Radio - New Zealand's choice for emergency info
This is Radioland, my radio newsletter.
Hello from Darwin in the Northern Territory, where I’m having a week’s family holiday.
Data, above, from New Zealand - where GfK asked the question “Which medium provides information about what to do during or immediately after a disaster?” Ask all of New Zealand, and the answer’s… radio (although the metro area of Auckland would turn to their mobile first, assuming it worked).
News from Bavaria in Germany - Radioszene reports (or in English) that FM and Digital Radio are (almost) equal for the first time in the region. 39% use FM (UKW in German); 38% use digital platforms (DAB+, online, cable, satellite); 24% use both FM and digital. There’s no doubt that radio has a multiplatform future, and this underlines it; it’s “reach” not “time spent listening”, though. Mind - it notes that a quarter of people haven’t heard of DAB+.
- Interestingly, 1.7mn people in Bavaria listen to a radio station that isn’t on FM; and “local radio stations without FM distribution reach 284,000 listeners daily - an increase of 23 percent compared to the previous year.” (The population is 12.8mn, but I don’t know the population base for this research).
The APAs from AudioUK are open for entry. You’ve ‘till mid September to enter, Great Britain. Go!
We’ve been getting the history of British radio all wrong, says an independent podcast. The “British Broadcasting Century” discovers that the history books are wrong - some of the firsts in British broadcasting weren’t from men, or from London, after all. The first radio DJ? No, not Christopher Stone in 1927; but Gertrude Donisthorpe in 1917 (yes, pre-dating the BBC). The writer of the first radio drama? No, not Richard Hughes in 1924 - Phyllis Twigg in 1922. Most unlike men to claim all the credit…
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
- 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)
- The Health Podcast Summit, virtual (Oct 1-2)
- Radiodays Europe, Riga, Latvia, (Mar 22-24, 2026)
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 - tip, use the second one.
My website has more detail about who I am, and what I do, and whether I can help you further.