Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist,
and this is Radioland, my radio trends newsletter.
This podcast is sponsored by RSS .com. I've been
talking about the extra opportunities that new
radio platforms offer since, well, since a long
time ago. And while the Americans have sadly
stopped innovating in radio, as far as I can
see, and I have evidence linked in my blog post
today that they stopped 19 years ago. other parts
of the world are still offering much more interesting
and exciting output. Additional choice is what's
driven radio's success in much of Europe. Radio's
digital platforms, both the internet but also
DAB, offer significant extra choice that allows
broadcasters to grow brands, not just stations,
and sometimes to offer additional choice for
advertisers. So it is with Global's WSQK, a real
radio station available on real broadcast radio
in London and online worldwide, offering a choice
of a radio station from the 1980s in Hawkins,
Indiana. WSQK is, of course, an advertising vehicle
for Stranger Things, the Netflix series that's
just returned for a new and final season. But
here's the thing, it's done so, so well. and
it highlights how the creatives who work in good
radio companies can always get closer to fans
in a way that no one else can. Global's WSQK
is a full, 24 -7, six -week -long radio station
deep into the Stranger Things universe, and everything
on it is perfect. The station has 1980s -sounding
jingles. It has DJs right through the day. It
has features like the rewind at nine. It has
news at the top of the hour during the day. And
of course, it has commercials as well for businesses
in Hawkins. Everything has been thought of and
everything has been carefully recreated to keep
you in the Stranger Things universe. The only
way you'd know that you're listening to something
a little different is the jingles which say Global
and Stranger Things present. And that's it. No
cheesy voiceover telling you to watch Stranger
Things. Nothing to take you out of the moment.
You're being treated as an adult, dear listener.
And quite rightly. Here's a little bit. What
a monster! record that was this is wsqk the squawk
and we are turning this town upside down down
down what was that we're good right hawkins uh
can you still hear us yeah right okay yeah so
advance goodman is the name and i'm keeping you
company on wsqk the squawk Someone really needs
to sort the power out of this place, huh? Don't
touch that dial. Hopefully we'll be back right
after this. Global and Stranger Things present
WSQK The Squawk. Think you've got what it takes
to top the leaderboard? Then get down to the
Palace Arcade in downtown Hawkins. We've got
Dig Dug, Galaga, Dragon's Lair, and the all -new
Tempest. Bring your quarters, bring your friends,
and bring your A -game. This week's top of the
leaderboard is Mad Max. Can you unseat our champ?
The Palace Arcade, where Hawkins plays to win.
Oh, wipe out. Yes, the station even sweats the
little details, as Radio Today says. To replicate
the authentic 80s sound, WSQK is being processed
using a vintage Innovonix FM250 audio processor.
These were released in 1983, it says, and were
in use across thousands of stations across the
world during the latter part of the 80s. It genuinely
sounds like it. It's a high -energy, slightly
smeary compressed sound, just like I remember
from Hallam when I used them when I was on the
air. Now, I'm not a Stranger Things watcher,
but the rest of my family are, and every single
element was accompanied in the car by, oh, so
-and -so worked here in season two, or, oh, this
song was played when, bloody blah. They loved
it even more than I did. And if you listen closely,
you'll notice a not very big music catalogue.
It only plays songs from the show, and there
haven't been too many of those. The voice track
DJs never name any of the songs that they're
playing, or give any time checks, or any frequencies
come to that. And the commercials never mention
place names or prices. The jingles are, the Anoraks
say, the WCBS mixes of the K -Hits 2016 package
from Real World. But none of that takes you out
of the moment. The production is excellent. Punchy
voiceovers, great jingles, segued properly in
the play -out system to deliver the fast sound
that was around in those days. The writing of
the commercials, of the news bulletins, of the
DJ breaks are on point and very well done. No
AI seems to have been abused here as far as I
can hear. WSQK is on air until the series finale
on the 1st of January. Do take a listen and bottle
that for your own radio station. And just to
compare, Global's competitor Spotify has produced
some playlists. Now, radio in Australia, which
has just gone into its six -week audience sabotage
mode that confused me back in 2017 and continues
to confuse me now. is reeling from the loss of
Lauren Joyce as Chief Audience and Content Officer
of ARN. She's been made redundant. ARN's new
CEO, Michael Stevenson, is to bring back a Chief
Content Officer role, quotes, allowing us to
focus more clearly on creating and delivering
great content. Meanwhile, Kyle and Jackie O's
$20 million a year show delivered worse figures
in both Sydney and Melbourne this time around.
In Brisbane, ARN announced the virtual unknown
Craig Lowy Lowe as Kiss breakfast presenter on
October 29th. But only on November 27th, this
Thursday, did they think about advertising for
a producer for the show. I still think there's
some surprises to come with this one. Not least,
Craig Lowy Lowe is not actually mentioned in
the job ad, but then perhaps there are plenty
of good reasons why, and I link to one of those
today from the blog version of this. Meanwhile,
the show Craig Lowy Lowe will replace, Robin
Kipp and Corrie, did its last show on Friday.
According to Mr Brisbane, he notes that seven
out of the ten -person team involved in the Brisbane
Kiss breakfast show has lost their jobs. I'm
sorry, what? Ten? Ten people for a commercial
music breakfast show? Ten people working on that?
I mean, that said, it's not going to be easy
to replace Robin, who's been on the air for over
35 years in the city. It's probably unavoidable
that Craig Lowy Lowe is going to post smaller
audience figures. but we'll have to wait until
March 19th to discover quite how lowy -lower
they are. Also in Brisbane, 4ZZZ is the subject
of three events at SLQ next week. If you want
to go, the community station is celebrating its
50th birthday. And I'm in Orlando in mid -January.
It should be fun. I'll be taking my silly radio
along with me. If there's stuff that I should
be listening to, I would really appreciate knowing.
James at grid .land is my email address. That
would be lovely. Places where I am speaking next
include Podfest in Orlando, in Florida. Oh, yes,
that's why. Where I will be talking about where
we've been and where we're going. A look back
at where we've come from, including last year's
podcast news and trends to help us understand
how podcasting is changing and how we should
be changing with it. Plus, a look forward to
what to do in 2026. I look forward to writing
that, as I do my Radio Days Europe talk, which
is in Riga in Latvia in mid -March. The future
of audio is people -powered. You should be getting
your tickets for both of those. Money off, by
the way, Podfest, if you go to podnews .net slash
extras. And if your email address won't let you
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Realm. Media Realm. Yes, Media Realm. They're
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Radio and all of those excellent people. Also,
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And until next time, keep listening.