Kyle Sandilands in a new podcast

I’m very grateful to the fine companies, below, who help me compile this weekly newsletter (and the daily Podnews podcasting newsletter). Futuri Media gets a special mention this week, because of their awesomeness and generosity. Thank you.

My things

• The UK: almost ready to turn off FM?

• Excitingly, I’m the guest in the latest edition of the Wonder Junkie Podcast with Pete Bailey. We get to talk about the future of radio.

United States

• Spotify has search operators. Didn’t know that. So a search for “year:1967 Beatles” works as you’d think it would.

• Big news for AudioBoom and for Triton Digital as they merge - a larger company run by Triton execs with a good pedigree in audio monetisation. My suspicion is that we will see rather more of these consolidations in the podcast space this year.

• Westwood One Brings the Winter Olympics to Amazon Alexa - a clever idea to stream live to Amazon Alexa as well as partner radio stations.

• Where better to review NBC’s coverage of the Olympics than Reddit? And goodness, they’re not happy. (Mind you, it’s Reddit, and that’s their job).

• “Video may have killed the radio star, but digital music killed the CD”, writes @kentbush in a syndicated column. CDs: 16% of all music. Radio: 51% of all audio, enjoyed by 93% of Americans every week. And on World Radio Day too! #lazybugglesheadline

• Farrago: Robust, rapid-fire soundboard - interesting software for live radio, as well as live podcasts.

• A bit of wonderful radio from the 1960s from RadioINK boss Eric Rhoads (one of his very first air shifts). We never had this kind of radio in the UK, and there’s so much energy and excitement in this, it’s quite infectious.

• It’s… Wednesday. February 14th. This… is… a press release from… The Daily. And American Public Media, who’ve snaffled the NYT’s hit news podcast for a ‘radio edition’. Rightly so. I find the style of The Daily a very refreshing change from news radio.

• RAIN to Produce 2nd Annual RAIN Podcast Business Summit - an interesting looking event to be at if you’re interested in podcasting (and if you’re not, you should be)

• An article from 2013, but interesting nonetheless: someone writes about being a Nielsen ’tv family’ with a paper diary and everything. Radio’s use of paper diaries normally differs a bit, but it’s interesting to read this.

United Kingdom

• Adam Bowie on Absolute Radio’s application to shut down some of its AM transmitters - he, too, wonders why they’re not going further

• Want an hour listening to the very best radio minds? Enjoy this - a listen back at Next Radio 2017.

• Radio Is Streaming’s Next Frontier – some good futuregazing with actual data from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. The radio markets are different in each, and there’s a tendency to pit “radio vs streaming” (when in reality most people do both), but this is an interesting take.

• Radio Controlled - a BBC Radio 3 documentary about how radio helped Germans rediscover their cultural identity after WWII

• Betrayed On Entebbe – a cautionary tale to those of us who speak at radio conferences, from Graham Mack. I tend to trust people, possibly a little too much, and - yes - was also let down by this conference last year.

• Brilliant. WorldDAB launches guidelines for in-car digital radio user experience - much needed, and a good piece of work.

• Excitingly, I’m the guest in the latest edition of the Wonder Junkie Podcast with Pete Bailey. We get to talk about the future of radio.

• 10 things I love about you: My decade in radio by Polly James - the great Steve Allen is in the latest episode.

Australia

• The ABC is doing a mentoring program announced around World Radio Day: helping female sports broadcasters.

• Personality Profile: 10 Reasons Kyle & Jackie O Are One of The World’s Best Morning Shows

• And following on from that, the Game Changers podcast this week has Kyle Sandilands, one half of Kyle and Jackie O. This is well worth a listen: heard of him or not, he’s probably the best breakfast show of any market. (Interesting fact I discovered while looking - Jackie O gets paid the same as Kyle.).

Elsewhere

• Ireland - if you’re waiting for the death of radio, then take note: there’s been a record demand for WLR FM’s broadcasting course. Oh…

• Switzerland is doing digital faster than the UK…

• Norway: Number of (weekly) listeners per week remains stable after FM-switch off - though daily listeners are a different story, it would appear.

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