James Cridland

TuneIn in bad shape; and nice ads for podcasts

Everyone else is away, but I bet you’re not quite, yet. Good luck for the Christmas break. Here’s a few stories about radio you might find interesting.

  • TuneIn appears to be in bad shape - I reported for Podnews about how they have undergone many layoffs and the product is really suffering in terms of data quality. The radio industry relies on TuneIn for a lot of radio listening (not least, it’s the default radio list in products like Apple Music or most internet-connected cars), but - as I’ve said rather a lot really - we shouldn’t be doing that, because they don’t really care very much. Disappointing.

  • A really nice video ad for podcasts, from Goalhanger. A nice mechanic - quite similar, but done better, than this slightly overly-long BBC Sounds version in 2018. The BBC Sounds ad assumes that you know who all these people are, and what the podcast is; the Goalhanger ad assumes you don’t, and adds a pretty obvious affordance as you listen as to the connection to the podcast. Good work.

RCS

  • A nice post with some decent numbers about radio consumption in the US. These do, I think, slightly overstate how “well” radio is doing, but good to see a different narrative to the normal one.

  • Good for the BBC World Service, which has rushed to put a service on-air in Syria: broadcasting both Arabic programming and some English output. It’s in the region on 720kHz and 639kHz, and on 93.0 FM. (Next, perhaps a return to the Arabic service full-time?)

  • Good for BBC Sounds, which has produced a fully-integrated experience to Android Automotive cars (that’s cars who use Android as their main operating system). It looks nicely done, from the press pictures I’ve seen.

    • “Does the BBC Sounds App for my car use internet data?” is answered with “The BBC Sounds app needs access to the internet to function and stream audio. It is recommended that you consult your car manufacturer’s documentation to explore the options available to you.” - I’d have put the word “Yes” in front of this sentence. Yes, yes it does. Honesty.

  • Well done to Spencer Howson, who has spent two weeks (“the 12 days of Spencer”) doing his old breakfast show on 612 ABC Radio Brisbane, with fun features like what should be in the Bluey movie, although perhaps turning up to work in a BBC Radio 2 t-shirt wasn’t the brightest plan. Anyway, I wrote here last time that he’s sounded as if he had ten producers; I met his (one) producer the other day, Holly Green, who has a long and illustrious history in Brisbane media. It was interesting, too, to hear how “full” the show sounded being a solo-hosted show instead of a double-headed one: for the first time, I’ve realised that having double-headed shows can slow the pace considerably. You’d hope he won’t be off-air for too long.

  • Congratulations to Radioline, which has signed an agreement with Radio France. Of note from the release: “This balanced partnership relationship is based on commitments that guarantee Radio France a controlled and respectful distribution of its content” - and “Since 2020, Radio France has been implementing a distribution strategy based on a balanced partnership relationship with all actors wishing to distribute its live broadcasts and podcasts, regardless of their size.” The right kind of distribution strategy, as far as I can see.

Thank you to the award-winning Sam Phelps for your kind support, and joining as a new regular supporter. If it’s great audio content you’ve heard, it’s probably Sam’s.

  • Want to supercharge your radio show? Here’s a £1 week-long trial of Show Prep - from a world class radio consultant and the best show-prep writer in the UK. Great for UK stations, or for English-language stations everywhere, too. (ad)

Where I am speaking next

I’m done for this year, but…

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