WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.859 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:05.799 and this is Radioland, my radio trends newsletter 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:10.640 for the 1st of March 2026, my goodness. And we're 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.460 sponsored by RSS .com, podcast hosting that's 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:17.199 actually free. Unlimited episodes, unlimited 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:20.879 storage. You can get started today at RSS .com 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.420 and learn more about their API, which will make 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:25.879 it super easy to get audio straight out of your 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:29.980 playout system and straight into a podcast. In 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:33.280 the UK, Radio Today has reported that media regulator 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:37.119 Ofcom is to require local analogue radio licences 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.859 in the UK to air local news between six in the 00:00:40.859 --> 00:00:43.460 morning and seven in the evening weekdays and 00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:46.380 also to air local news over weekends as well. 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:49.460 The regulator says this local news must consist 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:53.219 of or include some news which has been locally 00:00:53.219 --> 00:00:56.280 gathered by journalists physically present in 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.689 the relevant areas. Most stations have one year 00:01:00.689 --> 00:01:04.290 to comply. Now, most local analogue radio licences 00:01:04.290 --> 00:01:07.489 in the UK actually carry national programming 00:01:07.489 --> 00:01:11.010 these days or nation programming, i .e. programming 00:01:11.010 --> 00:01:14.519 for Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland. And 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.359 that is from the likes of Global's Heart, Capital 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.379 or Smooth, Bauer's Hits Radio or Greatest Hits 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:24.239 Radio, or Kiss, I guess, or Nation Broadcasting's 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.239 Nation Radio. And these stations do carry local 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:30.780 news and weather and advertising, but this rule 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:33.920 is potentially onerous for broadcasters. Ofcom 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:37.180 estimates it'll cost the industry an additional 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:43.329 US $450 ,000 a year. Now, as a broadcaster, if 00:01:43.329 --> 00:01:46.189 you don't fancy the idea of paying at least two 00:01:46.189 --> 00:01:48.689 journalist salaries as news gatherers for each 00:01:48.689 --> 00:01:51.359 analogue licence... then you do have another 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.200 option available to you, and that option is to 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.280 simply hand back your licence. And that's not 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.379 as ridiculous as it might seem, because in total 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:05.980 only 25 % of all UK radio is listened to on AMFM 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.319 anymore. The rest is through DAB or online. And 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.560 while some local stations will see more listening 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.879 share through analogue, that figure will only 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.699 go down. Now, in the UK, appearance on your local 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:24.719 DAB multiplex, which gets 42 % of all radio listening, 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.080 isn't contingent on you owning an analogue licence 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:32.080 in the area. So you can just hand your analogue 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.599 licence back with no real penalty. and many AM 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.719 services have already been, and Ofcom hasn't 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.719 re -advertised any licences who have. Indeed, 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:46.159 last year, Nation Radio reacted to Ofcom's consultation 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.560 about local news provision by surrendering their 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:55.180 Ceredigion licence in Wales. So just weeks after 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:59.740 the UK government announced a review into continued 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.639 FM and AM broadcasting in the UK, it would seem 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.620 that stronger regulation might be hastening analogue 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:13.620 switch -off in the country. In the US, a historic 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:17.759 moment. Podcasts are now bigger than spoken word 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:21.620 radio. So says Edison Research at SSRS from its 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:25.719 Share of Ear study. The graph, which I reproduced 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.039 in PodNews on Friday, shows a significant drop 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:32.580 in radio's share of spoken word audio time over 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:36.939 the last 10 years, and 2025 is the year when 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:42.300 podcasting finally overtook radio. 25 % of all 00:03:42.300 --> 00:03:45.340 daily audio time in the US is spent with spoken 00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:47.580 word audio, according to the research company, 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:50.560 which does suggest that the vast majority of 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.280 listening is to music. But as you'll hear in 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.520 my Radio Days Europe speech, radio has less of 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.120 a unique selling proposition for music than spoken 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:04.590 word. Edison Research also publishes The Infinite 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:08.150 Dial, which is to be presented in a webinar on 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:11.669 Thursday, March the 12th at 2pm Eastern. And 00:04:11.669 --> 00:04:14.469 I am thrilled once more to be co -presenting 00:04:14.469 --> 00:04:18.129 that, along with VP of Edison Research at SSRS, 00:04:18.350 --> 00:04:22.029 Megan Lazarek. Please join us. It's free. There's 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:25.029 a link that you'll find in my newsletter. It's 00:04:25.029 --> 00:04:26.970 the research that gives us the big number about 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:29.170 podcasting, which is how many people listen in 00:04:29.170 --> 00:04:31.939 the US. But there's plenty more as well. Besides, 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:37.079 this year, never before seen data on AI usage 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:41.939 as well. Please, it would be excellent to see 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:44.620 you on the webinar in a couple of weeks time. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.439 Back in the UK, the Radio Academy, where I was 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.180 once a trustee, has become the Audio Academy. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:53.899 And it's really difficult to report on that because 00:04:53.899 --> 00:04:56.660 it's both simultaneously the right change, I 00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:59.399 believe. but also hard to see it as good news 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:03.600 for radio, isn't it? Now to Australia. Australian 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:07.579 radio network ARN, the home of Kyle and Jackie 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:10.899 O, released its financial results. Revenue is 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:15.199 down 10 % on the year, profit down 30%. More 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:17.500 job cuts have been announced. Details are to 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:20.699 follow. Already people have been announced as 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.199 leaving the organisation. The current market 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:27.350 cap of the whole company is 109%. 0 .5 million 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:31.889 Australian dollars. That's down 45 % in the last 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:35.550 year. And just to put it into context, $109 million 00:05:35.550 --> 00:05:38.490 is roughly half the value of Carl and Jackie 00:05:38.490 --> 00:05:41.560 O's contract. Now, the Kyle and Jackie O effect, 00:05:41.740 --> 00:05:44.639 how they messed up the radio industry, is an 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.160 article on a new -to -me radio website. It's 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.740 called ComRadio Australia, not to be confused 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:53.740 with the CRA. It's mostly RSS -driven links elsewhere, 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.259 but does carry its own articles as well. And 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:00.019 it is arguing that the show is responsible for 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:03.459 significant cost -cutting throughout ARN. Jackie 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:06.240 O was off all last week after a bad argument 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.600 on the air, and Radio Info reports that Kyle 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.860 didn't bother coming in on Thursday either. He 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:14.959 was apparently unwell. It's the end of the first 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:18.459 survey for Australian radio ratings. Numbers 00:06:18.459 --> 00:06:21.220 for these six weeks, which unusually aren't merged 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.800 with a previous survey's data, come out on March 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:29.399 19th. It will be a fascinating, fascinating survey 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:33.639 to have a look at. Another week, and the ACMA, 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.060 by the way, the world's weakest media regulator, 00:06:36.259 --> 00:06:39.060 still hasn't made a decision about the licence 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.319 conditions for The Kyle and Jackie O Show. Do 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.379 we make podcasts that are essentially television? 00:06:44.990 --> 00:06:47.930 Or do we pursue and deepen our relationship with 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:51.750 sound and its imaginative possibilities? Siobhan 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:55.529 McHugh spoke at the Radio and Audio Studies Symposium 00:06:55.529 --> 00:06:59.430 last month in a talk called Viva! The Narrative 00:06:59.430 --> 00:07:02.970 Podcast, The Case Against Video. You can read 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:05.329 the full speech in Pod News. I've linked to that 00:07:05.329 --> 00:07:08.990 today. Or you can watch the full keynote as well 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:11.410 on YouTube. It's definitely worth reading with 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:16.899 a radio hat on as well. And in podcasts, talking 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:19.180 about podcasts, which we kind of were, in Wade 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:21.259 Kingsley's The Quarter Hour podcast, we hear 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:23.779 from the Australian music industry. Australia 00:07:23.779 --> 00:07:26.079 has a music quota, much like Canada or France. 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.600 Annabelle Hurd is both CEO of the Australian 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:32.740 Recording Industry Association and of rights 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:36.079 holder PPCA. And she says good things about radio, 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:38.220 but also suggests that radio has a responsibility 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:41.860 to promote local music. I'm assuming, by the 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:44.120 way, that my conversation with Stingray's Steve 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.480 Jones at Radio Days Europe will be touching on 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.019 Canadian content, incidentally. There'll be a 00:07:50.019 --> 00:07:52.600 lot of talk about TuneIn, which Stingray now 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:56.560 own. Meanwhile, the Media Club with Matt Deegan 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:59.160 talks about more government regulation in the 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.980 UK for television. Clive Dickens from Meliora 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:05.699 comes in to talk more AI. And a reminder that, 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.649 yes, this is also obviously a podcast. It's called 00:08:09.649 --> 00:08:11.670 Radioland, and it's available wherever you get 00:08:11.670 --> 00:08:14.310 your podcasts, but you know this already, and 00:08:14.310 --> 00:08:16.589 I shouldn't have read this bit out. But as I 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:18.449 say in the newsletter, it's not very edited, 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:24.079 is it? Random radio ratings corner now. And from 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.120 the Netherlands, I link to the annual report 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.699 from trade organisation Audify, which shows audio 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:33.220 ad revenue and radio listening and radio platforms. 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.559 Here are two numbers for you. Radio listening 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.559 in the Netherlands around 89 % weekly reach. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.980 Radio platforms, only 28 % of total hours is 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:47.120 spent listening to FM. Online, much, much bigger 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.539 than DAB in that country. No radio listening 00:08:50.539 --> 00:08:55.620 at all is listed for AM. And thank you to John 00:08:55.620 --> 00:08:57.759 McDermott, who bought me three coffees. Yay! 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:00.580 To thank me for the new podcast trailer feed. 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.240 You'll find that at newpodcasts .net. That's 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:06.340 very kind of you, John. So thank you for that. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.399 Where am I speaking next? I'll tell you. I'm 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:12.539 speaking at Radio Days Europe in Latvia. in mid 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.799 -March, I'm flying via Hong Kong. So I should 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:20.639 be okay. Woe betide anybody, Wade Kingsley, who's 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:26.299 flying via somewhere else, like Singapore is 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:33.080 probably okay. But yeah, Doha? Yeah, no. Dubai? 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:36.399 Yeah, no. So that's going to be fun, isn't it? 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:40.320 But anyway, that's all exciting. I will be talking 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:43.299 about the future of audio. They have just told 00:09:43.299 --> 00:09:45.600 me, but it's not yet on the website. They've 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.100 just told me that there's been a room change 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:51.580 and I'm now a bit nervous because it sounds as 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:54.980 if I've got the big room. Anyway, if that's true, 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.759 then I will see you first thing on Tuesday. And 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.399 that'll be fun, won't it? The night after the 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:04.820 big party. I'm going to have to up my game and 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:07.720 start writing it soon. That'll be fun. But anyway, 00:10:07.899 --> 00:10:10.659 I am talking about what the future of radio is, 00:10:10.700 --> 00:10:13.820 obviously, how we'll listen on what devices, 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.580 how we can make our output truly unique, and 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:18.879 how we do that in a resource -efficient way. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.279 You won't agree with much of it, so come along. 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:25.039 That'd be good. I'm also talking with Steve Jones 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.299 of Stingray about TuneIn, about Canadian Radio, 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:31.690 and lots more. Please join me for that too. And 00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:33.970 I'll be speaking at the podcast show in London, 00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:37.409 May the 20th to the 21st, keynoting at that event, 00:10:37.490 --> 00:10:39.509 as well as recording a Pod News Weekly review. 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:43.850 If you're a Radioland reader, then email me if 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:45.950 you want some money off. It's not much, but, 00:10:45.990 --> 00:10:48.950 you know, it's a pint of beer or whatever. Then 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:52.090 very happy to send you a super secret code for 00:10:52.090 --> 00:10:55.909 that. And thank you to our many supporters, including 00:10:55.909 --> 00:11:00.870 Marty from New York. Gavin Watson, Greg Strassel, 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:03.269 Sam Phelps, Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, Jocelyn 00:11:03.269 --> 00:11:07.289 Abbey and James Masterton for being regular supporters. 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:11.110 This is the bit of the podcast where I then have 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:15.210 to type in Radioland .email so I can actually 00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:20.779 get to see. the other sponsors who are kind enough 00:11:20.779 --> 00:11:24.779 to appear. Who should we mention this time round? 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:30.139 Studio, obviously, Meliora. Radio Today, hooray! 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:33.870 And Soma FM, there you go. If you would like 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:36.029 to support my work in any way, please do. You 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:37.750 can buy me a coffee. You can become a member 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:39.649 to give regularly or just give a one -off coffee 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:42.450 or five if you want. Buymeacoffee .com slash 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:45.029 James Cridland is where to go. And my website's 00:11:45.029 --> 00:11:47.269 got more details about who I am, what I do and 00:11:47.269 --> 00:11:49.889 whether I can help you further. Radioland .email 00:11:49.889 --> 00:11:53.830 is a nice way to find that. That's Radioland 00:11:53.830 --> 00:11:57.129 .email. And until next time, keep listening.