WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.480 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.019 and this is Radioland, my international radio 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:09.000 trends newsletter for October the 27th, 2025, 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:14.919 Emergences and Weekends. And this was a shorter 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.179 than usual and later than usual newsletter for 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:22.039 this week. We're one of 75 ,000 households who 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.899 lost power in a big storm last night, with at 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:27.699 least one house being blown over. and plenty 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:30.719 of trees falling into cars and onto roads. We're 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:34.659 still some of 25 ,000 households who still don't 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:37.659 have power more than 15 hours later. When the 00:00:37.659 --> 00:00:40.259 power goes down round here, the cell phone coverage 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:42.479 also virtually disappears, partially because 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.179 the cell sites lose power, but also partially 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:48.000 because what's left is hideously oversubscribed. 00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:52.240 Without any internet or power, and after realising 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.219 that the torches I bought nine years ago are 00:00:54.219 --> 00:00:56.829 no way to be found, I've ordered some more, I 00:00:56.829 --> 00:00:59.990 sat down by candlelight and tuned in to ABC Radio 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:03.329 Brisbane. But because it happened on a late Sunday 00:01:03.329 --> 00:01:06.129 afternoon, by the time I started listening, it 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:08.049 was a networked show called by the announcer 00:01:08.049 --> 00:01:11.930 National Evenings, and the 8pm ABC News bulletin 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:16.010 was also national, and no mention of the 75 ,000 00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:19.189 households who could have been doing like I was. 00:01:19.310 --> 00:01:23.760 And that's, by the way, 187 ,000 people. It was 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.099 a shame not to have heard any local programming 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:28.480 on Sunday night on the ABC, given the number 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.760 of people affected. The difficulty, I guess, 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.420 is that it's a major operation to reconfigure 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:35.799 the network to allow local programming for Brisbane, 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:38.640 especially if you're broadcasting to 2 .3 million 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.959 people and only a tenth of those are affected. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.500 Particularly, nobody expected this storm, especially 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:48.260 its ferocity. So I understand why there wasn't 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:51.280 any local content. But I do wonder... How many 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.200 other people like me assumed there'd be something 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:56.099 on the radio? And what happens if we don't deliver 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:58.739 local information for when it's needed the most, 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:02.700 even if it is a Sunday evening? By the way, I'm 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:05.519 recording this later, and we didn't have power 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:10.479 for 58 hours. This morning, when I was on a drive 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:13.500 to find a power cable from the car to save my 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:16.479 freezer's contents, A listen to ABC Radio Brisbane 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:18.939 was the warm and friendly experience I was expecting 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:20.919 with plenty of information about what was going 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:24.620 on. Then the 8am news and then we were all treated 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:28.520 to AM, a fierce networked news programme from 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:33.060 Nipaluna Hobart with no local information. AM 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.199 started with a raw and unpleasant report covering 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:39.860 a story about children and abuse, surprisingly 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:42.719 without any editorial warning about the level 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.099 of detail we were subjected to in the report. 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:48.539 I have shared the first four minutes at peak 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:52.520 driving children to school time in the newsletter 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.219 version of this podcast, and I'll warn you, it's 00:02:55.219 --> 00:02:58.099 a challenging listen. Only ten minutes previously, 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:00.840 Craig and Loretta were a warm, family -friendly 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.719 presence. sharing experiences in last night's 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:07.939 storm. I'm constantly surprised at the 8am handbrake 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:11.479 turn on ABC Local Radio, with one audience thrown 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.139 under the bus in favour of a hard -hitting news 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:17.120 show better suited for Radio National, and here 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.099 no care shown for the audience. Today especially, 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.560 I'm surprised at the content of this programme 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.840 and its suitability for an 8am time slot on local 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.620 radio. It's a stern, broadsheet programme on 00:03:29.620 --> 00:03:33.159 a warm, tabloid station. It belongs on Radio 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:37.000 National, and I wish it would stay there. Probably 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.680 not alone this morning. I switched up the dial 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.319 at 8 .05 to 4BC, where Luke Bradnam was doing 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:45.819 a good fill -in role and was warm and friendly. 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.300 There was some talk about the storm and plenty 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.300 of talk about other things. He's a decent and 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:53.360 warm person. I quite enjoyed it, especially his 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.879 little impersonations of his friends, which could 00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:58.280 become a nice gimmick. I forgot to switch back 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:02.530 to the ABC at 8 .30. Elsewhere, BBC Sounds has 00:04:02.530 --> 00:04:05.289 raised its quarter 325 audience figures for its 00:04:05.289 --> 00:04:10.030 audio app. Total UK plays were up 8 .5%. Audiences 00:04:10.030 --> 00:04:14.330 increased 4 .3%. However, after a reorganisation 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:17.149 leading to an incomplete international BBC audio 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:20.689 product and a paywall in the US for BBC News, 00:04:20.990 --> 00:04:24.149 total global podcast downloads are slightly down 00:04:24.149 --> 00:04:28.829 from 213 million to 212 million. The top three 00:04:28.829 --> 00:04:32.050 shows. Global News Podcast, Six Minute English 00:04:32.050 --> 00:04:35.709 and the Documentary Podcast. Confusingly, the 00:04:35.709 --> 00:04:38.410 BBC's internationally available podcasts still 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:41.350 promote BBC Sounds, a product that was closed 00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:44.829 outside of the UK in July. Given they've all 00:04:44.829 --> 00:04:47.529 the tools to correctly geo -target those ads, 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.529 I'm really surprised about how badly the BBC 00:04:50.529 --> 00:04:54.620 is doing things there. Ray Jarre, the UK audience 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:57.600 figures, also came out last week. The bit that 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.920 I found interesting, and nobody's commented on 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:02.740 it as far as I can see, although maybe they did 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:05.319 last quarter, is that commercial radio's share 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:09.420 of listening on AM -FM has increased by 23 % 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:12.600 year on year. Now, as far as I'm aware, the amount 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:16.360 of choice on AM -FM has decreased, AM transmitters 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:19.060 continue to be turned off, and FM transmitters 00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:21.519 are much more likely to be broadcasting networked 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.579 national output. So I wondered what was driving 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:27.000 those figures, and I asked in my newsletter, 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:30.579 did anybody know? Ray Giles actually contacted 00:05:30.579 --> 00:05:33.680 me, and the figures are now correct. They weren't 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.839 correct a year ago. So what we're actually seeing 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:41.500 here is a correction to some previous figures. 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:44.199 I could bore you with all of the details, but 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.170 you're probably not that interested. An interesting 00:05:47.170 --> 00:05:49.670 idea from last week's pod news. Somebody has 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:52.129 made a ranker for podcasts where your ads will 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:54.670 work the best, which is very neat. I'll link 00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:57.730 to that in the newsletter. Best of luck to Soundwaves, 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:01.889 an audio conference and festival in County Limerick 00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:04.930 in Ireland on November the 12th to the 13th. 00:06:04.949 --> 00:06:07.569 And good to see Global doing a glitzy upfront 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:10.329 for advertisers for the first time. Happens all 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:12.410 the time from podcast companies and TV networks, 00:06:12.529 --> 00:06:16.250 and it's great to see Global doing similar. Now, 00:06:16.269 --> 00:06:17.990 where am I speaking next? I'm speaking next to 00:06:17.990 --> 00:06:22.629 Radio Days Europe in Riga in Latvia in 2026. 00:06:22.769 --> 00:06:25.189 I should probably book my ticket for that at 00:06:25.189 --> 00:06:29.129 some point. And thank you to the many supporters. 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:31.889 Who will we choose today? Studio with two I's, 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:36.689 Soma FM and Radio King for your kind support. 00:06:37.189 --> 00:06:41.509 Plus personal supporters, Greg Strassel, Sam 00:06:41.509 --> 00:06:44.230 Phelps. Strassel or Strassel? You should probably 00:06:44.230 --> 00:06:46.790 find out. Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:49.350 Abbey and James Masterton for being regular supporters. 00:06:50.250 --> 00:06:52.610 If you would like to support my work in any way, 00:06:52.689 --> 00:06:55.110 then you can buy me a coffee. Buymeacoffee .com 00:06:55.110 --> 00:06:58.389 slash James Cridland is where to do that. You 00:06:58.389 --> 00:07:01.629 can follow me on Mastodon, james at bne .social. 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:04.889 And my website has more details about who I am 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:06.610 and what I do and whether I can help you further. 00:07:06.689 --> 00:07:09.870 That is at james .crid .land. And until next 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.529 week, thank you for listening and keep listening.