WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:02.830 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.830 --> 00:00:06.209 and this is Radioland, my weekly radio trends 00:00:06.209 --> 00:00:10.550 newsletter. And it's February the 22nd. I'm going 00:00:10.550 --> 00:00:13.169 to be talking about all kinds of things, including 00:00:13.169 --> 00:00:19.190 radio in Sweden, and it's a special Australian 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:23.030 regulation news corner to come. But this podcast 00:00:23.030 --> 00:00:26.780 is sponsored by rss .com. Podcast hosting that's 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:29.300 actually free. Unlimited episodes, unlimited 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:35.000 storage at rss .com. A familiar name has joined 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.320 as a regular supporter of this newsletter, Marty 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.840 from New York, a .k .a. Marty Edelstein. Now, 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.719 I've written about Marty on my blog all the way 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.640 back in 2007, arguing that every radio station 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:51.920 needed a Marty. He still pops up in my feeds 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:55.299 now and again, no longer actually in the 95 grind 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:57.619 in New York City, which must be a great relief 00:00:57.619 --> 00:01:00.740 to him, but still listening to the UK's Virgin 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:03.659 Radio and the station that also replaced it on 00:01:03.659 --> 00:01:06.420 some frequencies, Absolute Radio. He still comes 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:08.840 over to the UK every so often, I notice, from 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.900 his Facebook feed. So thank you, Marty. You can 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:13.739 support this newsletter if you like. Dear listener, 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.219 buymeacoffee .com slash James Cridland is where 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.980 to go. And for radio stations everywhere, get 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:22.359 yourself a Marty. Ray Jarre released its MIDAS 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:26.840 Winter 2025 survey. A lot of useful data in there, 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.640 all about audio listening in the UK. Adam Bally 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.099 has taken a look at the numbers. Radio's certainly 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:35.480 not dead. There's plenty of impressive numbers 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.599 in that report and also plenty of things for 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.560 us to think about. Radio Ready, it's a new website, 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:45.640 radioready .info, looks like an interesting campaign, 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:48.599 seemingly spearheaded by Bauer Media Group, but 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:50.579 with plenty of other partners as well, not one 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:52.299 of which has sent me a press release about it. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:54.659 But it's a good place to find data and information 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:57.459 about how important radio is to have in the car. 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.359 The list of partners seems very European, with 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:02.519 the Australians also taking part. Nothing from 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:04.340 the rest of the world, though, particularly North 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.900 America, which seems a bit of a shame. The US 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.759 radio industry in particular seems aloof and... 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:12.139 about this sort of thing but surprised not to 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:14.500 see some Canadian participants at the very least. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.860 Global aren't listed as a partner although they 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:20.520 kind of are through Radio Centre but they too 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:22.860 have done some nice work getting Global Player 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:26.599 into Android Automotive so it's available inside 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.539 a ton of different cars now. To be honest I'm 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:31.479 in two minds about whether the right thing to 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.169 do is to have separate players for each broadcaster 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:36.830 or work together on a more inclusive solution. 00:02:37.210 --> 00:02:39.129 I guess it depends who you think you work for. 00:02:39.250 --> 00:02:42.129 Do you work for radio or do you work for a specific 00:02:42.129 --> 00:02:44.150 broadcaster? Well, I suppose you're going to 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:46.050 say you work for a specific broadcaster, in which 00:02:46.050 --> 00:02:48.250 case, yeah, well, that's kind of how these things 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:51.610 are going to work, I suppose. AM Death Watch 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:57.969 section now and WGR AM 550 in Buffalo. It's a 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:00.969 sports station. And it probably won't be called 00:03:00.969 --> 00:03:03.449 that anymore because it's to simulcast on both 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:08.379 104 .7 and 107 .7 in Buffalo. as well as more 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:12.639 stations move off the am band also today it's 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:15.960 a special day in perth as abc radio perth moves 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:20.360 to 102 .5 fm today i link to a nice two minute 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:22.840 piece about its am transmitter which will fall 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:25.560 silent in a couple of months the abc has also 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.520 run a number of pieces up to the switch off some 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:31.319 older voices welcoming the switch a look at some 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.979 of the history and an oddly defensive piece saying 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:35.599 that nothing will change with its programming 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:39.219 there's a sort of feeling that an FM broadcaster 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:43.000 is something slightly different to an AM broadcaster, 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:46.099 whereas in reality it's just all about the content, 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:49.599 isn't it? Anyway, the ABC has also covered Kalamunda 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.460 Community Radio, which needed to switch down 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:55.219 the dial as a result, and good on them for doing 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:58.919 that. Some impressive promotion of a podcast 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.319 I linked to today, but it strikes me that radio 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:03.439 stands to benefit even more from this sort of 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.949 thing, advertising on petrol pumps. As you put 00:04:06.949 --> 00:04:09.409 the nozzle into the car, you get a little clip 00:04:09.409 --> 00:04:11.849 of a podcast, which I thought, what a brilliant 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:15.789 idea, and also horrifying at the same time. But 00:04:15.789 --> 00:04:17.730 it's pretty cool. You should check that one out. 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:21.949 And in Sweden... NRJ has lost its national FM 00:04:21.949 --> 00:04:25.050 licence. There are three national stations in 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:27.589 Sweden. They used to be allocated based on the 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:30.350 highest bidder, but licences are now a beauty 00:04:30.350 --> 00:04:33.889 parade from the Swedish media authority, who 00:04:33.889 --> 00:04:36.810 made a decision to award two licences for music 00:04:36.810 --> 00:04:39.750 channels and one for, quote, content that is 00:04:39.750 --> 00:04:42.649 not currently represented on commercial radio. 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:45.990 And that one has gone to Aftonbladet, which is 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:49.810 a tabloid newspaper. the licence instead. So 00:04:49.810 --> 00:04:52.949 NRJ will have to try to secure regional broadcasting 00:04:52.949 --> 00:04:55.470 licences, which will be given out in a few months 00:04:55.470 --> 00:04:59.430 instead. Rix FM and Bauer's Mix Megapol got the 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:02.629 other two, by the way. And I read that Afton 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:06.850 Bladet launched as a newspaper by criticising 00:05:06.850 --> 00:05:10.170 the Swedish king, so he banned it. It then restarted 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:13.170 as a brand new publication called New Afton Bladet, 00:05:13.329 --> 00:05:16.959 which the king banned. Then it relaunched again, 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:21.800 called newer Aftonbladet. Then the fourth Aftonbladet. 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:25.779 In total, it restarted 26 times before the King 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:27.980 decided to give up and stop banning it. That's 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:30.379 one way to get past the regulators. Speaking 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:33.519 of which, welcome to Australian Regulation News 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.100 Corner. At the end of this podcast, because who 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:38.899 knows who's going to find this interesting. Back 00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:42.360 to the ACMA, Australia's lacklustre media regulator. 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:45.740 Last we heard, way back in November, Ackerman 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:48.040 said that they were minded to add licence conditions 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:51.439 to ARN's KISS stations in Sydney and Melbourne 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.519 after broadcasters Kyle and Jackie O repeatedly 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:58.160 broadcast immature filth on the air. Now, on 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.639 November the 12th, the proposed new conditions 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.160 were published and ARN had 21 days from notification 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:07.720 to, quotes, make representations. And if that's 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:10.339 21 working days, let's be generous, then that 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:12.579 means that December the 9th was the deadline. 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.550 for those representations. Now, the ACMA have 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:19.389 confirmed to me that ARN have indeed made those 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:24.009 representations. I foolishly agreed, or foolishly 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:26.230 assumed, I should say, that those representations 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:29.750 would be public, and I asked for a copy of them. 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:33.490 The ACMA's media department has clearly laughed 00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:36.170 under their breath and ignored that request. 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:40.399 But anyway, what now? It's been more than two 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.860 months since the ACMA have heard from ARN. The 00:06:43.860 --> 00:06:46.500 ACMA have a legal duty to regulate the Broadcast 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:49.459 Services Act 1992, which includes a requirement 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:53.439 to encourage providers of broadcasting services 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.360 to respect community standards in the provision 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.220 of programme material, something that ACMA has... 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.040 failed to do. And every day there are five hours 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.839 of Kyle and Jackie O broadcasting on those two 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:08.980 stations in question, and also an hour on many 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:13.459 other ARN stations. And yet, the ACMA sits on 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:17.379 its hands, paralysed by indecision. The authority 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:20.800 gave me this statement, the ACMA is considering 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.120 the licensees' representations and we will announce 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.459 the final additional licence conditions once 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:31.089 a decision is made. Now, Mumbrella reports that 00:07:31.089 --> 00:07:33.730 the ACMA copped a grilling at Parliament earlier 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:36.290 this month, hardly surprisingly. I mean, it surely 00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:38.490 can't take more than two and a half months to 00:07:38.490 --> 00:07:40.990 reach a decision, a decision on something that 00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:44.089 you have already made a decision on. But in the 00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:47.970 meantime, CRA, which has a co -regulatory duty 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:50.689 in this country, have published a new code of 00:07:50.689 --> 00:07:52.470 practice, which I mentioned a few weeks ago. 00:07:52.589 --> 00:07:55.750 It contains a special care provision for when 00:07:55.750 --> 00:08:00.540 children are likely to be in the car. care isn't 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:03.139 defined and the ACMA said in parliament that 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:06.139 this might mean warnings before certain segments 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:09.899 which to me sounds as if broadcasters can just 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:14.240 get away with a jaunty faux warning at 8 .05am 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.139 suggesting that the next 55 minutes might contain 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.860 adult themes because after all nobody will actively 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:24.259 tune in at 8 .06am will they? Ours is a proper 00:08:24.259 --> 00:08:26.959 grown -up industry by the way. Now, where am 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.040 I speaking next? I'm speaking at Radio Days Europe 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:33.440 in Riga in Latvia. That is next. I am doing a 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:36.259 talk called The Future of Audio is People Powered. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:37.539 Actually, I'm doing more than that. I'm doing 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:39.960 another thing as well, which I don't know if 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.679 I can tell you yet. But certainly my keynote 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:47.080 will be all about how the way people consume 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:51.500 media is changing and, frankly, what makes radio 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:55.860 truly unique. And what part does video play and 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:58.679 how do we do it in a resource efficient way? 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.360 Lots of data, lots of things to think about, 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:04.720 lots of reasons why you shouldn't be listening 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:07.960 to me in the first place as well. But I hope 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.360 to see you there. Riga and Latvia is where it'll 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.379 be March the 22nd to the 24th. RadioDaysEurope 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:16.460 .com is where to get those tickets for that. 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:19.419 And you should definitely do that. It is a real 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:23.309 highlight of the broadcasting. year in terms 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:27.169 of conferences and things and wrap up warm. Also, 00:09:27.309 --> 00:09:29.769 I'm speaking at the podcast show in London, May 00:09:29.769 --> 00:09:32.149 the 20th to the 21st. I'm doing a few things 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:34.210 there, including keynoting right at the beginning. 00:09:34.629 --> 00:09:38.649 You can get yourself tickets for that at podcastshowlondon 00:09:38.649 --> 00:09:42.110 .com. That's podcastshowlondon .com. I'll also 00:09:42.110 --> 00:09:45.830 be recording a live podcast towards the end of 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.610 the second day as well with Sam Sethi, and that 00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:51.990 should be good fun to do. Hopefully I will see 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:54.870 you at one of those. And those are the only two 00:09:54.870 --> 00:09:58.610 things that I'm speaking at for this year so 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:01.610 far. So nice and quiet, but we'll see if that 00:10:01.610 --> 00:10:05.529 changes. And thank you to the many supporters 00:10:05.529 --> 00:10:10.490 of my newsletter, including Marcy from New York, 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:15.269 our newest supporter. Also Gavin Watson, Greg 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:18.679 Strassel, Sam Phelps. Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:22.340 Jocelyn Abbey and James Masterton for being regular 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:25.940 supporters. There are also many other excellent 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:30.399 supporters in terms of a corporate way of thinking, 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.620 like Clyde Broadcast, the radio people, Radio 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:39.700 King, Meliora and Studio and Media Results Inc. 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.129 All kinds of people. So a bunch of folk there. 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:46.590 If you would like to join them, then please do 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:48.590 buy me a coffee. That would be lovely. Buymeacoffee 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.250 .com slash James Cridland is where to go there. 00:10:51.289 --> 00:10:55.070 You can give regularly, as Marty from New York 00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:56.970 has decided to do, or you can just give a one 00:10:56.970 --> 00:11:00.250 -off coffee, and that's all cool as well. And 00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:03.070 I'm on the Fediverse and things, Mastodon and 00:11:03.070 --> 00:11:07.470 that sort of thing, as james .bne .social. That'd 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:09.730 be lovely. And my website has more details about 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:11.929 who I am and what I do and whether I can help 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:14.529 you further. You'll find that at james .cridland 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:17.950 .net. And until next time, keep listening.