WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.339 and this is Radioland, my international trends 00:00:05.339 --> 00:00:09.919 newsletter for August the 10th, 2025, multi -platform 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.980 Christian O 'Connell, coming soon across Australia. 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:18.239 Within hours of my post last week, ARN announced 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.379 that the Christian O 'Connell breakfast show 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.429 was going national. The show will be on FM in 00:00:23.429 --> 00:00:26.370 Sydney, and surprise, Gold will additionally 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:29.289 broadcast on DAB Plus and online in Brisbane, 00:00:29.489 --> 00:00:33.229 Adelaide and Perth. In Radioland last week, I 00:00:33.229 --> 00:00:36.689 suggested that ARN should put Gold onto FM here 00:00:36.689 --> 00:00:39.369 in Brisbane rather than KISS. Gold's rollout 00:00:39.369 --> 00:00:42.609 here on DAB Plus was seized by some of the trades 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:45.289 as a missed opportunity, and I kind of agree, 00:00:45.509 --> 00:00:48.369 but I'd underestimated the confusion in Australia 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:52.109 about what DAB Plus actually is. and how much 00:00:52.109 --> 00:00:55.990 it's used. One industry expert said in the Media 00:00:55.990 --> 00:00:59.009 Week story that I linked to in my show notes 00:00:59.009 --> 00:01:02.909 and in the newsletter this week, that ARN will 00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:05.870 probably now try to swindle some Sydney and Melbourne 00:01:05.870 --> 00:01:08.129 buyers into investing in the other markets by 00:01:08.129 --> 00:01:10.290 using O 'Connell's show, where he's only being 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:13.739 heard on the DAB Plus band. Well, that industry 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:15.859 expert clearly doesn't understand how radio is 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:19.299 sold. You buy on a rate normally called CPM, 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.459 or cost per thousand listeners. So there's no 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:25.939 swindling going on from anyone. Another highly 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:29.019 experienced industry expert I've spoken to this 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:32.859 week said, disparaging DAB +, that you can be 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:35.980 guaranteed that a Gen X or Boomer has no plans 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:38.879 in changing a breakfast listening habit for a 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:42.859 platform they're barely even aware of. So is 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:45.859 that true? Is it true that DAB Plus is not listened 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.379 to and that people are barely aware of it? Well, 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:52.439 it's surprisingly hard to find the data. But 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:55.700 I have. And here are the facts. For Cap City, 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.480 Australia, a third of Australians use DAB Plus 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.459 each week to listen to the radio. A third. And 00:02:03.459 --> 00:02:08.080 more astonishingly, 40 % of radio is not listened 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:13.340 to on an AM FM radio. Whether ARN will market 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:16.659 gold heavily here in Brisbane, they'll need to 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:20.020 market both the station and How To Listen, remains 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:23.379 to be seen. But even if they don't put gold onto 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:26.439 FM, it's a real opportunity for them for gold 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:30.099 to be on DAB Plus here if they market it, even 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:32.780 if the industry experts have found it as hard 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:36.689 as I have to actually get the data. Christian 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:38.729 O 'Connell sounded bullish and excited when I 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:40.310 caught up with him on the phone this week. I 00:02:40.310 --> 00:02:42.250 worked with him at Virgin Radio in London and 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:44.389 he was quick to remind me that for all the great 00:02:44.389 --> 00:02:46.830 figures he had in the UK, he was available on 00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:50.849 FM only in London and on DAB and a bad AM signal 00:02:50.849 --> 00:02:53.610 elsewhere. He's used to multi -platform radio, 00:02:53.770 --> 00:02:56.250 possibly more so than much of the Australian 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:59.159 radio industry. He told me that there's a need 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:02.280 to educate the industry as to how people really 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.659 listen to the radio. As to whether people only 00:03:05.659 --> 00:03:08.620 want local radio, he pointed out a rather hypocritical 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:11.800 message from many of the, yes them again, industry 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.699 experts. We're told that people want radio to 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:17.560 be local, but we're also told how brilliant Hamish 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:20.680 and Andy were. Radio companies spend cash marketing 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:24.270 National Afternoon Drive radio shows. So why 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:27.050 couldn't it work at breakfast? And I think he 00:03:27.050 --> 00:03:31.189 has a point. Kyle and Jackie O have famously 00:03:31.189 --> 00:03:33.830 been keen to broadcast to Melbourne, but not 00:03:33.830 --> 00:03:36.689 that interested in actually going there. Christian, 00:03:36.710 --> 00:03:39.370 though, is prepared to put in the work to gain 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:41.909 a Sydney audience. He told me that he'll spend 00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:44.550 time in Sydney as well as in Melbourne. Not that 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:46.530 you'll always hear that on the air, though. And 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:48.729 he'll be coming to other parts of Australia too. 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:51.960 And he sounded excited to be working with advertisers 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.539 again, something that it sounded as though he's 00:03:55.539 --> 00:03:58.259 missed since his time in the UK. There's a limit 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:00.439 to how close you can be to advertisers if you're 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.240 only a local show, but he enjoyed spending time 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.900 with national brands when in the UK and sounds 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:09.280 keen to do so here. And yes, that does mean that 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.060 he'll spend time in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:15.020 as well. There are a variety of large brands 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:19.189 based outside Melbourne and Sydney. As to whether 00:04:19.189 --> 00:04:21.910 he'll be welcomed in a different city, well, 00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:24.050 he told me about the text messages he had coming 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:26.870 into the studio when Kyle and Jackie O were announced 00:04:26.870 --> 00:04:29.529 in Melbourne. We don't like people coming into 00:04:29.529 --> 00:04:32.529 this city, said one listener. You do remember 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:35.050 that I came from the UK to do this job, Christian 00:04:35.050 --> 00:04:37.490 reminded them. Ah, but that's different, the 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:40.930 listener replied. And different it will be. He's 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:45.040 just got to wait five months to get going. The 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.720 UK broadcaster James Whale died this week. He's 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.920 the reason I'm in radio. And as I've written 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.779 in a tribute and indeed put in this podcast feed, 00:04:53.899 --> 00:04:57.589 I was lucky enough to have told him so. Matthew 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.029 Rudd, the presenter of Forgotten 80s on Absolute 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:02.209 80s, was interviewed for a podcast and a website 00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:04.990 article. I talk a lot about radio being a human 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:07.350 connection and a shared experience, and this 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:10.370 show epitomises that. It's a good read. And Bill 00:05:10.370 --> 00:05:12.990 Rogers describes the audio experience in the 00:05:12.990 --> 00:05:16.269 new international BBC app as a much worse digital 00:05:16.269 --> 00:05:19.110 product. He points out that the broken search 00:05:19.110 --> 00:05:21.949 function, where the archers appears below some 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:25.339 sports stories about archery... is not hinted 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:28.360 to be fixed any time soon. As some might say, 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:32.699 round Salford, he says, it's mince. Well, I'm 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:34.079 looking forward to being at Podcast Movement 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.079 next week. If you're in Dallas, I've got next 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.000 Sunday free. So shout if you know where to find 00:05:39.000 --> 00:06:12.279 a beer. Or, yes. you know, follow me there. I'm 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:16.100 on Blue Sky as well and on Mastodon. And my website 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:18.560 has more details about who I am and what I do 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:20.860 and whether I can help you further. That's at 00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:24.139 james .cridland .net. And until next time, keep 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:24.439 listening.