Linear audio vs ondemand audio

Michael Banbrook sent me a nice email saying that my note last week - highlighting the closure of the Radio 4 LW transmitter - arrived while he was at an event in Droitwich to commemorate the closure. Above, one of the pictures he sent me. Goodness, how many people did the BBC employ at that transmitter?

Below - three graphs. Ooooh, good.

Above, data from the US, from Edison Research at SSRS.

It strikes me, as I see these numbers, that radio is used to competing with itself - the “#1 hit music station” (Brisbane has two!), the “better music mix”, or “more variety” only serve to position radio stations against other radio stations. And that’s not where the fight is today, I’d suggest.

I have a keen interest in how radio markets itself to listeners, and I wonder whether the unique selling proposition of radio is clear - a proposition that I believe isn’t just “live and local”, but something that is more than that.

It’s easy to compete with radio’s existing listeners. But much harder to convert someone who doesn’t listen to the radio (any more). I wonder where the answers are?

Above, a graph from Steve Jones on LinkedIn. It shows PBIT (profit before interest and tax) for Canadian private radio, and it’s a sorry sight. Steve argues that the CRTC’s antiquated regulations are part of the story here - and that modernising them will “give us a fighting chance”. Yes, COVID hurt; but the direction of the industry was already pretty clear.

I do worry about Canadian radio. In order to get anything done with the CRTC, you need to get into their quarterly “hearings”, which are frequently over-scheduled. A sale of one radio station to another operator can take nearly twelve months to get agreed by the regulator - twelve months of uncertainty which is no way to treat Canadian workers, and no way to treat Canadian listeners.

I was struck at the FWD Conference in Kelowna last month that the CRTC Commissioner who made a speech, Claire Anderson (the commissioner for British Columbia), seemed to lack any urgency. The CRTC has been ordered to review a lot of their plans by the Culture Minister, Marc Miller; and while the CRTC proposed a Commercial Radio News Fund “for introduction in the 2024/25 broadcast year”, it’s yet to pay out a penny. A good regulator should regulate the industry - not kill it.

Above, as comparison to the above: UK commercial radio revenue (not profit) over a similar timescale (source: Ofcom). (Notable - local advertising is down by more than 30%.)

Classifieds

• Supercharge your radio show with world-class prep: the right show prep delivered to you on time, EVERY day, without fail. Grab a £1 week-long trial of Show Prep and stop chasing round looking for things to use on your show, running out of time before the show, and trying to sight-read the newspapers!

• Interesting work from StreamGuys, who are using ultra-low latency streaming for live broadcast radio. This isn’t easy to achieve. For TV, the BBC is trialling it at Wimbledon this year.

• Some nice-but-simple production I heard/saw this week…

  • a music show called Cover Story on ABC Radio National. Nicely produced - I heard the one for INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart - neatly edited to make the panel always magically hit the vocal of any of the versions they’re playing, and a fun listen (one that I’d have liked to have continued at home after my drive, but - see below).
  • continuity on ABC Radio National on Monday, like this, with the live continuity announcer reading out texts from listeners commenting on the program they’ve just heard. Given most of the programs aren’t live on Radio National, this adds some liveness to the linear schedule, as well as good pre-promotion of the next show.
  • on the TV, ABC News’s Asia News Week - which you might be able to watch overseas in full. A nicely produced item about the massive issues they have with garbage in Bali; then a simple and straightforward Zoom interview with a contributor from Hong Kong about the embarrassingly bad anti-drug ads airing there - but as he talks about different ads, they were cut into the video. Simple stuff, but too often these interviews are done live, and they just roll random footage and hope it’ll work. Don’t do it live, and look what you get.

• Does anyone know how to listen to ABC Radio National on a Google smart speaker? I’d actually like the Queensland version, but even the Sydney one would be a start. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National” (“I looked for that, but it either isn’t available or can’t be played right now”).
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National on Tunein” (“I’m sorry but I couldn’t find a specific feed for ABC Radio National on Tunein. Would you like to play CKWX, which is affiliated with ABC News?”). (That’s 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver, if you cared)
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National on Radioapp” (“I looked for that, but it either isn’t available or can’t be played right now. Would you like me to play ABC Radio Melbourne?”)
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National” (“All right, playing Radio National on YouTube Music. Hmm. Something went wrong.”)
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National on ABC listen”. (“OK, Here’s play ABC News live on YouTube.”)
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National” (“I couldn’t find that station available, but I have other ABC Radio stations available, like ABC Radio Melbourne or ABC Radio Brisbane. Would you like to listen to some of those instead?”).
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National on iHeartRadio” (“Playing a music station based on ABC Radio National on iHeart Radio - Sorry, this cannot be played right now.”)
  • “Hey, Google, play 792 AM” (“Allright! Playing ABC Radio Brisbane on Radioapp”). (792 AM is the frequency for ABC Radio National in Brisbane).
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National Queensland” (“I couldn’t find that. Did you mean ABC Radio Brisbane or ABC Radio North Queensland?”)
  • “Hey, Google, play ABC Radio National” (“Allright! Playing ABC Radio National on Radioapp” - confidently plays ABC Radio Melbourne.)
  • I could go on, but I don’t think it makes sense to, given that anyone more sensible would have given up after two goes. Note: 40% of Australians have a Google Home smart speaker, says the Infinite Dial 2026 Australia. I can confidently state that none of them will be listening to ABC Radio National on it though.

Where I am speaking next

• 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