A radio diary - and, should SBS merge with ABC radio?

• I got a Australian radio research diary the other week. I bet you’d be interested in it, so I’ve written up lots about the Australian radio diary over here - and whether diaries like these are still the best way to measure radio listening. It was really interesting to take a peek at this - I hope you enjoy the read.

• The excellent Dan Barrett writes a newsletter called Always Be Watching, and in a recent post, he argues quite well that SBS needs to be merged with the ABC, from a television standpoint. He forgets about the existence of SBS Radio, which operates two analogue stations and a set of digital-only services; and I’d suggest that his central point also goes for these radio stations.

  • Particularly - all of SBS’s radio stations are available on DAB+ in the capital cities (on a multiplex shared with the ABC); and SBS Radio 2 has a set of FM frequencies in every capital city, including 93.3FM in Brisbane. SBS Radio 2, as I write this, is broadcasting in Portuguese; at 1pm it’ll be in Spanish; at 2pm, Turkish; and at 3pm, Indonesian. It’s difficult to argue that, in 2026, a linear FM frequency is best-used for programming which works better on-demand like this - there isn’t a person alive who’d listen to SBS Radio 2 continuously for the next three hours. I’ve long argued that ABC local radio should be on FM in the capital cities, but I’m also aware that the FM spectrum is full. I’d gently suggest that, sorry, ABC Radio Brisbane could be a better use of 93.3FM than the patchwork output of SBS Radio 2. (The output of SBS Radio 2 should, of course, continue on linear DAB+ if it makes sense there; but certainly online as on-demand content, including podcasts. It has a job to do - I’m just not convinced that linear FM is the best tool.)
  • Dan unlocked his article about SBS from the paywall just for us, dear Radioland readers. That’s kind of him. As you’ll notice, it’s a good newsletter if you’re vaguely interested in media, and just AUD $5 a month!

• Bill Rogers highlights an issue with Google smart speakers - apparently, they’re not working well for BBC Radio streams. Again. Meanwhile, here in Brisbane, “Hey, Google, Listen to ABC News Radio” - or even “Hey, Google, Listen to ABC News Radio on Radioapp” - gives me a station from Toronto, Canada.

• Here’s audio of the last ever CBS News Radio bulletin. The last time I criticised a US radio institution, I got an incredibly angry email from someone who couldn’t believe I thought differently to him; so I’ll just meekly suggest that there is way too much “newsreader voice” in this - unlike how anyone speaks in real life. The point of radio is a human connection and a shared experience - and this Brit would suggest that an overly-affected voice and delivery makes radio less human.

Classifieds

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• I’m in Canada next week, at the Western Canada Media Conference, FWD. Broadcast Dialogue puts my name “among the highly-anticipated presentations”, which is nice of them. I’m not much looking forward to the travel, but am looking forward to seeing my Canadian friends.

• In the UK, the Community Media Association has a Summer Gathering on June 13 in Melton Mowbray. Speaking there is radio’s own Valerie Geller, Steve Wright’s producer Jonathan Ruffle, as well as other speakers - and your ticket includes, um, a pork pie. No, really.

• In the US, the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act” has now been added as part of the pending surface transportation reauthorization legislation. That means it’s likely to actually pass Congress this year. The NAB thinks this is brilliant. The CEO of the Consumer Technology Association says it’s the wrong direction. The law should be correctly called “AM Radio for Every Vehicle For At Maximum The Next Eight Years Act”, and the requirement - that it “can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM broadcast stations” - would, I’d argue, be satisfied by a free TuneIn subscription, which also carries content transmitted by AM broadcast stations.

• Last week I mentioned the 100 year birthday of Radio Zagreb. But Croatia has an even longer history of broadcast radio: probably longer than your own country. Because, 116 years ago on Feb 20, 1910, the first radio station ever went to the air, with a mix of military communication and content aimed at civilians. Radio Pola (or Pula, depending if you’re Italian or German) pre-dated KDKA (1920) and the BBC (1922), and reached up to a thousand kilometers. One of the listeners, says Radioland reader Gordan Antić, was the German Emperor Wilhelm II, who was in Corfu, listening to trial broadcasts from the station.

• And finally, in the UK, good news from Global - filing a statement with Companies House that everything it plans to do in the future is going to be lawful. Amusing! Yes, this is part of UK law, specifically The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. If there’s anyone from the UK government reading this, when are you going to repeal this utterly pointless aspect of the law, which only costs companies money?

• I also wrote a trip report of my flight between Brisbane and London which you’ll not be interested in.

Where I am speaking next

• FWD, the Western Canada Media Conference, Kelowna BC (June 3-4) - I’ll be there, talking about the future of audio.
• Radiodays Asia, Jakarta Indonesia (Sep 1-3) - I’ll be keynoting on radio’s international trends and its future
• Podcast Movement NYC, New York City (Sep 14-18)

Supporters

Thank you to the supporters below, plus Dafydd Furnham, Marty from New Yawk, Gavin Watson, 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.

There’s a podcast version of this newsletter if you prefer that. I’m on Mastodon as @james@bne.social if you’re there too. And my website has more detail about who I am, and what I do, and whether I can help you further.

Selected bits from Radioland are in RadioInfo in Australia, and RAIN News in the US
Lesen Sie außerdem ausgewählte Artikel auf Deutsch in Radioszene