WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.040 I'm James Criddon, the radio futurologist, and 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:04.679 this is Radioland, my international radio trends 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:07.719 newsletter. You can subscribe for free at radioland 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:12.099 .email. And this is November the 9th, 2025, news 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:16.719 bulletins on radio and AI. When I worked in commercial 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.059 radio in the UK, every hour on the hour, we broke 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.980 for a live news bulletin. Even in today's deregulated 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:27.120 UK market, Ofcom expects regularly refreshed 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.800 and locally gathered news bulletins, normally 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.420 hourly, during daytimes. Canada expects a third 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:36.770 of output to be local. and that news is, quotes, 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:40.710 an essential aspect of station output. Minimums 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:43.509 are agreed per station. Ireland's requirement 00:00:43.509 --> 00:00:45.729 is particularly fierce for news and current affairs 00:00:45.729 --> 00:00:48.990 output, a negotiable standard of not less than 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:53.369 20 % of all broadcast airtime and at least 120 00:00:53.369 --> 00:00:57.359 minutes a day. In Australia, though, as with 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.859 many things, Australia's media regulator ACMA 00:00:59.859 --> 00:01:03.039 is a little more relaxed, requiring local radio 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.859 broadcasters to broadcast A, at least one news 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:11.560 bulletin a day, and B, at least 62 .5 minutes 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.500 of bulletins a week. That's, if you've worked 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.799 it out, a 90 -second bulletin every hour during 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:20.260 weekday daytimes. And you can't just repeat them 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:24.489 either. But producing news is expensive. A report 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:26.950 in Media Week reported further in entertaining 00:01:26.950 --> 00:01:29.890 fashion on the ABC's Media Watch. I'll link to 00:01:29.890 --> 00:01:32.430 both of those from the newsletter version of 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:36.250 this. suggests that on SCA stations, bulletins 00:01:36.250 --> 00:01:39.689 are now being written by AI that scrapes local 00:01:39.689 --> 00:01:44.090 news from online sources, leading one human newsreader 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:48.409 to check and voice 39 local bulletins a day across 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:52.010 four regions. I also suspect the newsreader isn't 00:01:52.010 --> 00:01:54.870 actually voicing complete bulletins either, judging 00:01:54.870 --> 00:01:57.569 by the similarity of the intros on the ABC's 00:01:57.569 --> 00:02:00.969 Media Watch. Now, I'm not sure how possible it 00:02:00.969 --> 00:02:04.790 is to fact -check AI output at scale like this, 00:02:04.829 --> 00:02:07.290 and I suspect that there's a lawsuit waiting 00:02:07.290 --> 00:02:09.509 to happen for broadcasting an unchecked story. 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:12.169 Only a few weeks ago, in fact, when producing 00:02:12.169 --> 00:02:14.669 an audio transcript for this very newsletter, 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:19.550 I caught my own transcript generation AI tool 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:23.449 confidently giving me text about an alleged and 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:27.620 proven offence. The audio actually said an alleged 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:31.840 unproven offence. I also wonder how much local 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.860 news actually exists for AI to scrape these days 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:40.300 anyway. Elsewhere, good news. After BBC Sounds 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:43.379 was turned off in July, the BBC have restored 00:02:43.379 --> 00:02:46.879 on -demand access for flagship BBC Radio 4 programmes 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.840 in the BBC International app around four months 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.949 later. I've updated my canonical guide on how 00:02:52.949 --> 00:02:55.409 to listen to BBC Radio outside the UK with that 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:57.750 information. Now, the only thing I'm keen to 00:02:57.750 --> 00:03:00.530 happen is for the BBC to stop promoting BBC Sounds 00:03:00.530 --> 00:03:05.530 outside the UK in its podcast Trails. They've 00:03:05.530 --> 00:03:07.550 got all of the tools to do that already, and 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:10.289 it's clear evidence to me of friction between 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:14.159 sounds and studios. Triton Digital has rolled 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.560 out an interesting product for radio sales. It's 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.659 known as AdBuilder AI, and it allows smaller 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:22.360 advertisers to make radio ads themselves using 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.560 AI, then pay for their radio advertising using 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.639 a credit card. It fixes some of the problems 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.789 of local direct sales. that below a certain size 00:03:31.789 --> 00:03:34.229 of order, it's not really very viable to give 00:03:34.229 --> 00:03:36.530 a full service three -course sale to a small 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:39.669 advertiser. So your stations version of this 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:43.250 tool is all branded with your own logos and stuff. 00:03:43.289 --> 00:03:45.030 It's a very clever application of technology 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:47.849 to free your salespeople up to give their full 00:03:47.849 --> 00:03:51.639 support to larger advertisers. Talking about 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:54.419 radio advertising, I linked to a piece from AdsWiz 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:56.840 suggesting that they have the data to be able 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:58.840 to give a better answer in terms of frequency 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:02.439 or opportunities to hear than the oft -quoted 00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:05.759 at least three. It also links to SiriusXM, which 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.259 suggests that the best value is four or more. 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:12.840 In Estonia, Radio Kuku has reportedly announced 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:15.919 that it's going to stop broadcasting on seven 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.399 FM frequencies from mid -January due to high 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.000 costs, they say, replacing the coverage with 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.579 a DAB plus signal. I suspect we'll see a bit 00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:27.319 more of that. And last time, I wrote about my 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:29.160 disappointment that there was no local content 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:32.040 on my local ABC station after 7pm on a Sunday 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:34.920 night, and discovered that BBC local radio wants 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.560 to stop bothering doing local radio on Sunday 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:40.379 afternoons entirely, and instead they want to 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:43.600 network an All England programme instead. David 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.399 Lloyd makes a response to Ofcom, which is excellently 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:50.079 written, very robust, and worth a read for anyone 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:53.139 like me who wants to learn how to criticise properly. 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.360 You'll find that linked from the newsletter today 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.279 at radioland .email. Finally, to Brisbane, which 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:03.839 I appreciate I've been banging on about recently 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:05.620 and you're probably not very interested in it, 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:08.459 hence why it's at the bottom of the newsletter 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:11.250 and why I've left it till last. And frankly, 00:05:11.329 --> 00:05:13.290 why I didn't do one of these newsletters last 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.769 week, because I had very little to say that wasn't 00:05:15.769 --> 00:05:18.730 Brisbane -based. But having fired the current 00:05:18.730 --> 00:05:22.430 KISS 97 .3 breakfast team in Brisbane, although 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:24.790 correctly letting these professionals say their 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:28.310 goodbyes, so thank you for that, ARN has announced 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:30.730 a surprising replacement. We'll get somebody 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:34.870 called Craig Lowy Lowe. It's a curious choice. 00:05:35.389 --> 00:05:38.569 He's lived in the US since 2010 as a comedy writer, 00:05:38.769 --> 00:05:41.430 performer, actor and director. Apparently, he 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:44.230 only returned to Australia last month. He's not 00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:49.410 done radio or even any podcasts since 2010. It's 00:05:49.410 --> 00:05:52.069 also interesting since, by rights, the $20 million 00:05:52.069 --> 00:05:56.129 a year Kyle and Jackie O should be on Kiss instead. 00:05:57.129 --> 00:06:00.889 Also in January, ARN will launch the Christian 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:03.879 O 'Connell Breakfast Show in Brisbane. Tried 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.199 and proven talent, with a music format that works 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.740 brilliantly in this market, but music that's 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:12.579 only available on AM, so it's an obvious number 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:16.079 one FM station. But Christian will only launch 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.699 on DAB +, and not on FM. Now, I just went to 00:06:20.699 --> 00:06:24.319 check whether the press release about Loewy said 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:29.350 Kiss 97 .3 or just said Kiss. It says 97 .3, 00:06:29.389 --> 00:06:33.509 but are ARN really going to squander this golden 00:06:33.509 --> 00:06:36.589 opportunity? I think there's surprises still 00:06:36.589 --> 00:06:40.490 to come, if you ask me. Also, congratulations 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:44.430 to Sophie Formica and Dean Miller, who have been 00:06:44.430 --> 00:06:47.990 given 4BC's breakfast show next year. I don't 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:50.589 know Dean. I've met Sophie, though. She's a great 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:53.949 and positive broadcaster. Both are Brisbane -based. 00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:56.649 and they've known each other for 20 years. And 00:06:56.649 --> 00:06:58.310 it does fill me with quite a lot of confidence 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:00.529 that this show won't just be an angry old man 00:07:00.529 --> 00:07:03.709 shouting about politics and stirring for divisive 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:06.490 talking points. The ABC, I think, should be a 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:09.149 bit concerned about 4BC next year, particularly 00:07:09.149 --> 00:07:12.910 if 4BC's owners, Channel 9, use their multimedia 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:18.000 heft to promote the new show properly. Next, 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:20.819 I'm speaking at Radio Days Europe in Riga in 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:24.600 Latvia in March 2026. I mean, theoretically next, 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.500 I'm speaking at an event in Sri Lanka towards 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:32.800 the end of November. But I don't quite yet have 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.480 any confirmed tickets or anything like that. 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:39.519 So, you know, what do you know? But thank you 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.360 to the many supporters of this newsletter and 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:48.120 podcast. Clyde Broadcast, The Radio People, Radio 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:52.829 .co, Admaster, Cloud. powered traffic and billing 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:57.290 tool. It says in the graphic, which I can't quite 00:07:57.290 --> 00:08:00.189 read, hence why I was a little bit pausing there. 00:08:00.389 --> 00:08:02.689 Anyway, admaster .info to find out more about 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:05.329 them and Wade Kingsley, the creative coach. Thank 00:08:05.329 --> 00:08:09.170 you all for your support and all of the other 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:12.689 regular supporters. If you would like to buy 00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:17.329 me a coffee or something, then that would be 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:20.089 nice. Buymeacoffee .com slash James Credland 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:23.540 is where to go. And you can also follow me on 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:27.519 Mastodon, james at bne .social. And my website 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.740 has more details about who I am, what I do and 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:32.080 whether I can help you further. That is at james 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.179 .crid .land. And until next time, keep listening.