of course). As Will says on Twitter:

A large majority of Allan’s listeners would have laughed at that.

He also knows his audience skews older. You can tell from the callers.

Now I’m not suggesting you lose your taste in all new(er) music once you reach a certain age. You only have to look at the success of AC formats globally.

It can be refreshing to hear suitable new music alongside the classics you grew up with.

But anyone can understand the confusion in this case. JT & Clipse was jarring - and Allan acknowledged that disparity between the track and what his audience would expect.

Why was it chosen? The mystery remains unsolved, but I suspect Carlos is onto something here...

Begs the question - why was it played? Evidently someone 'producing' the show is trying to appeal to a younger audience than the presenter cares to attract. Why do I hear so many BBC local presenters sounding so dismissive of the music. I thought it was "all the music you love"?

No, this isn't the end of Radio 1

A Telegraph headline reads: "Nick Grimshaw’s exit means the end of the radio pop personality - and possibly Radio 1 itself" and asks "is anyone listening?"

Firstly, as my esteemed Shine Radio colleague writes, significantly more people hear Radio 1 in a week than buy The Telegraph in a month.

Is anyone listening? they ask.

Most recent Radio 1 reach = 8.9m (weekly)

Most recent Telegraph circulation 317,817 (monthly) https://t.co/vs29n7peI7

— Steve Martin (@smartin) July 2, 2021

Having recently signed up for a free trial, in order to read a single article that was behind a paywall, I took the trouble to read the piece.

• It states that radio’s overall 15-24 reach has "plunged" when it hasn’t fallen dramatically in the last decade (hours has taken a bigger hit).

• It suggests "kids don’t want personalities" - clearly not the case given the success of podcasts, reality TV, YouTube, TikTok etc. They need to be the right personalities and a multi-platform presence is crucial.

• It asks who the "big names" are - ignoring the fact one of Nick Grimshaw’s replacements was runner-up on last year’s most-watched TV show.

• It doesn’t mention any of Radio 1′s youth-oriented speech content.

In case you were thinking about doing so, I wouldn't bother subscribing!

The Great British Paper Review

Paper reviews - they’re mostly discussion about the news rather than the publications themselves, so why not just discuss the stories without routinely mentioning the press?

Crediting the source may be necessary for legal reasons or beneficial to enhance credibility, but rarely is it required.

If another media outlet is first with the news, you’re not obliged to credit them on that basis alone.

Similarly, radio presenters will take a topic that’s been written about and turn it into original content so as not to detract from their show being the place a listener heard it first.

There’s an argument for a broadcast feature comparing different newspaper agendas, but surely hosting a politically diverse panel discussion could achieve the same goal (probably better)?

I’m not suggesting broadcast should take its audience for fools by essentially pretending print media doesn’t exist.

If something’s relevant, refer to it, just as we do with TV - talk about the programmes on everyone’s lips, and create content around them, but don’t routinely read out the TV guide anymore.