Bauer moves on new localness rules

The next phase of commercial radio deregulation is in full swing with the DCMS making commencement regulations for Part 5 of the Media Act 2024 just over a week ago, immediately removing requirements from analogue commercial licences relating to music formats and locally-made programming.

It means operators are now free to drastically change any commercial FM station's music policy without the need to seek permission from Ofcom, and these licences can network 24/7 if they so wish (assuming existing local news provision requirements are upheld).

Bauer was quick to announce it is axing regional afternoon programming across the Greatest Hits Radio network from early next month, as well as on Hits Radio Bristol and Hits Radio South Coast.

Contrary to popular belief, lobbying for deregulation was never driven by a blanket desire to do the bare minimum - it was about giving private operators the freedom to take a fully market-led approach with programming decisions and compete with lesser-regulated media.

Presenters, producers and other colleagues affected by changes across the country were given opportunities for a reason, and at least nothing can take away those transferrable skills.

Every job loss represents a human being and I send my best wishes to them all.

As with previous phases of deregulation, groups will be weighing up the return on investment in local / regional programming with the ability to make savings, streamline their businesses and invest in bigger talent. These will be considered decisions.

You wouldn't go for the bare minimum if the risk of losing audience and advertisers outweighs the benefits.

Part 5 also includes a consultation on new local news and information requirements for analogue licences (while retaining current requirements in the meantime) and ending the need for DAB mux operators to seek Ofcom's permission before adding or removing services.

Of all the topics I have written about over the years, commercial radio deregulation has warranted the most articles - so I have put them all in a specific category here!

Tales from the London radio tour

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!

Not-so-easy listening

On 9 July 1990, Melody FM, a new sound for London's "over 50s" population landed on 104.9 FM.

Initially close to what exists today in the form of Boom Light, Angel Radio or Serenade Radio, I'm not sure a 50 year-old even then would have been overly pleased about being considered within the target audience for a station like that! But tightening demographics is a whole other article entirely.

Shortly after Melody's move to a new frequency, 105.4, it would flip to a more contemporary and economically viable Soft AC format just before joining the Magic network under new owner Emap in 1998.

Over at GMG, Smooth would replace Jazz FM in Manchester and subsequently London in the early-mid 2000s which eventually morphed into an easy listening format that has become synonymous with the Smooth brand.

Except, the Smooth and Magic brands today - as built up by Global and Bauer respectively - stand for something a little different.

Magic

It became noticeable just ahead of going national on D1 that Magic was becoming a little more upbeat. This came towards the end of its days on AM in northern England in favour of a regionally-delivered classic hits format (Metro 2, Hallam 2, Radio City 2, etc) so thinking at the time was that this could be a subtle transition period for the MW network together with a general test of the water.

Just over a year later came the launch of Mellow Magic and Magic Chilled (now Hits Radio Chilled), the former adopting Magic's heritage position and the latter comprising a mix of contemporary chilled pop with 90s & 00s R&B.

This cemented Magic's current position as a more rhythmic pop-based national AC brand, focusing primarily on new wave, power ballads and softer current music. It is described as "the UK's favourite upbeat-optimistic station" - confirmation of realignment if ever it was needed!

I would add, full of warmth and personality to back up that statement. I'm a fan.

In my view, the loveliest way anyone can describe a radio station is “homely” - and it perfectly sums up the feel of @magicfm.

— Harrison RB (@HarrisonRBRadio) December 2, 2021

Oh, and who could forget becoming the first UK national radio station to flip to an all-Christmas format throughout December which has proved popular every year since. The only time of year they’ll play anything by Nat King Cole these days.

Smooth

Of the two, Smooth is the closest to what it once was - a "you're never far away from a power ballad" Soft AC mix - although you're also never far away from an 80s synth or a disco ball.

Once "Your Relaxing Music Mix" - a slogan now carried by its ten-month-old digital sister station, Smooth Relax - the main station has been positioning as "Always The Best Music" for the last two years.

Its latest marketing is skewed towards music icons with George Michael, Bee Gees, ABBA and Whitney Houston taking centre stage in the station’s meta description and stirring memories of Capital Gold’s “Where Legends Live” strapline (now being used by Greatest Hits Radio - with the addition of “On” - and iterations heard on Virgin Radio Anthems).

In conclusion...

The repositioning of heritage Soft AC brands and new station launches just demonstrates how the "older" audiences of today are different and how radio listening is primarily mood-driven - in other words, while it has its place, does research suggest most wouldn't want to listen to something laidback 90% of the time?

It also makes sense, if you're looking for a presenter to put a smile on your face, you're probably also looking for a music mix that does the same job.

I've run the RAJAR Q2 2024 numbers for a few of the main national "chilled" music stations:

• Capital Chill (chilled house and ambient dance): 241k
• Hits Radio Chilled formerly Magic Chilled (R&B and stripped back pop): 462k
• Mellow Magic (traditional Soft AC / easy listening): 443k
• Smooth Chill formerly Chill (ambient / trip-hop): 531k
• Smooth Relax (traditional Soft AC / easy listening): 494k
• Virgin Radio Chilled: (acoustic singer-songwriters): 249k

Together, listening to these stations makes up 4.8% of all radio.

While there is little point in comparing with the mothership Magic and Smooth audiences, given they do not have as much if any heritage to lean on and not as much marketing behind them, it does at least suggest that easy listening is perhaps more niche than it once was.

Has the return of pop saved CHR from an identity crisis?

"Woke up this morning, thought I'd write a pop hit" - the words of Sabrina Carpenter, in 2022, who would go on to have three pop hits at numbers one, two and three consecutively in the UK singles chart for several weeks two years later.

It has been declared many times by many people over many years that pop music is "dead" - whenever new styles appear, or existing genres face a resurgence, within the hip-hop, dance, rock or country scenes - but pop music has never truly died; much like most entities, it has always changed and evolved.

That said, it is true to say mainstream / commercial radio-friendly pop has not always been the thing of the moment - like in the 90s with britpop here in the UK plus the rise of grunge and hip-hop around the world that left CHR / Top 40 radio in limbo, including New York's Z100 which famously flipped format with a mishmash of alt-rock and pop that decimated its audience.

Similarly, the DnB / trance / drill boom of recent years resulted in a noticeable increase in recurrents and even some 15-20 year-old pop hits on certain CHR networks. It's worth noting this repositioning is also a result of the downward trend in hours / TSL (time spent listening) among TikTok-obsessed teens.

Pop is back

When we look at 2024 musically, it's safe to say this has been one of the best years for CHR and Hot AC in a little while - and that's even with the power of TikTok to influence tastes, which will always have the potential to cause problems.

To make matters more exciting, this isn't primarily owing to the likes of Dua Lipa and billionaire Taylor Swift who have still been on-hand to help out. There are new kids on the block (no, not them).

Take a look at the four best-selling songs in the first half of the year, according to Official Charts:

1. Noah Kahan - Stick Season
2. Teddy Swims - Lose Control
3. Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
4. Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso

While you may had heard a couple of those names before this year, through more niche channels or previous fame, not one has enjoyed this level of worldwide chart success until now. Four new pop artists releasing huge pop songs which slip into the aforementioned formats like a hand into a glove.

Why does this matter?

As highlighted by the Z100 story, a radio station needs a focus - and the focus of most radio stations is varied energy / genres (some more than others) under the umbrella of mainstream rhythmic pop.

The current charts are still an important resource to understand what's hot - because you're not testing brand new songs every week - but no music programming decision should be based entirely on data or an algorithm. Sound is king.

If you have access to music research, you'll look at how recurrents / the back catalogue scored and go with your gut (or use your talents - that sounds better doesn't it) as a programmer to establish whether or not a new track complements your most popular songs.

It's when the charts suddenly become an eclectic mishmash (word of the day clearly) of, say, urban, trance and extremely slow or spacey ballads that any "pop" radio station with a new music playlist, in particular those that are known for playing the current hits, are faced with a dilemma over which music policy shift to implement (do you increase recurrents, do you dig deeper and take risks on new pop, do you refocus entirely, etc).

AC is in a stronger position to withstand the change because your core is older songs and your current music playlist is less familiar to the audience and less tied to what the kids are listening to, so you can either play more classics or add suitable new pop non-hits (like Radio 2 and others) and ensure presenters sell them.

Is pop here to stay?

There will always be pop, just as there will always be classical. The question is will it continue to dominate the charts. And nobody has an answer to that because music goes through phases which, thanks to TikTok, are coming and going faster than ever before.

It is certainly promising that 2024 has arguably raised more new distinctive pop stars than any other year in recent times, but whether or not they are the future is yet to be seen.

While this is a good time for any CHR Head of Music, the overriding challenge radio faces is catering for younger audiences who have much shorter attention spans.

Stations all around the world are thriving on TikTok, with reach and engagement through digital platforms now an equally important part of the brand strategy, but how do we ensure we don’t become a victim of our own success?

A new experience - the general excitement of election night coverage

I've shown an interest in politics for almost as long as I've shown an interest in radio - and, just as I am keen for others to also show an interest in radio to ensure its relevance is maintained, I am keen for more people to engage with politics and influence decision-making by excersising their democratic right.

Until recently, other work commitments had made it difficult for me to stay up all night and cover the live developing story of general elections. It's always something I had wanted to do.

A brief history of the recent twists and turns in our political landscape

I participated in live election night coverage for the first time in 2019 as a reporter for Winchester Radio from the local count at what is a now derelict leisure centre in a key marginal seat (closely fought between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats). 

It was a relatively straightforward affair as we simply recorded regular updates and dropped into Myriad via FTP, plus social media coverage.

After a full recount, the result was declared shortly before 6am. Steve Brine retained the seat for the Conservatives with a reduced majority. It's hardly surprising given this was "the Brexit election" - when Johnson went to the country seeking a powerful mandate to leave on his terms - and Winchester was a remain constituency.

Fast-forward two years to the tail end of 2021, when there's a new COVID variant spreading rapidly after almost two years of a pandemic, and we are beginning to learn about how Downing Street staff as well as senior politicians partied at a time when restrictions prevented the British people from visiting dying relatives in hospital.

I presented all-speech radio shows throughout lockdown, in which we heard so many moving stories of sacrifice and support, so to discover rule-breaking by the very people who inflicted this upon us was particularly infuriating.

Unsurprisingly, the Conservatives began to slip in the polls, Johnson's approval ratings collapsed and he faced a rebellion which forced him out of office in June 2022.

His successor, Liz Truss (yes that was it), lasted just 45 days in the job after her mini-budget of unfunded tax cuts and borrowing spooked the markets, tanked the pound and knocked billions off pension funds.

Following her resignation, Rishi Sunak (the runner-up to Truss in the contest to replace Johnson) was effectively installed by the party and tasked with the virtually impossible challenge of rebuilding after endless sleaze, scandals and economic turmoil.

While the extent of Labour's lead fluctuated over time, it was consistently ahead in the polls since partygate first erupted. Keir Starmer's party was 17 points clear in the first major survey conducted after the 2024 election was called.

I couldn't have picked a better election night to make my presenting debut

When starting my job at Express FM last summer, I knew this was the year to finally make the dream a reality. We were planning for the autumn at first, then there were reports which made May more of a possibility (to coincide with the council elections) and at the end of May the then PM took us all by surprise announcing 4 July despite his party's dismal performance in the polls.

It’s not entirely clear why Sunak called the election when he did, but it's not unreasonable to suggest the lame duck Rwanda policy, inflation figures looking more positive and the expectation that the economy wouldn't improve much before the autumn were all key factors.

The first thing I did was contact Portsmouth High School and suggest teaming up which ultimately led to Express FM broadcasting two hustings featuring all the candidates for Portsmouth North and Portsmouth South respectively. These were conducted in-line with Ofcom pre-election period rules but recorded in advance to be on the safe side.

In the background, meanwhile, my esteemed colleague, and fellow radio and political anorak, Dan Lodge and I were making plans for a marathon 10pm-6:30am live results show on election night.

Of course, this had long been a personal ambition of mine. But, as with any decision you make in radio, this had to be an audience-driven project.

National election coverage is an almost overcrowded market and the few who can be arsed to stay up all night couldn’t be more spoiled for choice across TV, radio and other digital streams / blogs - most of which is naturally far better resourced than a community radio station (even one supported by the local newspaper).

To make this worth a listen, a clear point of difference had to be king. And that wouldn’t be hard to establish - after all, the whole station’s USP is always putting Portsmouth, as well as the smaller local communities which look to it, first above anywhere or anything else.

In addition to the essential legal and compliance matters surrounding due impartiality and right of reply - which would allow us to be opinionated within an overall balanced programme / station - we wanted Pompey At The Polls to be accessible for those who show an interest but may not have extensive political knowledge and / or aren't across every detail.

You could say "locals in the pub but with slightly more geekery, fast facts and informed commentary" was the style I was aiming for as lead presenter to make our offering stand out.

Prep and the exit poll

Nine oh one peee-emmm (in my best Marcus Bentley voice): preparations for our marathon live show are in full swing. Dan is gathering audio with help from our supporters at the University of Portsmouth and our colleagues at Sky (via IRN). Broadcasters are strictly prohibited from discussing politics or any issue with the potential to influence the outcome of a UK election or referendum for 22 hours (when polls close) starting at midnight on polling day.

We would begin at 9:59pm with a back-timed intro explaining the exit poll fieldwork process. Then, our first guest, the University's Vice-Chancellor would offer his perspective on the broadcaster's exit poll following its revelation the minute that voting closes.

IRN (Independent Radio News) clients do not receive this data in advance for obvious reasons meaning we'd first hear the numbers, together with our listeners, in the network bulletin at 10pm - during which we would frantically attempt to find projections for our local constituencies.

In the first 15-20 minutes, we would digest / analyse the data and see how it compares with that of opinion polling during the campaign.

We expected a Labour landslide, with the Conservatives destined for a dreadful night, but whether the Tories were facing electoral oblivion by dropping to fewer than a hundred MPs, Starmer would achieve a bigger parliamentary majority than Blair in 1997 and Reform would come 2nd in the popular vote / end up with any MPs were all key questions, and we now had our first indication of the answers.

I also threw in a few songs, which definitely provided a break in the political theme of the night, opening with Meghan Trainor's Whoops followed by The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony, Kirsty MacColl's A New England and Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble.

How the night unfolded

In the first hour, the iconic North East race between Sunderland and Newcastle to delcare first was in full swing as ballot boxes were rushed across both cities. In the end, the result from Sunderland South came in before any other with the now Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, holding it for Labour.

We noted that Reform UK had come second here, pushing the Tories into third - an interesting scenario that would be repeated in other seats across the country, especially those in the so-called red wall.

The first southern result came from Swindon South where former cabinet minister Robert Buckland lost to the Labour candidate - another sign of things to come over the course of the night.

As we waited on more results, we discussed (as outlined above) political events in recent years which had significantly influenced public opinion.

I continued to play the odd song here and there:

Dedicated to one of the four biggest party leaders (based on the exit poll figures)

• The Sun Always Shines On TV by a-ha - Rishi Sunak said he had to go without Sky TV as a child
• Can We Fix It? by Bob The Builder - Keir Starmer liked to remind us his dad was a toolmaker
• Jump by Van Halen - Ed Davey did a bungee jump during the campaign (and many other stunts)
• Houdini by Eminem - Nigel Farage used the line "guess who's back" after he returned as leader

Number one single on an election day

• Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter - 2024
• I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston - 1987
• In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry - 1970
• Every Breath You Take by The Police - 1983
• Dance Monkey by Tones and I - 2019
• (Is This The Way To) Amarillo by Tony Christie & Peter Kay - 2005
• Stay by Shakespeare's Sister - 1992

Others 

• The Winner Takes It All by ABBA - speaks for itself
• Pour Me A Drink by Post Malone & Blake Shelton - we all could've done with one
• All Night Long by Lionel Richie - the duration of our radio show
• Easy Lover by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - just a great five-minute tune for our toilet break

We were expecting things to get interesting between 2am and 5am as results would start coming in thick and fast, including in key seats (marginals or held / being contested by senior politicians).

I won't list every single major political event that occured, as that would take you the eight and a half hours we broadcast for to read and half of that would just be the names of outgoing cabinet ministers who lost, but "the Mordaunt moment" was significant to us for obvious reasons.

Our colleagues at The News were across the latest developments over at the Guildhall as counting in both city constituencies took place. There was also a very large national media presence.

The exit poll had Penny Mordaunt's Portsmouth North seat down as "too close to call" but with a 25% chance of her holding on and a 70% chance it would go Labour.

Mordaunt was Leader of the House of Commons in Sunak's cabinet until the dissolution of Parliament back in May. She ran for the Conservative Party leadership following Boris Johnson's resignation in the summer of 2022 and had been widely tipped as a future leader / potential PM ever since. She even took Sunak's place on prime-time BBC and ITV debates during the campaign.

Throughout the night, we had endless reports including one that Labour's Amanda Martin had taken it by roughly a thousand votes. There was no recount, much to our surprise, and the result was declared just after 4am. Mordaunt had been defeated by 780 votes.

The challenge is, while being so immersed in the national picture, for the local angle not to be an afterthought. Portsmouth was our show's key point of difference and we were speaking directly to people in the city, so this result had a far deeper meaning than it did to the likes of Sky, ITN, LBC and even regional BBC.

Presenting my own show meant the political and media geek in me missed out on the traditional election night channel-hopping, but I can at least pay homage to Sky News whose resources - including quality TV coverage we were opting into for live declarations - were on point.

There are personal memories I will not forget - notably using the duration of a song to direct our pizza delivery driver to the building (something that would never happen in well-resourced BBC or national commercial radio) and my colleague setting the alarms off as he innocently left the building to get something from his car.

We came off-air after eight and a half hours at 6:30am, wrapping up with a comprehensive summary for the early risers and handing over to Breakfast. I had intended on getting home, grabbing a quick snack and falling asleep straight away - but the thought of missing the morning’s subsequent historical events (the changeover and Starmer’s first speech) was unbearable.

I eventually clocked off at 1pm. And that was that.

Being local with the world watching

It's been quite the week in Portsmouth, as the city once again became the focus of national D-Day commemorations - this time, for the 80th anniversary - and Express FM was proud to be play its part by flying the flag for where we live.

Our week of coverage began at the D-Day Story museum in Southsea where veterans gathered to meet schoolchildren and their families. We were honoured to be able to share moving first-hand accounts of the Normandy landings with our listeners.

Express FM broadcast live from a local pier to wave off around 40 veterans as their ferry left for Normandy, saluted by vintage aircraft and an ensemble of ships in the harbour. Our video capturing the historic moment received more than 8,000 reactions and was shared 889 times.

As the main UK ceremonies took place on Southsea Common, with world leaders and other dignitaries, Express FM took a respectful and proud tone.

🫡 The world watches Portsmouth do what Portsmouth does best.

📺 Following this morning’s national commemorative event to honour D-Day veterans, a rememberance event will take place tonight. It will be shown live on BBC One from 8:30pm.

📸 Caroline Brennan pic.twitter.com/xqHn1ltV3u

— Portsmouth’s Express FM (@ExpressFM) June 5, 2024

🫡 D-Day, 6 June 1944.

🙏 We Will Remember Them.

📸 Alice Wilford pic.twitter.com/3pR173ijJ3

— Portsmouth’s Express FM (@ExpressFM) June 6, 2024

On Thursday 6 June, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, we presented coverage of a special memorial service and military parade in Southsea. This was followed by live broadcasting from Armed Forces Day on Saturday 8th and we finished the week in style having fun at the iconic Southwick Revival (which aimed to recreate life in the 1940s).

Through teaming up with Pompey Poetry Party, local poets - including schoolchildren - shared their own works, as well as other moving literature and first-hand diary accounts from those who fought in D-Day, on Express FM over the last week.

Read all about our action-packed week here, and catch up on some of the highlights here.

The media, the “spotlight” and mental health

Little me dreamed of being a radio presenter all those years ago. 

I always had, and still have, a strong desire to entertain and make people smile - something the best, like my heroes including the late Steve Wright and the uniquely talented Iain Lee, do so in a way that sounds effortless.

In more recent years, I have been more interested in helping others achieve their own radio dreams - for three reasons:

1. I actually get to talk about and focus on radio (unlike when I’m actually broadcasting on it myself)

2. Seeing other people happy, who deserve to be happy, makes me happy

3. I have had so many ups and downs, owing to mental health struggles over the years, and there are only so many times you can either open up to your listener or put on a fake smile (when I would want to make people smile and be authentic)

I had told a few people that I would be making a rare(ish) appearance covering a couple of radio shows later this week. Because I still relish the opportunity to be the listener’s helpful companion. But I am not prepared to put on a fake smile, and this is not the right time for me to do that. 

Why am I sharing this? I am fortunate that any on-air role I might have currently is voluntary so I can make this decision without having to worry about not being able to put food on the table.

But my heart goes out to the many presenters, journalists, content creators, influencers, and others, broadcasting and publishing to people who have absolutely no idea what they are going through because of the convincing brave face they put on.

You might say it’s a privileged lifestyle, but we should never invalidate anyone’s experiences by comparing circumstances. Mental health is real for all of us, and being in the spotlight can be really hard. Let’s spare a thought for those who have found out just how true this is.

There is an alternative perspective though. I don’t mention this often, but throughout 2015/16, I chose to become an online mental health support volunteer working with people at their lowest.

I also chaired live broadcasts on the platform, including advisory Q&A sessions with a qualified psychologist for people seeking help.

The fact people are opening up and talking more than ever, which we owe this to all forms of media, is something to be celebrated and we musn’t go back on this progress now.

People are led by voices they know and trust. I think a healthy balance of both positivity and raw honesty in our influential media is very important.

I wanted to make this point clear after my previous one. However, personally, I am not in a position to make a sudden on-air return when I’m at my lowest. I don’t think that is in anyone’s best interests.

Thank you for your support and understanding.