WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:05.879 and this is Radioland, my international radio 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:08.320 trends newsletter, and this podcast is sponsored 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.919 by RSS .com. More on that in a bit. This is for 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:16.559 November the 24th, 2025. Hey, Google, when will 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:22.079 you fix radio? Plus, ARN's compliance team. Now, 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.100 it was interesting to hear the following on 4BH 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.670 in Brisbane over the weekend. Right across our 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:31.750 River City, classic hits 4BH, the Swedish bad 00:00:31.750 --> 00:00:34.689 four. Abba, gimme, gimme, gimme. John Wade in 00:00:34.689 --> 00:00:36.390 there too, he's the playlist this afternoon. 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:39.350 As much of a joy for me to play it as for you 00:00:39.350 --> 00:00:41.869 to turn it up on your AM radio, DAB plus digital 00:00:41.869 --> 00:00:45.210 radio in stereo and on the listener app. And 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:49.090 hey Google, play Brisbane's 4BH. Look, we're 00:00:49.090 --> 00:00:51.390 working on it. We're getting lots of texts, lots 00:00:51.390 --> 00:00:54.429 of emails, lots of calls, lots of sad face emojis. 00:00:54.509 --> 00:00:57.890 We are across the issues with Google and streaming 00:00:57.890 --> 00:01:01.009 4BH at the moment. Just know that we are onto 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:03.490 it. The big wigs of 4BH are onto it. The big 00:01:03.490 --> 00:01:06.609 wigs of Ace Radio in touch with Google all the 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:09.750 time. And the latest we've had reported is it 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:13.030 should be all back consistently online streaming 00:01:13.030 --> 00:01:16.150 from next week. But who knows? It could be back 00:01:16.150 --> 00:01:20.150 happening right now. keep an ear on it. In the 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:22.909 meantime you can turn on the AM radio, DAB plus 00:01:22.909 --> 00:01:24.989 digital radio and the listener app. Wow, now 00:01:24.989 --> 00:01:27.590 I've not heard radio stations having to broadcast 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:30.230 apologies about their station not working on 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:33.090 Google speakers before but it does show what 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:35.409 a bad state of affairs we're now in where stations 00:01:35.409 --> 00:01:37.709 have to broadcast PSAs about the fact that they 00:01:37.709 --> 00:01:40.579 know that there are problems. Now back in May 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:43.560 I covered an issue with Google speakers and live 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.620 radio but it seems all still isn't well with 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:49.719 Google devices. Many stations stopping working 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:53.200 after firmware first release in July had caused 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:56.319 problems. It's an issue all over the world, not 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.439 just in Australia. But Australia has a high concentration 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:03.480 of Google speaker users after some quite heavy 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.459 promotion a few years back. with Google speakers 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:08.979 being given to virtually everybody with Telstra, 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:12.960 the big telco. If you want more detail, RadioApps 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.360 FAQ is really interesting. It's a helpful list 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:19.259 of what the app, which is run by CRA in Australia, 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:22.539 has been told from Google about streaming issues. 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:26.139 It looks like Google released another bad software 00:02:26.139 --> 00:02:28.939 or firmware update which broke playback altogether 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:32.120 on some Google speakers. Then another issue, 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.460 streams would only play for 10 minutes or so 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.060 before stopping and falling over. And then on 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:41.360 November the 18th at 2pm, literally nothing worked 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.919 on Google speakers at all in terms of the radio. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:47.819 Now a broadcast radio station would fix their 00:02:47.819 --> 00:02:51.199 transmitter within hours. But Google's fix takes 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:55.180 days to roll out. And all of this seems an astonishingly 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:58.539 poor state of affairs. It's not the only issue 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:01.180 with Google stuff. Something within Google was 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:04.759 pulling my daily podcast. So often it was costing 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:08.879 me $200 in additional bandwidth. The issue was 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.240 directly traceable to their infrastructure but 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.379 they just denied anything was wrong while also 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:16.919 not understanding the issue in the first place. 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:20.340 I suspect it's still causing issues for others. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:25.280 I've just given up altogether. Now after last 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.120 week when I mentioned ACMA's next step in regulating 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.460 Kyle and Jackie Ho, I was curious what is ACMA 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:37.460 doing and More to the point, what can they do? 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:40.699 So I went digging into broadcast lore to discover 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:43.719 what ACMA can and can't do in a blog post, which 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.879 I'll link to today from the newsletter. First, 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.060 apparently it's the ACMA, just like it's the 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:53.000 FCC. So there's a learning. And I should point 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.759 out that all of the Australian media have got 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.099 that one wrong so far. But let's see if I can 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:01.210 get that right. So second, I learned that The 00:04:01.210 --> 00:04:04.229 ACMA is responsible for regulating the aims of 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:07.669 the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which includes 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:10.469 a requirement to place a high priority on the 00:04:10.469 --> 00:04:12.729 protection of children from exposure to program 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:16.089 material which may be harmful to them. And it's 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:19.970 worthwhile remembering that 16 % of KISS's audience 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:23.970 is aged between 10 and 17. The ACMA just can't 00:04:23.970 --> 00:04:26.870 ignore this. It's written into the law that output 00:04:26.870 --> 00:04:30.879 must, quote, respect community standards. But 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.480 third, the ACMA is really limited in what it 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.000 can do. If this was Ofcom in the UK, they could 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.699 issue a small fine or make an ad hoc requirement, 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.519 like you've all got to do training over the next 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:47.860 two months. But instead, the ACMA has to issue 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.240 a license condition, which is a complicated legal 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.040 document, and its only form of enforcement is 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:56.980 either to suspend the license or to terminate 00:04:56.980 --> 00:04:59.819 it. That's all they can do. And those are really 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:02.980 serious, and there's no less serious enforcement 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:06.240 that the ACMA has any power for. Now that's a 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:08.560 failing in the law, I suspect, but it does explain 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:13.459 a lot in terms of ACMA's seeming incapability 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:16.379 of doing anything. And the answer is that they 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:18.279 can't really do anything apart from take the 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:22.279 station off the air. But... Good news, ACMA finally 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:24.399 appear to be taking this seriously because a 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.860 new job ad has appeared for Senior Content Advisor 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:31.759 at ARN. The description says, ARN is offering 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:36.160 a rare opportunity to join the Kyle and Jackie 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.620 Oh show as Senior Content Advisor, where you'll 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:42.399 play a pivotal role in safeguarding brand equity 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.210 and leading a team dedicated to ensuring broadcast 00:05:48.210 --> 00:05:50.709 compliance, brand integrity, by the way, not 00:05:50.709 --> 00:05:53.329 brand equity, but leading a team, eh? Leading 00:05:53.329 --> 00:05:57.569 a team, a team, to police what Kyle Sanderlands, 00:05:57.730 --> 00:05:59.389 who is apparently a professional broadcaster, 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:02.649 says. I wonder how big that team is going to 00:06:02.649 --> 00:06:05.610 be. And while the broadcast compliance bit is 00:06:05.610 --> 00:06:07.670 a bit difficult, obviously brand integrity for 00:06:07.670 --> 00:06:09.829 Kyle is of course just talking about willies. 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:12.959 So that bit should be easy. I do also wonder 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.120 where Jackie Henderson fits into all of this. 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:16.920 It's easy to say it's the Karlo and Jackie O 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:19.259 show, but from what I can see of all of the transcripts 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:22.639 so far, Jackie never seems to initiate any of 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.579 this type of talk and you sense that she's just 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:29.680 a bit bored of the whole thing really. Now, not 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:31.279 really broadcast radio, but I've been learning 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:33.779 about Meshtastic, which is a way of sending short 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:37.019 messages via a mesh of small, low -powered radio 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:39.079 receivers and transmitters, which has been quite 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:42.139 fun. I bought a little board, a Heltech 32, which 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:45.259 is about $30 or so. Australian dollars, by the 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:48.459 way, so that's about £2 .50. Not quite, but nearly. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.420 And anyway, it can now see other Meshtastic users 00:06:52.420 --> 00:06:55.699 for around 300 kilometres around my house. Now, 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:59.300 look, I'm not quite sure what use it is. and 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:01.300 whether I should really be using MeshTastic or 00:07:01.300 --> 00:07:04.279 MeshCore. But still, it's a fun little thing 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.600 to play with. I can see all kinds of messages 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:11.750 going on on there. So there's a thing. Something 00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:13.829 else which has gone on in Australia, the CRA 00:07:13.829 --> 00:07:17.170 has launched Audio ID, which is a new way to 00:07:17.170 --> 00:07:20.610 allow audio ad buyers to see the entire online 00:07:20.610 --> 00:07:23.410 audience of radio stations in Australia as one 00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:26.250 set of data, which means that if I listen to 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:28.290 a little bit of MMM and then a little bit of 00:07:28.290 --> 00:07:31.589 4BC, the advertisers see me as the same person. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.980 allowing better frequency capping and targeting 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:38.620 overall, which seems to be a sensible way to 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:41.759 make radio audiences easier to buy and better 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.379 to compete with Spotify or other services. It's 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:47.720 quite neat. You should take a peek at the website. 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:51.879 Now, an upcoming news podcast from the BBC Asia 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.910 specific is being made in video. But the video 00:07:55.910 --> 00:07:59.129 will only be on YouTube and won't be on the BBC's 00:07:59.129 --> 00:08:02.170 own website, according to Podnews, which is a 00:08:02.170 --> 00:08:04.990 very good website. They released this last week, 00:08:05.089 --> 00:08:07.910 I say they, it's me, obviously. But the podcast 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:10.509 launched last Thursday on all podcast platforms, 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:13.389 but in spite of the BBC having a comprehensive 00:08:13.389 --> 00:08:16.569 video service on its international website. The 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:19.850 only way to watch this new show, which is filmed 00:08:19.850 --> 00:08:22.230 twice weekly at the BBC's Bureau in Singapore, 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:26.889 will be to visit a US -owned website, which to 00:08:26.889 --> 00:08:30.089 me seems sub -optimal for the UK's broadcaster. 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.240 Not that they've got other things to be worrying 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.000 about. And a new audio awards have been announced 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.519 in Australia. The Australian Audio Awards will 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:40.179 take place in Sydney on May the 28th. It's operated 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:45.360 by Mumbrella Radio Info and Radio Today. And 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.860 the awards will recognise both radio and podcast. 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:51.600 It's a good thing. trying to find out whether 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.639 the Australian Podcast Awards are still going. 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.500 I'm not quite sure, to be honest, that I can 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:00.419 find that out. The only thing that I really know 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:02.980 is that, well, they haven't really told me too 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:08.750 much. But still, but there we are. I should also 00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:12.049 tell you about Zeno Media, who have a quite nice 00:09:12.049 --> 00:09:14.730 self -service ad feature now in Zeno Tools that 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:18.470 you can make available to your advertisers, which 00:09:18.470 --> 00:09:21.429 is a very smart thing. And I have a feeling that 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:23.250 there's something else that I should be mentioning 00:09:23.250 --> 00:09:25.070 as well, which will probably go into the newsletter, 00:09:25.070 --> 00:09:28.190 because I'm not quite sure where it's gone. But 00:09:28.190 --> 00:09:32.490 there should be something exciting about... Oh, 00:09:32.490 --> 00:09:37.700 here it is. There you go. I was sent it, but 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:41.419 the embargo was just too late for last week, 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:44.639 so it was hiding away in my email. But anyway, 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:52.399 if you are looking to get involved with digital 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.240 radio sales, particularly, then there is a new 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:03.200 digital sales mentorship program. which you can 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:07.480 apply to. Applications are now open through December 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.240 12, 2025. It's in America, as you might have 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.919 already guessed. It's a year -long initiative 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.519 designed to accelerate the growth and professional 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:18.659 development of women in digital radio sales, 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:21.620 providing one exceptional female seller or manager 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:25.600 with personalised hands -on mentorship from an 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:29.230 accomplished industry leader. I wonder who that's 00:10:29.230 --> 00:10:32.570 going to be. It doesn't say here. I'm assuming 00:10:32.570 --> 00:10:35.269 it's Pat Bryson. It's the usual assumption. But 00:10:35.269 --> 00:10:38.450 anyway, if you want to apply for that, then you 00:10:38.450 --> 00:10:43.450 should probably do that. It is being run by the 00:10:43.450 --> 00:10:49.450 Women in Radio group. and you can go and learn 00:10:49.450 --> 00:10:54.529 more about that radio miw .com that's mentoring 00:10:54.529 --> 00:11:00.230 and inspiring women radio miw .com so there we 00:11:00.230 --> 00:11:02.690 are there's a thing i nearly forgot to put in 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:06.769 this but i didn't so that's good Thank you to 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:10.769 Radioland reader James who is in Orlando in Florida. 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:12.789 I recently found your podcast through YouTube 00:11:12.789 --> 00:11:16.350 of all places, of all places. I'm 60 and I've 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:18.470 been a big fan of everything radio since I was 00:11:18.470 --> 00:11:21.190 a kid around nine. I've been binging on your 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:24.029 podcast and will be passing it on to my radio 00:11:24.029 --> 00:11:26.649 enthusiast friends. I should hope so. Thank you 00:11:26.649 --> 00:11:29.649 James and thank you to RSS .com which is celebrating 00:11:29.649 --> 00:11:33.370 its new free podcast hosting by becoming a sponsor 00:11:33.370 --> 00:11:36.309 of the podcast version of this newsletter. That's 00:11:36.309 --> 00:11:38.669 the thing you're listening to right now. I've 00:11:38.669 --> 00:11:40.909 worked with RSS .com for a while as an advisor. 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:43.990 They've recently launched Paid, which is an automated 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:46.350 programmatic ad insertion tool, which turns out 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:48.570 to be a simple way to earn money from your podcast. 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:51.309 You've probably noticed the ads in here. Yes. 00:11:51.710 --> 00:11:53.809 And for radio companies, I think there's something 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:56.269 coming just around the corner, which should make 00:11:56.269 --> 00:11:59.509 it really simple to include podcasts from your 00:11:59.509 --> 00:12:02.649 audio systems as well. I've probably broken an 00:12:02.649 --> 00:12:06.240 embargo there, but there we are. So, yes, RSS 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.779 .com, thank you so much for your kind support. 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:12.759 Where am I speaking next? Well, James, in Orlando 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.139 and Florida, I am speaking next in Orlando, Florida. 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:21.039 Podfest, which is towards the middle of January, 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:23.679 January the 15th to the 18th. Can't tell you 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.519 what I'm speaking about yet, because frankly, 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.820 I don't know. But I'm off there, so that should 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:32.629 be fun. And then... Radio Days Europe in Riga 00:12:32.629 --> 00:12:37.049 in Latvia in March, radiodaysEurope .com to buy 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:40.409 tickets for that. The future of audio is people 00:12:40.409 --> 00:12:42.789 powered is what I will be talking about there. 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:44.950 By the way, podfestexpo .com is where to get 00:12:44.950 --> 00:12:48.269 tickets. for PodFest and thank you to the many 00:12:48.269 --> 00:12:51.750 supporters of this podcast, including the wrong 00:12:51.750 --> 00:12:56.490 -headed Wade Kingsley, also Meliora Soma FM. 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:59.830 Thank you, Rusty. Radio .co and Media Results 00:12:59.830 --> 00:13:05.070 Inc. for your kind support, along with Greg Strassel, 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:08.210 Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn 00:13:08.210 --> 00:13:11.289 Abbey, and James Masterton, who are regular supporters 00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:12.950 as well. If you would like to support my work 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:15.480 in any way, you can buy me a coffee. You can 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:17.279 become a member to give regularly or just give 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.019 a one -off coffee or five. You can do that at 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:23.860 buymeacoffee .com slash James Cridland. And follow 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:27.220 me on Mastodon on the Fediverse, jamesatbne .social. 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.820 And if you want more details about who I am and 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:32.559 what I do and whether I can help you further, 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:35.600 then you'll find my website at james .cridland 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:39.419 .net. And until next time, keep listening.