I worked on the old GWR CMS and the concept of it was very much before its time, and was built as there was no comparable product at the time.

The challenge with a decent CMS is making it the right thing to serve the content you want to serve with as little as work as possible, but more importantly – a system your content editors will want to work with – which is a point often ignored.

Many smaller stations just don’t have the staff or time to commit to adopting a free system which requires their own technical know-how to setup and manage, and I think that’s where a system like ours has it’s place in the industry.

Again it is the inward looking UK radio, through lack of knowledge and experience who in the main seem to stick with poor systems, often simply because they are being used by other radio stations here.

As the radio industry shrinks further is this likely to change?

Or… it’s a problem that you’re more likley to be able to fix with a large community (rather than needing a large staff).

There seems to be a complete seperation from old media and new media, with many new players understanding technology quicker than others.

The sad thing is that those who dont really understand technology are mainly leading the industry.

Surely the best option is always to get the best of everything – go for free stuff where you can, making sure you can build a site to do exactly what you want – with bits of stuff bought if absolutely necessary.

If only I could afford RATE.