BBC Sounds gets launched, longer ads apparently preferred, and Bobby Bones
Worldwide
Smart Speakers are having their 2004 iPod moment – there are some interesting ideas here for content strategy (scroll down to ‘Conclusions’ for those). They’re just as valid for radio broadcasters.
Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus now have support for FM radio (in some countries as I understand it, the wireless chip is apparently different in some territories)
A set of podcasts about the future of radio, by Martin Heer (as part of a university project). Worth a listen!
Popular podcast app Castbox altered RSS feeds and is still removing links - the wild west of podcasting’s distributed nature, once more
How much is a broadcasting licence worth? Canada’s Corus reckons… $1bn less
United States
When talk radio was a kinder, gentler world - a nice look back. I wonder why ’nice’ radio isn’t around as much as it was?
- In the beginning of a trend, the above link is blocked for people accessing this from an EU IP address. I’m an EU citizen, yet I can see it. Should I alert the authorities?
Denton TX - a 67W FM community radio station. As the article says, lightbulbs often use more power.
Spurious study showing that apparently people prefer longer ads. This research will probably be used by dumb people, and that’s a worry. Trust me on this: they prefer GOOD and ENTERTAINING ads. Not longer ones. (However, some longer ones do have more space to be good and entertaining.)
Significant growth in smart speaker use among radio superfans in the US/Canada; doubled in a year.
Google Launched a New Podcasts App. Is It a Game Changer? - Seth doesn’t share my enthusiasm, but I think much of that is to punish Google for its previous transgressions.
Entercom is pulling its radio streams off TuneIn, in favour of its own platform. (I think this is a mistake - watch AllAccess later this week, and I’ll tell you why)
Why Radio Host Bobby Bones Ran Negative Ads Against Himself - a good and quite humble read.
Scout FM brings its personalized podcast experience to CarPlay and Android Auto - this is a clever way of reworking the podcast-in-car experience.
In the US, fewer women and people of color worked at radio stations in 2017 than 2016, a new survey shows. Will not make political point, I’ve got to get into the country in a few weeks.
Slate’s Facebook traffic has dropped by 87 percent since 2017. Goodness. I know of plenty of radio stations who’s websites are essentially driven by Facebook referrals rather than organic traffic. Good luck to them.
Nielsen posts some interesting growth figures for streaming media
United Kingdom
The new BBC radio and audio and podcast app, BBC Sounds, went live. It’s UK-only (but, since digital rights management merely punishes the technically illiterate, I have it). It looks nice, and has some nice touches - some editorial “buckets”, as the lovely Ben Chapman unromantically calls them, which bring together BBC programming under a common theme; the graphics and imagery is good and uses the new BBC online font. It’s an MVP, and lacks downloads and Chromecast support; I’d personally have called it a beta to have deflected some of the whinging. I’m also disappointed that on-demand radio programmes aren’t properly topped-and-tailed; but the BBC have only had 16 years to fix that, so perhaps I’m being a little impatient.
BBC News weighs in on BBC Radio 2’s drivetime show. It must be difficult doing a show under this kind of pressure.
Someone (presumably the Advertising Standards Authority) has told Capital, in the UK, to justify their “number one hit music station” strapline. Someone had to write this genius explanation.
The World Cup is having good effects on UK radio listening, apparently. And yes, this was even before England inexplicably scraped through.
How Much Should we Care about Commercial Radio Localness? - David Lloyd blogs sense, as ever.
Happy birthday to BBC Radio Leeds - which was, for a long while, my local BBC radio station. As a station, I fear it’s lost its way.
Fascinating changes to how the UK chart is put together. And literally a Lazy Buggles Headline.
Australia
How ABC iView (BBC iPlayer equivalent) came to be. Interesting read.
Lazy Buggles lede in this story… sigh. I’ve left a comment, but really, I’m not the radio marketing board.