Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, and every couple of weeks or so I write a
newsletter all about the future of radio. This is it for July 27th, it's called Farewell
All Access, and congratulations to Kyle and Jackie Oh.
I tell people it was in a pub close to 2017's Worldwide Radio Summit, the annual conference
run by Joel Denvers All Access, that the idea of pod news came about, and that's almost
true it was at a restaurant rather than at a pub, but a pub fits my personal brand better,
and I did go to the pub with Kurt Hansen later.
I was chatting with Steve Goldstein, the generous and intelligent founder of Amplify Media,
about where to get news about podcasting, in a conversation that probably only lasted
a few minutes he asked me if I knew anywhere, and I didn't. But the conversation got me
thinking, and just three weeks after returning home, I launched on May 30th, 2017.
It was the type of conversation that came out of the Worldwide Radio Summit, and of
being a writer for All Access, which I was for over five years. Writing articles, some
quite carefully researched, some not so, for Joel Denver, who responded to every post
with thank you exclamation mark exclamation mark exclamation mark in capital letters.
It's disappointing, therefore, to see that All Access will close next month. It seems
to be predicated by changes in the music industry rather than radio, but it's sad to see it
go. I'll miss Perry Michael Simons' often gloriously snarky letter, and Joel's positive
attitude to everything, even while his own home was burnt down in a wildfire, I seem
to remember. My time with All Access was responsible for breathing new life into my career, and
I will miss it. Thank you, Joel.
Now, I've spent some time appearing on the ABC over the last couple of weeks, as Australia
wakes up to the possibility that AM might not be in car radio receivers forever. First,
an appearance on ABC Radio National, which I link to from the newsletter version of this.
It has a lazy bugles headline. What does it say? Let's click through. Have a quick look.
Will electric cars kill the AM radio star? Yes. Focusing on the demise of AM across
the world, Radio National is mostly carried on AM in the capital cities. Then, an appearance
two hours later on ABC Local Radio for New South Wales, where I was plays in with video
killed the radio star. Thank you, Anna.
Both enjoyable and sensible discussions and debate about the future of AM Radio. On Radio
National, I called for the government's RE-MEDIA regulator to require ABC Local Radio to additionally
be available on FM in the capital cities, with the argument that an emergency broadcast
is only any good if people own the receivers to pick the emergency station up. And for many,
the only AM radio we own is in the car. In both cases, I suggested that AM in the capital
cities is a liability for broadcasters. It reacts badly to LED lighting, to high power
lines, even to close at hand internet connections and tram tracks as well. And it's inaudible
in concrete buildings. But AM is vital in regional Australia, where DAB Plus is unavailable
and FM radio doesn't reach as far as a good AM signal does. It's a tale of two countries.
And it's a concern that Australia mostly gets its in-car radio receivers from European
car models, where AM is being progressively switched off.
A week later, an appearance on ABC Radio Adelaide. A half hour featuring three old AM radio personality
mates, two guests, one guest in the studio, chummingly reminiscing or auditioning for
their next gig. I was described in the introduction as the enemy because I had something to do
with podcasts. And my title of radio futurologist also got comment. So after all that, I'm
not sure that 62-year-old David Bevan, the announcer, was expecting me to respond to
his first question. How'd you get to call yourself radio futurologist then? By my responding,
I print my own business cards and you can call yourself anything on those.
In my newsletter version of this podcast, I share a quite impressive graph from the
Unmade Media newsletter showing Kyle and Jackie O's CUME figures, which over the last year
or so have increased from around half a million up to nearly a million. 950,000 was almost
their peak. They are doing fantastically well. And whatever it is that they're doing, I do
hope that they are bottling it up and selling it to the rest of radio.
Also from Unmade Media, Tim Burroughs interviewed Rob Schwetz from Disrupt Radio in a podcast.
Now Disrupt Radio was an interesting listen when I could listen to it in the car here
in Brisbane, more about why I can't listen in the car in forthcoming newsletters. That's
me throwing ahead there. Anyway, it's a strange entrepreneur speech radio station with an automated
newsreader that was very weird. Anyway, whoever put Rob Schwetz up for interview probably
won't be doing so in future. Tune in for the toe-curling pauses and it gets better and
better and better. Here's a little clip where Tim Burroughs starts asking about the shareholders.
Are SCN or Craig Hutchinson, are they investors in Disrupt Radio then?
I'm not across the full investor portfolio at this point in time.
You've been working with the organization for five years though. You must have a bit
of an idea. Sure, question. And what's the answer?
To be quite honest, I'm actually not across the entire investor portfolio. So that's something
I can't make a comment on. Are you an investor?
No, I'm not. It does get worse as well. Good luck to the ABC's James O'Brien who
is recovering in hospital after illness. He's a good man. He's got lots of fans in radio
here in Australia. And I and I know that everybody else wishes him well for his long recovery.
Interesting numbers from the BBC annual report picked apart by Bill Rogers that I linked
to in my newsletter of note. Quietly, the BBC's weekly reach around the world has gone down
by 9% to 447 million from 492 million. Tony Hall's target, if you remember, was 500 million
by 2022. And that was set all the way back in 2013. It's a real shame that the BBC's
audience figures appear to be going backwards across the globe. And you'd think fixable
with one really easy thing by making BBC News Channel, the worldwide version, a free to
air channel and streaming it on YouTube and other places as well as via cable networks
where it currently exists. On YouTube, they would be joining ABC News from Australia, Al Jazeera,
Deutsche Welle, EuroNews, France24, NHK and many others as well. As it is in most countries,
BBC News is just a subscription channel. And it's such a missed opportunity if the BBC
really wants to reach half a billion people. Disappointing news from the UK as well. While
the BBC has been focusing on removing local output from its radio stations, Global, the
biggest commercial company there, is now playing a game of Hold My Beer. And it looks to be
removing local journalists as well, possibly even as much as 40, which is rather a shame.
No Free Fede is an interesting idea, which I found the other day, to radio streams using
music that the artists have approved. And there are purchase and social links with each
now playing track as well. It's worth a peek and worth a listen as well. I've got a personal
blog, by the way, it's over at James.Cridland.net. Come for the travel posts, stay for the random
bits of code. And thank you to David Webb for a coffee. He says, always enjoy your informative
emails. I am a voluntary presenter at One Way FM and DAB Plus, and DAB Plus, Canberra's
Christian Community Radio Station. I bet he says that better than I do. Anyway, I love
the fact that he's calling himself a presenter as well. You're turning British. That would
be a good thing. You're an answer, are you not? Anyway, thank you also to Stephen Centofanti
for the coffee, who says, James Cridland is the cutting edge word on radio. Maybe he'll
help me plug my voice service while talking about coffee and talking about the coffee
that Stephen Centofanti has bought me. Here he is talking about coffee.
There's a special feeling that only comes from drinking coffee. It's a kick, a buzz,
a little tingle. Republic organic coffee gives you that twice.
Yes, he's a great freelance voiceover artist based in Queensland's Sunshine Coast, and
I especially like his big list of radio tech links, which you'll also find as well, Stephen,
thank you. And thank you too to Broadcast Radio, to Clyde Broadcast, Richard Hilton and James
Masterton, Brunn Audio Consulting, Soma FM, and Media Realms Radio websites for your support.
If you would like to support my work in any way, you can buy me a coffee, become a member,
to give regularly, or just give a one-off coffee or five. Just go to buymeacoffee.com
slash James Cridland. You can follow me on Masterdon on the FEDI verse as well. Just
search for James at Crid.Land there, and you'll find my current home on a Brisbane site. My
professional website has more details about who I am and what I do and whether I can help
you further. You'll find that at james.cridland.net. And until next time, keep listening.