WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.620 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:06.219 and this is Radioland, my radio trends newsletter. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.580 You can find the website at radioland .email. 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:14.099 And this podcast is sponsored by RSS .com. RSS 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:16.760 .com, which is a very good podcast hosting company, 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:20.019 has just launched an API so you can interface 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:23.820 RSS .com with your play -out system or anything 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:26.179 else that you want to. You can find out more 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:29.800 information at... rss .com which amazingly is 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:34.000 their website this is the podcast for december 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.840 the 14th 2025 am continues to be switched off 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:41.979 worldwide as fm gets a reprieve and as i read 00:00:41.979 --> 00:00:44.659 that i'm thinking why am i telling you this because 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:47.119 you can already see that in the podcast and you 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.079 can already see the date so perhaps i'll stop 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:52.240 doing that and just go straight into i've written 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.770 a lot about the issues with am Talk Sport removing 00:00:55.770 --> 00:00:58.950 a set of AM transmitters in the UK. The Americans 00:00:58.950 --> 00:01:01.530 frothing at the mouth about the removal of AM 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:04.489 from cars after the slow dawning of realism in 00:01:04.489 --> 00:01:07.469 that country about AM's future. And, of course, 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:10.750 absolute radio switch -off in January 2023, along 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:13.829 with plenty of local stations. But, once more, 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:19.230 things are afoot. In Spain, Radio Nacional, RNE, 00:01:19.450 --> 00:01:22.959 is switching off its AM network. on December 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.040 30th at three in the morning. You can continue 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.799 to listen on FM as well as online and via DAB+. 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.980 The company says that AM has, quotes, become 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:37.299 obsolete. Ouch. And in any case, FM signals for 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:41.319 RNE cover most of the country. And here in Australia, 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:45.750 the ACMA. has allowed the ABC to switch ABC Radio 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:49.629 Perth and Perth's ABC Radio National transmissions 00:01:49.629 --> 00:01:53.510 to FM. The ABC says that the switchover date 00:01:53.510 --> 00:01:56.670 will be announced in the new year. ABC News Radio 00:01:56.670 --> 00:02:00.329 also gets an FM transmitter, but let's come back 00:02:00.329 --> 00:02:02.629 to that one because it's slightly more complicated. 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:06.719 I made a submission to ACMA, which you can read 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:10.020 on my website, supporting the decision. The main 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:12.479 reason I submitted is that the ABC is funded 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.979 for emergency broadcasting, and emergency broadcasting 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:20.039 is pointless if few people own a radio that picks 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:23.259 up the emergency broadcasts. We already know 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:26.259 that AM radio listening is very low in this country. 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.460 Only one in five Australians listen in a given 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:31.960 week. And trends are that the number of people 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.340 who listen to AM will have halved in the last 00:02:34.340 --> 00:02:38.000 decade. We also know that the ABC agrees with 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.039 that view, simulcasting ABC Radio Brisbane onto 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.680 FM during Cyclone Alfred in order that it reached 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:47.919 the largest number of people. An additional reason 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:50.400 I gave was value for money for the taxpayer. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.719 The ABC could save more than a million dollars 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.520 by turning off the power -hungry AM transmitters, 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.020 and that money should go into its radio output 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:05.810 instead. My submission recommended that the same 00:03:05.810 --> 00:03:08.789 exercise happens in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, 00:03:09.050 --> 00:03:12.169 Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart. At least that 00:03:12.169 --> 00:03:15.310 the ACMA should find an FM frequency for the 00:03:15.310 --> 00:03:18.949 flagship ABC local radio service. And as I've 00:03:18.949 --> 00:03:21.530 said here before, if there really are no frequencies 00:03:21.530 --> 00:03:25.009 available, then the ABC should remove ABC Classic 00:03:25.009 --> 00:03:28.610 from its FM frequency and make it a digital -only 00:03:28.610 --> 00:03:32.180 service in the cities. And my submission also 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:35.139 asked for a change in a random, pointless law, 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.719 of which more after the break. But I'll be on 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.319 ABC Radio Canberra talking about ABC Radio Switch 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.000 Off tomorrow, as I record this Monday at 1pm 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.259 local time. So here's hoping that the politicians 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:52.939 are listening. Now, if you do a radio show, you 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:56.080 might want some world class prep and the right 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.860 show prep, which can be delivered to you on time 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.419 every day without fail, is probably what you 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:05.000 want. And this show prep is called show prep. 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:08.830 And you can grab a £1 week -long trial of Show 00:04:08.830 --> 00:04:10.870 Prep and stop chasing around looking for things 00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:13.150 to use on your show, running out of time before 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.490 the show and trying to sight -read the newspapers. 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:20.189 You'll find a link in my newsletter, which you'll 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:24.709 also find linked from the show notes today. Now 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.629 in Perth, ABC News Radio will be getting an FM 00:04:27.629 --> 00:04:31.189 frequency in 2026, but it won't be switched off 00:04:31.189 --> 00:04:34.810 from AM. even though it'll benefit from FM in 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:37.870 the city. An expensive transmitter will continue 00:04:37.870 --> 00:04:42.769 broadcasting ABC News Radio on 585kHz AM because 00:04:42.769 --> 00:04:46.329 of a law made in 1946 that the Australian government 00:04:46.329 --> 00:04:50.889 seems unbothered to change. So here is your guide 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:53.470 to the Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcasting 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:57.959 Act 1946. It was a law passed by Labour PM Ben 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.699 Chifley and it requires the ABC to broadcast 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:03.120 coverage of the Federal Parliament, either the 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.290 lower or upper house, when they're sitting. They 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:08.389 don't sit very often, it turns out, just 40 days 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.170 a year, with 10 more days for estimates, which 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:12.970 is the rough equivalent of a special committee 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:17.529 in the UK. Since 1994, on the other 310 days 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:20.509 of the year, the ABC has run a news radio station 00:05:20.509 --> 00:05:23.470 on those AM frequencies. A news radio station, 00:05:23.509 --> 00:05:25.230 by the way, which is doing very well, thank you 00:05:25.230 --> 00:05:27.509 very much, in terms of the audience figures. 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:32.250 But yes, the AM frequencies. And it must be an 00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:36.910 AM frequency, because in Clause 4 .1a, the Parliamentary 00:05:36.910 --> 00:05:40.250 Proceedings Broadcast Act 1946 requires that 00:05:40.250 --> 00:05:43.449 parliamentary coverage must be broadcast on a 00:05:43.449 --> 00:05:47.649 medium -wave national broadcasting station. Probably 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:49.829 because there was no other radio platform at 00:05:49.829 --> 00:05:53.209 the time. The ABC can also televise it if they 00:05:53.209 --> 00:05:56.370 want, but they still have to broadcast it on 00:05:56.370 --> 00:06:00.230 AM. And so, if you listen to ABC News Radio on 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:03.170 AM, you'll hear, 50 days of the year, Federal 00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:05.990 Parliament. Or you can continue to hear the news 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:09.970 on DAB +, or the ABC Listen app. And that's why, 00:06:10.129 --> 00:06:14.149 in Perth, ABC News Radio will continue on AM, 00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:17.769 requiring the entire AM transmitter facility 00:06:17.769 --> 00:06:22.930 to remain on air. and the 180 metre high transmitter 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:26.810 tower to be maintained, even if nobody will probably 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:29.430 be listening to it. I'm going to take a wild 00:06:29.430 --> 00:06:32.709 guess that the costs there are around three quarters 00:06:32.709 --> 00:06:35.689 of a million dollars a year when you add up electricity, 00:06:36.050 --> 00:06:39.910 maintenance and access, all because of a law 00:06:39.910 --> 00:06:43.629 made in 1946 which government can't be bothered 00:06:43.629 --> 00:06:47.370 to change. It's madness. So two things leading 00:06:47.370 --> 00:06:51.079 from this. First, ABC News Radio also broadcasts 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:53.620 parliamentary proceedings on its FM frequencies 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:57.920 as well as AM, despite no requirement to do so. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.459 Either they believe it's an audience winner, 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.680 which I doubt, or they lack the switching capabilities 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.560 to treat the FM transmitters separately, or nobody's 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:09.860 realised that they don't have to, and I'd be 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:13.240 fascinated to know which it is. Secondly, the 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:15.579 Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcast Act 1946 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.519 actually says nothing about the broadcast strength 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:22.500 of the signal. If the ABC wanted to, there seems 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:25.600 nothing against them running a 5 watt AM transmitter 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.740 on 585 kilohertz from the roof of ABC Radio Perth, 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:32.579 which would be audible for about a mile. And 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:34.379 that would be entirely within the requirement 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:37.399 of the law. It would also be much cheaper. A 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:41.579 new transmitter would cost $480. a wire antenna 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:44.699 on the roof, $160, and you could plug it into 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:47.819 a mains point with almost zero electricity cost. 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.939 Rather cheaper than keeping a whole AM transmitter 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:54.060 park going next to a housing estate that doesn't 00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:57.860 want it there. After all this talk of AM switch 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:00.740 -off, the FM switch -off in Switzerland, due 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:03.319 at the end of next year, has been cancelled, 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.839 and FM will continue for at least another five 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:09.920 years. Some reasons given are that the Swiss, 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:12.480 lacking their own radio stations, will listen 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.519 to stations from other countries, and that the 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.199 switch -over might hurt some commercial stations. 00:08:18.779 --> 00:08:21.379 It went to a vote in the National Council, and 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:24.279 the Chamber made its decision by 21 votes to 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:28.620 18, with five. abstentions. Public radio has 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.160 already turned off, but apparently they're going 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:35.419 to turn their FM signals back on again. Robin 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:38.360 Ince has resigned from the popular podcast The 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.279 Infinite Monkey Cage and has recorded his last 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.379 show. The show is one of the top 25 shows in 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:48.720 the UK. He suggests his opinions outside the 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.779 BBC have been considered problematic for some 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.740 time. increasingly the benefit of doing a show 00:08:54.740 --> 00:08:57.840 for the BBC, a decent level of pay, a good level 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.179 of job security, is being outweighed by the desire 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:04.100 of the BBC to hamper your creative freedom in 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:06.919 all other parts of your life. And I suspect he 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:09.620 won't be the last to realise that he can probably 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:12.320 have a perfectly successful career without the 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:14.980 constraints of the BBC, and this talent drain 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:18.730 will continue to damage the corporation. And 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:22.029 interesting to see WBGO, a public media station 00:09:22.029 --> 00:09:25.870 in Newark, New Jersey, add programmatic ads onto 00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:29.070 its stream. The station has added thousands in 00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:32.070 incremental sponsor revenue, and apparently the 00:09:32.070 --> 00:09:34.289 audience doesn't mind that much. They're using 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:38.690 Soundstack. Well, next, I am speaking at Podfest. 00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:42.649 January the 15th to the 18th, 2026, where I'm 00:09:42.649 --> 00:09:45.330 also being inducted into the Podcast Hall of 00:09:45.330 --> 00:09:47.750 Fame, which is a great honour. I'll be talking 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:49.710 about where we've been and where we're going, 00:09:49.850 --> 00:09:52.029 a look back at where we've come from, including 00:09:52.029 --> 00:09:54.490 last year's podcast news and trends, to help 00:09:54.490 --> 00:09:56.490 us understand how podcasting is changing and 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.210 how we should be changing with it. Plus, a look 00:09:59.210 --> 00:10:03.509 forward to what to do in 2026. And I'm speaking 00:10:03.509 --> 00:10:06.850 at Radio Days Europe in Riga in Latvia in March. 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:09.629 really should get around to booking that flight. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:15.240 My speech there is the future of audio is people 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:18.820 powered. The way people consume media is changing. 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:21.419 I will take a look at the global trends in radio 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:23.559 and on demand. How will we listen on which devices? 00:10:23.740 --> 00:10:26.019 How can we make our output truly unique? How 00:10:26.019 --> 00:10:28.259 do we do it in a resource efficient way? And 00:10:28.259 --> 00:10:31.539 what part does video play in the future of audio? 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:35.799 So, yes, that'll be fun, won't it? RadioDaysEurope 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.500 .com is where to go for your tickets for that. 00:10:39.610 --> 00:10:43.070 And thank you to our many supporters for this 00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:49.350 show, Media Results Inc., Broadcast Radio, Soma 00:10:49.350 --> 00:10:53.460 FM, and Play It Software, among others. alongside 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:55.940 Greg Strassel, Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton, Emma 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.899 Gibbs, Jocelyn Abbey and James Masterton for 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:01.399 being regular supporters. If you would like to 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.039 support my work in any way, you can buy me a 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.279 coffee. You can become a member to give regularly 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:07.080 or just give a one -off coffee or five if you 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:09.960 like. I link to where to do that in my newsletter, 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.100 but it's buymeacoffee .com slash James Cridland. 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.000 I'm also on Mastodon. Please follow me. It'd 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.539 be fun. He says, james .bne .social is where 00:11:19.539 --> 00:11:22.759 you'll find me on the Fediverse. And my website's 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:24.679 got more details about who I am and what I do 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.259 and whether I can help you further. That is at 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:31.159 james .crid .land. And until next time, keep 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:31.480 listening.