1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, and every week or so I write a newsletter 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:08,300 all about international radio trends and all of that sort of thing. If you're interested 3 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:15,520 in radio, then you should be getting it. You can grab it on the web at james.crid.land, 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:20,920 which is where you can also subscribe to it via email, or you can hear it read like this 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:27,780 to you on this podcast when I bother to remember to do it. And this version was sent out on 6 00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:35,320 January 12th 2025. It's called Two Big Changes in Radio in the UK and What It Means for Everyone. 7 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:41,360 And yes, there's no editing of my fluffs all the way through this, not half. 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:47,560 UK Broadcaster Global is to drop local and regional shows in England on its Hart, Capital 9 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,760 and Smooth radio stations. All the output for these stations will be broadcast from 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:57,720 London from the end of February, which means about 20 local and regional shows will disappear. 11 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,660 There'll also only be one set of national shows for Wales coming from Cardiff, which 12 00:01:01,660 --> 00:01:06,280 means the loss of separate shows for Hart and Capital in North Wales. And I don't see 13 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,840 anything about Capital Cymru, which is a Welsh-language version of Capital, which has always slightly 14 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:17,680 weirdly existed, but chatter is that that will also go. In most cases, the shows going 15 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:23,240 are drive-time shows, which were the only locally produced shows on Hart and Capital. 16 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:28,680 Regional breakfast shows on Smooth will also go to be replaced by a London-based show. 17 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,760 There will continue to be regional news, regional travel and of course advertising throughout 18 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:39,020 the station output. And as now, the national presenters can direct individual voice breaks 19 00:01:39,020 --> 00:01:44,000 or links to specific regions. And that's important to know. This isn't just a push the fader 20 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:49,040 up and leave the building job. You can actually do some quite clever things if you need to 21 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:56,040 in terms of big road closures or power cuts or weather or all that kind of thing. It'll 22 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:03,080 result in a number of job losses though, and regional offices will close across the country. 23 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,760 Now those local presenters were undoubtedly an asset, since they could be the regional 24 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:14,060 face of a station that was otherwise nationally programmed and could do local events and appearances. 25 00:02:14,060 --> 00:02:18,800 They could of course also do promotional activity during their show for local businesses. So 26 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:24,440 why would Global want to remove them? Well it's mostly because they now can. The Media 27 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:30,000 Act last year dropped much of the requirement for local programming. And clearly closure 28 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,760 of studio facilities and the resulting simplification of transmission will be a significant cost 29 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:42,520 saving to Global. Now Global's a private company but we can peer into its accounts 30 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:49,080 in the UK's Companies House. And the latest accounts are for financial year ending 31st 31 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:57,000 March 2024. And unlike radio companies elsewhere, Global is actually not in bad financial shape. 32 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,380 The company also owns an out of home advertising business, but the audio part of the business 33 00:03:02,380 --> 00:03:10,480 made an overall operating profit of £76.6 million, which is $95 million. And that figure, 34 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:17,280 impressive though it is, was down by 9% year on year, so savings of people and property 35 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:23,000 will be welcome. National programming also makes it much easier to promote, because few 36 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:29,880 media in the UK is local after all, and it's complicated to promote specific shows to specific 37 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:36,040 regions. But let's not forget that the majority of programming output on these English stations 38 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:43,120 wasn't local. For Heart and for Capital, we're talking about one 3 hour show from 39 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:50,520 4pm to 7pm. For many listeners the station was a national one anyway. And that hasn't 40 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:56,280 harmed audience figures. UK commercial radio hit an all time high last year in both total 41 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:03,280 numbers and in share, if not to be honest in total hours. Global itself also posted 42 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:09,680 its biggest ever figures. Live and local seems an easy mantra to follow, but I don't think 43 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:15,280 it's what wins audiences. If you're a bored man sitting in a local studio above the pizza 44 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:20,080 shop and you're back announcing another 10 great songs in a row, that won't magically 45 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:26,080 save a radio station just because it's live and local. It's what you put there that counts. 46 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:30,920 A human connection and a shared experience. Or as Valerie Geller will tell you, tell the 47 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:38,280 truth, make it matter, never be boring. Locallness in the US and Australian capital cities is 48 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:44,400 one thing, but I've always felt that much of England lacks that strong localness. Yes, 49 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:50,440 you might live in Leeds, but there are precious few brands and experiences that you have that 50 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:56,800 aren't just as applicable to Coventry or Bristol. In short, what does local mean to parts of 51 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:03,680 England without as much of a strong local identity? For every Liverpool, there's a Bolton, 52 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:10,760 there's a Grimsby, there's a Gloucester, there's a Taunton. Is local really just England? 53 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:16,000 We should also note that Global's output on Capital Scotland and on Hart Scotland is fully 54 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:24,400 local from 6am to 7pm. Scotland is, it turns out, not overly fond of posh English accents 55 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:30,540 like mine. All said, it's sad for the great people that the radio business will essentially 56 00:05:30,540 --> 00:05:35,600 lose. Of what I know about Global, they'll be treated quite well, but realistically, 57 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,880 with BBC Local Radio leaning more on cost-cutting and shared programming, there's nowhere for 58 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:46,680 these fine people to go. And that's a real shame. Perhaps some should look at the success 59 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:53,880 of Tony and Ryan. That's a super successful podcast in Australia, run by a big radio programmer, 60 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:58,640 but a show that's never been on the radio, ever. And maybe, just maybe, the Global player 61 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:05,600 would be a good place for some of these people to continue their fine work. Global's accounts 62 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:14,360 also show that its out-of-home ad company made £10 million operating profit in year 63 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:20,320 ending March 2023. That's reversing a £9 million loss the previous year. Owning an 64 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,320 out-of-home ad business always seemed to make a lot of sense for a bigger media company, 65 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:30,360 because it allows you to use unsold inventory to promote your other products. Just ask Patterson 66 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:38,120 in Canada, or once ARN in Australia. Global bought three companies – Exterion, Prime 67 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,960 Site and Outdoor Plus – in 2018. And they have quite the contracts, including all of 68 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:48,920 the advertising on BT phone boxes in the high street, and the Transport for London contract, 69 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:54,160 including buses and tube stations, and plenty of other big name placements as well. There 70 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:00,800 are also obvious synergies between your work in ad agencies selling radio ads and selling 71 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,620 poster sites. 72 00:07:02,620 --> 00:07:07,840 So the other big news this week is that Bauer, Global's competitor in the UK for commercial 73 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:15,080 radio, is buying Clear Channel Europe, essentially Global's main competitor in out-of-home. 74 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:21,480 The UK is still a diary-based radio research country, and Bauer now gets access to more 75 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:27,240 than 40,000 advertising sites across the UK to help remind audiences about what they listen 76 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:33,040 to. And they also get plenty more across Europe, where, unlike Global, Bauer owns a number 77 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:39,520 of stations too. That will, if they're crafty about it, help bolster both businesses. And 78 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:45,720 while I find much of Bauer's strategy oddly timid, this is a crafty move, I think, from 79 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:51,560 the company. Bauer also announced this week that they're buying Star Radio in Cambridge, 80 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,560 and turning it off, turning it into Hits Radio. And here's a fun fact for you – Prime 81 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:01,500 Site and cinema advertiser Perl and Dean used to be owned by Scottish Television, which 82 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:07,360 also owned Virgin Radio in London. So what goes around, comes around. 83 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,200 Elsewhere, I've had a few long drives over the last week, and much use of the search 84 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:17,440 button on the in-car radio. On FM, the ABC in Australia doesn't use RDS, which is weird 85 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:22,360 – an odd choice for a national broadcaster. So listening isn't particularly easy on a 86 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:29,680 five-hour drive, but it's nice to hear ABC Radio National as well as news radio on FM. 87 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:35,000 And I enjoyed a documentary from Earshot about the Maori hacker, which was good, along with 88 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,020 a few local ABC stations as well. Can't tell you which, because a. No RDS, and b. Outside 89 00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:45,680 of the capital city's ABC local radio never identifies individual stations after 10 in 90 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,340 the morning anyway. Which is weird, isn't it, because I'm fascinated how people know 91 00:08:49,340 --> 00:08:53,560 what station they're listening to for the audience figures. 92 00:08:53,560 --> 00:09:00,120 Also it was interesting to catch Chris Smith on 4GY out of Gympie. After an enforced career 93 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:08,120 break for a few years, he's now on the Super Radio Network as the new John Laws. Given 94 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,360 we're not in survey currently, it's good to hear him introducing himself to his audiences 95 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,240 of what I could hear over the lightning interference on AM. He sounded pretty good. We'll not 96 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,840 know how good, because the Super Radio Network doesn't as far as I know participate in 97 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,480 the audience figures. And that, I think, is a bit of a shame. 98 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:30,600 But also on my personal blog, I blogged a bit about podcasting's unique selling proposition, 99 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:35,200 why I think it's a bad idea for podcasting to be chasing the video dollar. You'll find 100 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,560 a link to that in the link that you'll find in my show notes. 101 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:46,720 And thank you to Hubbard Radio's Craig Strassel. Greg Strassel. Greg Strassel. Not Craig. Greg 102 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:53,040 Strassel. I mean, I was going to say Greg anyway, but it kind of came out as Craig. 103 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:59,720 Anyway, thank you to Greg Strassel from Hubbard Radio, who has joined us as a new regular 104 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:06,480 supporter of my newsletter. That's very kind of you, Greg. That also coincides with our 105 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:11,120 local coffee shop reopening after the Christmas break. So hooray. I will be spending that 106 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:12,880 money on coffee. 107 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:18,040 Also thank you to Irene Hume off of that excellent Game Changers Radio podcast for your coffees. 108 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:25,320 Very grateful. Thank you for that too. I'm speaking all over the world, it turns out, 109 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:34,600 this month, or rather this year, 2025. Next, I am in Neuchâtel in Switzerland on February 110 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:40,080 the 7th for the Atelier Radiofonique-Romande, which should be great fun. Really looking 111 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,320 forward to speaking about the future of radio there. I'm also talking about the future of 112 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:51,000 radio, I believe, although I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, at Radio Days Europe in Athens 113 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:57,320 in Greece this year. That's between March the 9th and the 11th. Looking forward to that. 114 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:02,360 I should book my tickets for that really, I suppose, given that we're less than two 115 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:09,940 months away. Also Radio Days Ireland in Dublin in Ireland towards the end of March. Evolutions 116 00:11:09,940 --> 00:11:17,320 by podcast movement in Chicago in early April. Radio Days North America in Toronto in early 117 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:24,120 May. The podcast show in London in late May. Podcast movement itself in Dallas and Texas, 118 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:30,720 probably, in August. I assume I'm going to go to that. I suppose I ought to. We'll see 119 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:39,120 what the US is like by that point. And Radio Days Asia, which in my newsletter it says 120 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:45,240 CBC. Indonesia, I can tell you, that's probably an exclusive. I don't think anybody knows 121 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:50,880 it's in Indonesia yet, but yes, Indonesia, apparently. September the 1st to the 3rd is 122 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,280 the dates that they're going for, but they haven't actually managed to book the hotel 123 00:11:54,280 --> 00:12:00,720 yet. So who knows what might happen there. But anyway, it'll be great to see you if you 124 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:06,440 wanted to come to that. And also, I'm hopefully looking forward to coming to Pennine Radio's 125 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:14,280 50th birthday, which is the second week of September. I'm just hoping to go. So if you 126 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:21,880 are organising something in Europe that would help me get there, then that will be great. 127 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:28,440 So thank you to those supporters. Also Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn 128 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,500 Abbey and James Masterton for being regular supporters. If you would like to support my 129 00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:36,880 work in any way, you can buy me a coffee. Become a member to give regularly, like Greg 130 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,480 has done, or just give a one-off coffee or five. You can do that at buymeacoffee.com 131 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:48,840 slash James Cridland. Alternatively, I've also linked to a direct link with Stripe if 132 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:56,480 you want that. Again, that link is in the show notes. You can follow me on the internet. 133 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:05,960 I'm on bluesky as james.crid.land or on mastodon as james at bne.social. My website has more 134 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:11,160 details about who I am and what I do and whether I can help you further. And that is at james.crid.land. 135 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:18,440 And that's it for this week. Please keep listening and I will be around in a week's time with 136 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:25,080 more exciting international radio trends and produced in such an excellent way as this 137 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:26,600 podcast is.