Wave 105 at 25

Wave 105 marks its 25th birthday today - and despite competing throughout my entire radio life, it has always been a radio station I've held in high esteem.

Founded by The Radio Partnership in 1998, its early years would see Wave 105 part of The Wireless Group which sold it to Scottish Radio Holdings in 2001 for £18m which Kelvin MacKenzie's company used to clear its debts. EMAP Radio (now Bauer Media) acquired SRH in 2005.

Wave 105 always had character, embraced personality and surprise and never allowed these qualities to dissipate as it reinvented itself to become a masterclass in “tight & bright” modern commercial radio. It gave, and still gives, all its South Coast rivals a run for their money.

It's hard for a regional station with such a wide TSA - from Winchester across to Chichester and, until last autumn, as far south as Wareham - to deliver local content that's relevant to every listener.

It's one of a number of reasons the BBC is facing fierce opposition to its ongoing process of further regionalising its local radio network, many of which already cover huge patches. If you're nowhere near your listeners, and therefore unable to keep up with life in their community, you might as well be national.

It always comes down to execution.

Despite being regional, serving multiple counties, cities and towns that wouldn't ordinarily look to each other, I've always found Wave 105 gives a strong sense of place because the radio station itself creates a shared experience/community and manages to make a big area feel like home.

This is a rare quality that isn't easily achievable.

It never seems to alienate large swathes of its audience through the presentation technique - there's always something interesting to say, wherever it's happening and wherever you're listening.

If that doesn't demonstrate the excellence of Wave 105 - and what has made Bauer tread very carefully around it so far, despite the group's national (and international) focus - then I don't know what will!

P.S. I wish the station would sponsor the Bournemouth Balloon again - although, with the 105.8 East Dorset relay now carrying Greatest Hits Radio, I really can't see it happening!

"Radio 2 Extra" and the goings on at BBC Local

Why has it taken me until June to write about the BBC's death-wish strategy for its Local Radio network that has been ruffling feathers and leaving staff in distress for months now?

In November, shortly after plans for further regionalisation were announced, I outlined my frustrations that it is always programming that bears the brunt of changes as opposed to other inefficiencies such as multiple layers of handsomely paid managers.

Since then, David Lloyd, Liam McCarthy and Nicky Horne have been covering the painful process which has included veteran presenters reportedly being given "sixty seconds to save (their) job" among other questionable practices.

I've been closely following their informed commentary and I recommend reading the many David Lloyd blogposts on this subject - a man who gets truly radio like few others and knows exactly what BBC Local should be doing to serve its loyal older audience.

Let's cut to the chase: if the BBC cannot sustain its full Local Radio service with a guaranteed £117m content budget, it should redistribute these public finances to another operator who can.

If a local commercial station - or any business looking to grow - had access to £3m, the current average cost of delivering a single BBC LR service, think of the consumer benefit.

Mismanagement and inefficiency isn't exclusive to the broadcaster - while I deplore government cuts and the chronic underfunding of healthcare, as with the BBC, what investment there is in the NHS can land in the wrong areas through a bureaucracy. You have managers on big salaries while patients are being let down and the average public sector worker is not getting the sufficient pay rise they deserve.

Under the plans being implemented, it will cost £2.7m per annum to provide local news & sport and 20 hours of local programming per week yet a saving of just £300k loses 55 hours of local programming - which doesn't stack up at all.

Another factor in all of this is the BBC's internal marketplace, similar to what goes on with NHS trusts, which is not fit for purpose. "You work in radio and I work in digital" is backward and inefficient. One major staff complaint is the ineffectiveness of Local Radio online.

It all needs to be joined up and integrating these divisions would be a gamechanger, resulting in a strong multi-platform operation - fit for the digital age - with authentic, warm and friendly local radio stations targeted at older audiences as part of that overall package.

There is an argument to say "the licence fee is for broadcasting" but if the BBC - or any broadcaster - is to remain relevant long-term it must be able to embrace digital. That said, it shouldn't be an either/or.

Radio is valued for being the voice of a helpful friend and a comfort blanket - more so than it is as a news source. It's in good health, continuing to reach 88% of the 15+ population and more than 90% of over 50s.

Any decent programmer is constantly looking to grow audience and takes responsibility for any declines, but the mindset of BBC Local management seems to be "we're losing listeners and there's no way back" - inspiring stuff.

"Radio 2 Extra"

BBC Local Radio presenter Mark Punter reportedly met with Radio 2’s Head of Music, Jeff Smith, to pitch his vision for a brand extension targeted at disenfranchised older listeners.

However, especially a time where the corporation is having to make savings, it's not clear where the money would come from - and it would not be a good look for the BBC to launch a new service that A) the commercial sector is providing and B) targets a demographic that an existing one, BBC Local Radio, should already be serving.

Frankly, with what the BBC is sadly whittling the local network down to, it would make more sense than the current strategy for a national service of this ilk to get the investment and occupy the spectrum instead.

Is it possible, as has been suggested, that the BBC is deliberately decimating Local Radio to the point where audiences are so low they can justify axing it altogether?

It's devastating and annoying when I can think of countless professionals, many within the BBC, who understand local radio and the qualities aside from news - connection, friendship, entertainment and reassurance - which are the main reasons for tuning in.

I have a new job!

I’m super excited to be joining the team at Portsmouth's Express FM as Content Manager from July!

I can’t wait to help continue and develop the great work of such an esteemed local station that has been ingrained in the culture of a thriving city for 17 years.

I can’t put into words how much I am going to miss working with my beloved Petersfield's Shine Radio colleagues every day after three and a half incredible years beyond my wildest dreams upon joining in 2019. From a daily lockdown podcast, to launching a multi-award-winning full-service station.

I’m a sucker for innovation and the on-demand first hyperlocal model in Petersfield established in 2018 by Steve Martin, Dave Bowers and Richard Gaisford was too intriguing. I can’t thank them enough for the trust they put in me to help Shine Radio grow into what it is today.

While BASINGSTOKE NOW was not able to reach its full potential in the short period of time before new opportunities arose, I am proud to have co-developed a new local radio format and am delighted our station’s legacy lives on in the form of a partnership with Newsquest and the Basingstoke Gazette.

Thanks also to my predecessor, the hugely talented Mason Jordan, for his support and for the work he has done during his eight years with Express FM. Global is lucky to have him.

Flying the flag for hyperlocal at radio's Oscar's

I've just about recovered from an unforgettable night in the West End - and no, not because I've finally succumbed to watch a theatre production.

At the end of March, we at Petersfield's Shine Radio were honoured to be one of six nominees for Community Station of the Year at the ARIAS (Audio & Radio Industry Awards - formerly the Sony's). It was a new category for 2023 to recognise the great work within what I believe is now a more important sector than ever before.

Having already won Gold for Digital Station of the Year at last year's Community Radio Awards, for a station that isn't even three years old serving a market town just shy of 15,000 people, we were blown away to see our name among the greats and the giants of our industry.

The day began with a First Class train journey on the 14:42 service from Petersfield to Waterloo with some wonderful friends and colleagues.

On arrival, I would bunk off from the pre-drinks in Aldwych to pay a special visit to Leicester Square and immerse myself in the goings on at the mothership of Britain's leading commercial radio operator.

Sadly, Global isn't a member of The Radio Academy having withdrawn its patronage in 2016 and has chosen not to enter the awards ever since, but it's ever the fascinating experience to see first-hand how much broadcast tech is progressing. Special shoutout to Jake who was a community radio presenter when we first crossed paths four years ago and is now doing bits as a talented Capital network producer.

Just after 17:30, after a speedy walk to Drury Lane via Covent Garden, I was reunited with the Shine Radio team on the steps of the Theatre Royal ahead of an exciting evening celebrating the best of UK radio.

As an autistic person, being among a crowd so big you're physically unable to move sounds like hell - and it would be if A) I wasn't with others I know and who share my passion and B) I didn't have something more significant playing on my mind.

Steve Martin, co-founder of the Petersfield project, and I were seated in the stalls opposite the stage with our fellow nominees from across the industry.

The ceremony was brilliantly presented by Rylan and Fleur East with a running joke about keeping acceptance speeches brief so Rylan could catch his train back to Liverpool afterwards to continue with his Eurovision work - to which the great Jon Holmes quipped:

"I don't give a shit about your train."

Other memorable highlights included Greg James, the current Radio 1 breakfast presenter, paying tribute to the legendary Tony Blackburn, the first ever Radio 1 breakfast presenter, the recipient of the Pioneer Award.

An interesting mini-doc about Tony's incredible journey was shown followed by a collection of appreciative messages from heavy hitters in radio and music. Unfortunately, due to recovering from illness, Tony was unable to attend but had recorded an acceptance speech while holding the trophy.

During the brilliantly-produced montage of Radio Times Moment of the Year nominees, there was a notable impromptu round of applause for Local BBC Radio as the infamous Liz Truss interviews of last autumn were mentioned. The industry stands with you in condemnation of grave mismanagement. Jon Holmes also highlighted the ongoing situation later to which more cheers ensued.

Rylan also delivered a touching tribute to the late Paul O'Grady, and in accepting Absolute Radio's deserved win for its Mental Health Awareness Week coverage, the station's Content Director Paul Sylvester discussed the importance of checking in with each other and how the fast-paced radio environment can affect its people.

Technologically, the sound and visuals were spot on throughout. Huge props to The Radio Academy and TBI for putting on a solid show, and to the Theatre Royal for their hospitality - even though one glass of champagne came to £16, it was worth paying a premium for!

It was lovely to speak to a wide range of industry folk at the afterparty - in particular, to catch up with the man of the moment, Ken Bruce, who was fresh from presenting the prestigious John Myers Station of the Year award to Clyde 1.

The last time Ken and I met was when filming Inside Our Autistic Minds last summer. Since then, he’s relaunched his iconic mid-morning show on Greatest Hits Radio and is sounding very much at home.

For our team, it was a late-night trek over Waterloo Bridge to catch the last train of the day back to Petersfield.

It sounds cliché, but to us this really wasn’t ever about winning.

Petersfield's Shine Radio is barely three years old, and for us to be named among the top six community radio stations in the country - and the only nominee that doesn’t yet occupy any FM or DAB spectrum - is utterly incredible.

Global bucks the trend in Scotland

Four years after rolling out UK-wide breakfast shows on Capital and Heart, Global has announced the two brands will not only reintroduce their own breakfast shows in Scotland but get a fresh daytime lineup broadcasting live from the company's state-of-the-art Glasgow broadcast centre.

It means Heart and Capital listeners will hear Scottish presenters seven days a week - on Heart weekdays 6:30am-7pm and weekends 12pm-4pm and on Capital weekdays 6am-7pm and weekends 9am-12pm.

Lobbying for deregulation was never about a blanket desire to do the bare minimum which, actually, groups have always exceeded.

For example, regional FM licences don't have to provide any programming from within the approved areas if the brand they carry is also available on national DAB - yet Global's regionals still do, despite not being bound by the same requirements as local licences.

Furthermore, Capital Cymru has some Welsh language requirements but is pretty much a standalone station with mostly local programming, despite only needing a three-hour weekday show of its own.

Deregulation was about the market being free to decide - and it has.

At a time when competitors have, or are at least thinking about, reducing the amount of programming from Scotland - and political tensions over the border increase somewhat - embracing this USP seems a good move for Global.

Musk vs the BBC and “government-funded media”

Twitter has slapped a "government-funded media" label on the @BBC account prompting the corporation to contact the platform asking for the issue to be resolved as soon as possible.

In response, Elon Musk explained:

We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense. I do think media organizations should be self-aware and not falsely claim the complete absence of bias.

All organisations have bias, some obviously much more than others. I should note that I follow BBC News on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased.

Firstly, let's establish the facts:

• While the level of the licence fee is set by the government, the BBC receives no money from the treasury - except for the more than £90m per annum purely to support the World Service (predominantly serving non-UK audiences).

• Capita TV Licencing is contracted to administer the licence fee and passes all money to the government before the BBC receives it as a grant.

• The licence fee makes up around 70% of the BBC's total income with the remainder being from other sources including its commercial subsidiaries (BBC Studios, BBC Global News and BBC Studioworks), grants, royalties and rental income.

• The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport may retain a proportion of the licence fee revenue for other purposes as referred to in the BBC Charter and Agreement.

• While the BBC Chair is a political appointment (which, in my view, should not be the case), they do not exercise editorial control and its journalism is completely independent from government - including that of the World Service.

So is the BBC "government-funded media"? As stated above, the World Service is to an extent (yet the @BBCWorldService account doesn’t have this label) but what about the rest of it?

Licence fee money isn't collected by HMRC but does get passed to the government before landing in the BBC’s bank account.

Ultimately, all government money is that of the British people and British organisations but decisions about where investment goes lie with ministers. However, the licence fee is in a league of its own as it can only benefit the BBC so the government can't just choose to redistribute that revenue. If it doesn't go into the central government fund with general taxation, how is it government funding?

Anyway, that isn’t even the issue here! Musk doesn't care. He knows exactly what he's doing.

We’re discussing a three-word tag on a Twitter account which has literally been put there to be taken out of context. @NPR, the primary Twitter account of the US public radio syndicator, was initially labelled “state-affiliated media” - wrongly implying the government exercises editorial control - before this changed to the same tag @BBC now has following a huge backlash.

Musk talks about “maximum transparency and accuracy” and he is only transparent in so far as everyone can see right through him.

This is purely someone furthering an agenda and seeking to discredit objective media that reports facts they don’t like. It’s not uncommon in today’s world, of course, but a platform with the scale and influence of Twitter (at least currently) trying to cause trouble - much like many of its users have been doing for years - would be detrimental in the fight against misinformation.

Gary Lineker suspended by the BBC over political tweet

How can anyone argue, with a straight face, that a sports presenter's views on current affairs has affected the journalistic integrity of the BBC in any way? Disappointing that it has caved into pressure from the likes of GB News.

Gary Lineker, a freelancer, is paid as an expert in his (or should I say on the...) field typically presenting one night per week. He is not paid to be political - which is the exact point his critics make, and you could say their logic is an own goal.

Nobody working outside the world of politics is actively paid to be political and nobody working for the BBC in any department other than news is paid to be impartial on social media.

If Gary Lineker had a clause in his contract, where would the BBC draw the line?

Think of all the talented actors and comedians that appear on the BBC - and are a huge part of what makes it such a treasured institution - whose politics are transparent, whether that’s from appearing on a satirical panel show or something they said on Twitter at midnight. Should they all go?

We all fund the BBC and expect its news operation to provide facts and analysis without spin or bias. Does it get that right every time? Of course not - no organisation would - but 99.9% of the time it does. When it comes to impartiality, not knowing the politics of its journalists and the broadcaster not taking sides is all that matters.

Let’s not forget the BBC’s own chairman, Richard Sharp (*a political appointment - and that ought to change), was a Conservative Party donor who failed to disclose facilitating an £800k loan to Boris Johnson just weeks before being recommended for his current role by the then-prime minister.

Long may the BBC continue to inform, educate and entertain - and long may non-news personalities be free to express their personal views off-air without causing a storm in a teacup.

*many BBC journalists are among the world’s best and most trustworthy, and the chairman has no influence on their reporting. With thousands of employees, if there was even the slightest bit of interference from the top, we would know about it. However, it’s really not a good look and most BBC people I know would agree.