James Cridland

Do you need a radio station building at all? And free RAIN Summit Europe tickets

My articles

  • Do you need a radio station building at all? - it’s been interesting watching the feedback from this one. It seems too difficult for the older US engineers frequenting Facebook to get their heads round the concept of a radio station without an actual building…

United States

  • New audio consumption data from the US, including smart speakers and AM/FM radio, from AudienceNet. There’s a very interesting split of age-group in Tom Benson’s writeup. Very much worth reading.

  • We’ve had a radio station in a cafe, a radio station in a pub… now, a radio station in a hairdresser. Plays the best cuts, obviously.

United Kingdom

  • The Audio Content Fund is an interesting concept, and good news from the UK.

  • Breaking: Simon Mayo’s leaving BBC Radio 2. “Circumstances change”, he writes. Good luck Mayo. Mayyyo. Daylight come and we wanna wake up.

Australia

  • Sacking a lawyer is not always wise. This probably won’t end well for anyone.

  • It’s a shame to see Michael Mason - a good man, and great thinker - leave the ABC. I hope he stays in radio. It must be difficult for those within the ABC right now, with so much change and such concentrated criticism from the press. I look forward to the corporation coming out the other side.

  • These kids’ school burnt down. This is how to do local radio. Well done, Nova 106.9.

  • “Australian radio industry unites to grow podcasting” - interesting protection play from the incumbent radio broadcasters in the country. The CRA’s press release claims there are no standard measurements in place for podcasting, yet the IAB v2 standards are quite well understood, if not uniformly used. Specific Australian podcasting measurement standards won’t work for a global industry (and most Australian radio companies sell ads for global podcast companies). Oddly, there are no radio measurement standards for global radio, so… Also - not including independent podcasters is a mistake, in my opinion: invite them in, don’t close the door on them.

  • Australian radio is to pilot hybrid electronic/diary measurement for radio listening. “The current radio survey system is still the most accurate way to measure radio audiences, but if we can incorporate insights from electronic metering and streaming data to enhance this measurement, then we are keen to explore that”.

RAIN Summit Europe

As you’re probably aware, I write a daily podcasting newsletter, Podnews®: and, with RAIN, I’m able to give you complimentary tickets to RAIN Summit Europe, an influential gathering of podcast, radio, research, and technology professionals to discuss digital audio. Attend this full-day event (including lunch and cocktails) at no charge, courtesy of Podnews and RAIN, on Wednesday 7 November at the British Museum in London.

Speakers include Jason Phipps, head of podcasting at the BBC, new research into radio and streaming from Zach Fuller of MIDiA Research, plus speakers from Global, Radionomy, Acast, AdsWizz, Lagardere, IBM iX, Dare, and many others.

I’ve been to many RAIN Summits, and they’re a good place to understand the digital audio industry in a little more detail, as well as network with some of the thought leaders from the industry.

Thanks to Podnews, you can be there at no charge. Just use this exclusive link and get a complimentary ticket. I knew buying Kurt Hanson beer in actual beakers when I was last in Chicago was worth it.

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