I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, and
this is Radioland, my international radio trends
newsletter for December the 7th, 2025. Does a
trademark application tell us anything about
Global's plans? This podcast is sponsored by
rss .com. Now, rss .com has just launched some
free podcast hosting if you're doing local podcasts.
It's well worth a look. rss .com is where to
go. It's a very good thing. rss .com is where
to go. Now, back in mid -November, I covered
SEA's lacklustre heart here in Australia, jokingly
saying that if you're expecting to turn up the
feel -good and enjoy a version of the vibrant
heart from the UK, then you'll be disappointed.
Well, it appears that Global in the UK, which
owns Heart, the biggest radio brand in the country,
has noticed. A search of IP Australia for registered
trademark applications reveals that an Australian
trademark application for Heart was made by Global
on October 31st, just three days after SCA launched
its own Heart. Global's also filed a removal
of registration for non -use against SCA, who
used to own Hart 107 .3 in Hobart, but that radio
station changed name in 2006. Global also applied
for the newsagents as an Australian trademark
in 2023, a year after the launch of the Daily
News podcast. And the company already owns a
few trademarks here in Australia. Global itself,
Global ID, the user registration tool, Global's
newsroom, the name of the company's news gathering
services. Oh, and turn up the feel good. Hart's
positioning statement registered in September
2021. I've often had a very funny joke that Global
isn't. because it only owns radio stations in
the UK. Now it owns a radio station in Monaco
as well. But those trademark applications show,
I think, that it appears to be interested in
radio overseas. And I suspect it's just biding
its time. In 2020, the FCC allowed iHeartMedia
to be 100 % foreign -owned. The Bahamas -based
Global Media and Entertainment Investments Limited
currently owns 14 % of iHeartMedia in the US.
But perhaps Global isn't just interested in the
US. Australia has many parallels to the UK. Two
big radio groups, opportunities with DAB +, a
strong public service broadcaster, and no specific
rules against foreign ownership. Maybe Global
is waiting for an Australian radio group to fall
on bad times. A low share price. low confidence
in management and current owners willing to sell.
By complete coincidence, News Corp has just sold
its shares in ARN. ARN's the rather embattled
owner of Kiss and Gold in Australia, which is
currently warning of significantly lower profits.
News Corp had owned those shares for a decade,
having increased its holding to 14 .99 % in March
2015 at 88 cents a share. News Corp will get
$18 million and will also lose $18 million since
it sold its stake in ARN. for just 44 cents a
share. The current market cap of ARN is 140 million.
Sydney smut peddlers Kyle and Jackie O have just
completed the first two years of a 10 -year deal
at 200 million dollars, a deal worth more than
the worth of the entire company. Oh, and ARN
has a brand license for iHeart Media's iHeart
Radio and iHeart Podcasts in this country, as
well as access to the app. Handy. Elsewhere,
how should you use AI within radio? I linked
to an article today from the newsletter. It's
not about radio, but it might as well be. Gordon
Firemark, who is a media lawyer in the US, has
been thinking long and hard about how to use
AI within podcasting. And it's all relevant for
radio as well. One takeaway, you can't copyright
anything that was produced by AI. So if you make
a logo using it and someone else nicks it, then
tough. It's a really good read. Highly recommended.
I also linked today to an audio advent calendar
with a different sound behind each door. I suppose
I should find out what the sound is today. What
is it? It's the 7th today. And let's see what
this sound is. It's Russell Street. Step off
here for the State Library of Victoria. A ten
-minute walk from the next stop is the birthplace
of Melbourne's vibrant cafe culture. Well, there
you go. It seems that we were in Melbourne. I
would have thought. That sounds like a Melbourne
tram to me. So there's a thing. Anyway, it's
very good. You should go and have a listen. YouTube's
algorithm appears to have changed in September.
It now heavily favours recency, according to
a man called Mario Juice on LinkedIn, who shares
a way that you can isolate that data for yourself.
And if there's one thing that radio benefits
from, it's recency. Unlike most other media,
we're producing new stuff every single day. So
particularly with YouTube Shorts, we should benefit
from that, I would have thought. I link today
to an unlocked story at the New York Times. College
radio keeps its cool. Here's a quote from it.
But if soon after the late summer of 1991 the
internet killed radio, everyone forgot to tell
the student stations. It's a good read. In Australia,
CRA reports that quarter three 2025 saw broadcast
radio revenue down around 5 % year on year. Digital
audio revenue is up 12 .1%. but it's just 9 .7
% of total revenue for the country's radio broadcasters.
If you want to compare that with somebody else,
well, iHeart in the US says that they are earning
14 % of their total revenue just from podcasts.
Additionally, CRA members only represent a third
of the digital audio ad market. You'd assume
that they would represent around 95 % of the
radio ad market, so I'm surprised how low that
is. Spotify's wrapped, and Apple, YouTube and
Amazon equivalents all dropped this week, and
I was curious as to whether any radio stations
have done the same. Something like, you know,
we played 40 ,000 songs. Sabrina Carpenter was
our most played song or our most played artist.
The most popular time to listen is 8 .42. It
seems like it's an obvious no -brainer to highlight
the significant size of radio broadcasting and
reaffirm some marketing messages. I'd love to
cover something like that. It'd be really interesting.
Maybe that's a radio station doing that. Maybe
that's somebody like Radio Centre or CRA or somebody
else. but given that we've just been bombarded
with raps over the last week, you kind of think,
well, maybe there's an opportunity there right
at the beginning of December. Who knows? And
many breakfast shows in the Brisbane market have
packed up early, with another week of survey
still to go. At Nova, two out of the three hosts
finished up last Friday, as Mr Brisbane has reported.
For BC, their breakfast announcer disappeared
in mid -October. And Kiss, where a well -respected
trio ended a few weeks ago, and where Craig Lowy
Lowe... It's apparently doing a new show from
mid -January, though I'm still hedging some bets
that all isn't as it seems. Anyway, the last
survey this year ends on Friday and will report
for the period October 5th to December 13th on
January 20th. Now, I'm next speaking. In Florida,
in the US, Podfest. Yes, I'm looking forward
to doing that. 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,
I look forward to what to do in 2026. I'm looking
forward to writing it. Also, I'm speaking at
Radio Days Europe in Riga in Latvia in mid -March.
That's an excellent thing that you should go
to. RadioDaysEurope .com is where to go. The
future of audio is people -powered. The way people
consume media is changing. James Cridland, the
radio futurologist, that's me, takes a look at
global trends in radio and on demand. How will
we listen on which devices? How can we make our
output truly unique? How do we do it in a resource
-efficient way? And what part does video play
in the future of audio? In this wide -ranging
session, bringing together data from North America,
Asia, Australia and Europe, we'll learn why the
future is bright. as long as we understand why
our audience comes to us in the first place.
I'll go and watch that. In fact, I will be. So
it'd be great to see you at one of those two
things. Thank you so much to the many supporters
of this podcast and my newsletter, Media Realm,
rss .com, Brun Audio Consulting. and Clyde Broadcast,
the radio people. Thank you to you. Thank you
also to Greg Strassel, Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton,
Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn Abbey and James Masterton
for being regular supporters. James Masterton
particularly because he's not using his radio
anymore. But he says that he quite enjoys doing
this. Anyway, if you'd like to support my work
in any way, then please do. That'd be lovely.
You can buy me a coffee. You can become a member
to give regularly or just give a one -off coffee
or five. You can do that at buymeacoffee .com
slash James Cridland. Or alternatively, you can
do that with Stripe. There's a link in the newsletter.
And my website has more details about who I am
and what I do and whether I can help you further.
You'll find that at james .cridland .net. And
until next time, keep listening.