ARN lies, and BBC postpones
I’ve been on holiday, kind of, for the last few weeks. One of the things I went to was an exhibition called Precious, in the Museum of Brisbane, which contained some small domestic collections of “stuff” that people had been keeping, now displayed for the first time. I was a fan of the branded matches for ABC Radio Brisbane, which, um, probably wouldn’t be a thing these days.
Anway, two things have happened, though, which I’ve written two separate blog posts about.
First, the BBC has postponed its plans to close BBC Sounds internationally. It’s been a bit of a mess of a rollout, from multiple botched announcements, to an inability to even tell people what’s happening, and now a volte-face which, I think, heralds subscription access to BBC domestic radio (and not, I’m afraid, the continuation of free access). More about it in the blog.
Second, Australian radio network ARN has been caught lying to its audience about an AI announcer, but probably more disappointingly to me, is making just some really bad radio: something that nobody can be proud about. This blog post gets a bit sweary, partially for humour, but partially because it just makes me sad.
I’m looking forward to speaking in Toronto in a few weeks. I’m speaking about “the future of radio” (in a panel, alongside John Parikhal), and showing some AI tools alongside Chris “Dunner” Duncombe. There’s plenty to be positive about! Just possibly not in this email.
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Where I am speaking next
- Radiodays North America, Toronto ON, Canada (May 7-8)
- The Podcast Show, London, UK (May 20-21)
- Podcast Movement, Dallas TX, USA (Aug 18-21)
- Radiodays Asia Jakarta, Indonesia (Sep 1-3)
- Pennine Radio’s 50th birthday! In Bradford.
- PodSummit YYC, Calgary, Canada (Sep 19-20)
Supporters
Thank you to the supporters below, plus Greg Strassell, Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn Abbey and James Masterton for being regular supporters.
If you’d like to support my work in any way, you can BuyMeACoffee - become a member to give regularly or just give a one-off coffee, or five. Here’s where to do that. Or, alternately, here’s a way direct with Stripe.
I’m on Bluesky as @james.crid.land or on Mastodon as @james@bne.social
My website has more detail about who I am, and what I do, and whether I can help you further.