1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:06,240 Hello, I'm James Cridland, the radio futurologist, and every couple of weeks I write a newsletter 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:12,080 all about the future of radio and international radio trends and all of that. You can get it at 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:18,880 James.Crid.Land, which is a website address, James.Crid.Land, and that would be lovely if you got it, 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:24,400 but this is the podcast version where I read it to you because you're too lazy to read it for yourself, 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:32,560 possibly. Anyway, this is for May 17th, 2023, and it's all about India and the live item tag, 6 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:38,880 and way too much about the BBC. The Indian government, first of all, has mandated that 7 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:46,160 mobile phones include FM tuners. They're asking manufacturers not to disable an existing FM radio 8 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:52,240 feature if one exists, and also asking if FM radio can be added to phones if it's not already there. 9 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:59,200 It is, though, just an advisory, so it's got no legal weight, and the register notes that it says 10 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:05,120 mobile phones, not smartphones. About 20% of India still uses feature phones, and if you have a look 11 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:13,520 at the price of these feature phones, you can buy a phone with a year's free calls for about $19 12 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:19,280 in US money. So probably not worth holding your breath that Apple will add an FM radio tuner 13 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:26,800 in iPhone anytime soon. Something interesting is happening in podcasting, and it involves radio. 14 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:33,040 First, Spotify has been promoting broadcast to podcast, a new feature now offered by Megaphone 15 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,840 that turns radio shows into podcasts at the press of a few buttons, or even automatically. 16 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,560 And not to be outdone, Triton Digital's OmniStudio has been reminding people that they've offered 17 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,760 that feature forever as well. And you can hear interviews with both Spotify and OmniStudio in 18 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:54,720 this week's Pod News Weekly review. You'll find that linked from the show notes and my newsletter 19 00:01:54,720 --> 00:02:00,880 at james.grid.land. But also other clever people have been working on something called the Live 20 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:06,160 Item Tag, a new extension to the RSS feed. So here's how it works if you're a listener. You 21 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:11,440 subscribe to your favorite radio shows podcast in your podcast player. You get the podcasts, 22 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:19,200 as you normally would. But because this podcast also uses the Live Item Tag, your app is able 23 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:25,120 to notify you when the show goes live on the radio. So the app can play the stream directly, 24 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:31,680 letting you tune in and listen, or you can even set it up to open your radio app if you want it 25 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:39,120 to do that too. Now the Live Item Tag contains a time that the show should go live, but it also 26 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:44,720 realizes that not every show starts on a clock start. So it includes triggering too to signal 27 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,600 when the show really goes live. So if you're 10 minutes late for some reason, then that's fine. 28 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:55,280 I think the last time they did tests on the triggering took about 20 seconds to get to 29 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,680 every single podcast app out there, which is pretty impressive. Anyway, currently the Live 30 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:06,480 Item Tag is supported by three podcast apps, Podverse, Podcast Addicts, which is a pretty 31 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:13,920 big one, and CurioCaster. But it's relatively simple to add this support for this tag, and other 32 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:18,640 podcast apps are beginning to add it. I believe that Fountain is going to be launching at any 33 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:24,080 time soon as well. And there are a few shows that are lit and live, as they call them, most 34 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:30,560 notably podcasting 2.0, which is on Friday evenings in the UK. The New Media Show, which I think 35 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:36,480 airs Wednesday afternoons US time, and No Agenda also uses it, I gather as well. And since it can 36 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:41,920 be added to any podcast feed without breaking anything, it might be worth looking into for 37 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:50,160 radio stations. A notification to listen seems a good thing. BBC News PR based in London seemed 38 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:56,240 delighted at the recent silver placing of BBC Radio 4's Today Show based in London. Of course, 39 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,640 it's not called the Today Show, it's just called Today, but you know the one that I mean. Anyway, 40 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:08,800 it tweeted out a photograph and said, well done, BBC Radio 4 today, clap, clap, clap from the BBC, 41 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:17,440 except Radio 4 got silver, and Radio 5 Live got gold, which is another BBC channel. And in fact, 42 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:24,400 it is the News and Sport channel. So after quite a few BBC types wondered whether the gold from 43 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:30,800 News station, BBC Radio 5 Live, was surely rather more worthy of congratulation, the team tweeted, 44 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:36,720 and of course, congratulations to 5 Live, we don't PR them from this account. So this tweet 45 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:42,160 isn't a snub or an omission, but of course, we're proud of all of the BBC family. And then they 46 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,480 promptly deleted both of those tweets, which by the way is against BBC editorial policy. 47 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:52,160 The back of the BBC ID card still says something about one BBC, but as ever, 48 00:04:52,160 --> 00:05:00,160 the internal five terms drive nonsense like this. Or perhaps it's because Radio 5 Live is in 49 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:08,240 Salford and not in London, as they were. Now let's move on to BBC Local Radio. This gets a bit 50 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:15,440 personal in a minute, but their changes seem horrible to watch from overseas. David Lloyd 51 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:20,640 has written about the funeral for BBC Local Radio, calling it little short of scandalous. 52 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:26,080 He listens to a poor interview as a senior manager tries to defend the cuts on the runner-up 53 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:32,720 award-winning BBC Radio 4 Today program. And he listens to another interview on feedback. He 54 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:39,040 looks at how the BBC can execute its new local radio plan and wonders rightly whether or where 55 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:44,960 Ofcom is with all of this. And he looks at the poor online offerings currently being presented 56 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:50,240 as an alternative. You'll find all of those links in my show notes and in the newsletter at 57 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,640 James.Crit.Land. But it seems that the incompetence isn't just in the plans, 58 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,320 but in the awful, dreadful execution by the BBC's HR teams and by management. 59 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:06,960 And here comes a personal side note. I should probably declare an interest here, because I was 60 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:13,520 the subject of constructive dismissal at the BBC in 2009. I was bullied and I was obstructed while 61 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,720 doing my job. I was set up to fail and I was forced into resigning from a corporation I was 62 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:25,520 initially so proud to work for. After I found some, my lawyers threatened the BBC with legal action, 63 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,680 and rather than me taking them to court, the BBC settled for a decent financial sum, 64 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:35,200 along with a gagging order that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about their awful HR department. 65 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:40,800 When it's 14 years later, so I don't suppose anyone there will care if I now willingly break 66 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,680 the terms of that agreement. I've never worked for any company with a worse disregard for their 67 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,080 people than the BBC, and it left me in a pretty poor state for some years after. 68 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,320 So with that in mind, Nikki Horn has been collecting some examples of the BBC's awful 69 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,840 way of treating their people in BBC Local Radio, likening it to Hunger Games treatment. 70 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:07,600 Some examples are, I'll read some of these tweets out, some staff at one radio station 71 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,520 have been told when we said last week that all journalists were now not at risk, sorry that 72 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:17,440 was a mistake and you're still at risk at this station. Incompetence meets cruelty, Nikki adds. 73 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:23,440 Nikki also says, I'm told by successful presenters in BBC Local Radio that even if you're successful, 74 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,840 your show will be under constant review and you could be moved off it at any point, so 75 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:34,400 presenters will go on air daily in constant fear for their job. The BBC Careers Hub website was 76 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:39,680 shut in mid-April. They're shutting down the BBC's career site and deleting our profiles while we're 77 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:45,120 all looking for new work. You couldn't make this up. Another person writes, we were given 60 seconds 78 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,720 to save our career and had to treat it like a speed date. We were timed with a stopwatch but 79 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:58,880 not shown the clock. It all felt so degrading, I was timed as two seconds out. It's honestly been 80 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:05,760 the worst six months of my career. And others says, I used to work in Independent Local Radio 81 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,120 for GWR and Capital and GCAP and have never known a situation that's been so badly handled by so 82 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:16,880 many supposedly experienced managers who've managed to demonstrate a complete lack of management 83 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:22,480 skill. Another, I've given my working life to the BBC and always felt valued but in a 10-minute 84 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:28,000 Zoom, I'd be made to feel completely worthless and irrelevant. I was called a short time before I was 85 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:34,560 on air and expected to continue as normal. I was in pieces. And finally, a senior manager said to 86 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:40,640 one old hand, and I quote, we'll let you know after Easter if you still have a job so you have a week 87 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:47,840 to find Jesus. And then laughed. And there are plenty more of these too. Rejection letters from 88 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:53,360 BBCHR haven't even bothered to complete the contact details in there. You should follow 89 00:08:53,360 --> 00:09:02,640 Nicky Horn for more. He's on Twitter as Nicky Horn of all things. Now the announcements of great 90 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:09,920 people leaving are all over the BBC and a king after 37 years. Jonathan Cowep after 34 years. 91 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:16,960 David Burns after more than 20 years, almost the entire BBC Radio Bristol lineup. David Fitzgerald 92 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:22,960 at BBC Radio Devon, who was told he was made redundant, then told to go on air as if nothing 93 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:29,040 had happened, suffered a heart issue on air and had to be rushed to hospital. Carl Weakley 94 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:34,800 blogged about what he's heard at his former local radio station. Private Eye has written at least 95 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:41,280 one column about it. Meanwhile, BBC local radio journalists are to go on strike again in June. 96 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:49,040 There is no good way to achieve this number of cuts, but this is no way for any employer to behave. 97 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:58,240 Shame on them. Elsewhere, I link to a story about ad-supported music streaming, which doesn't look 98 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:03,840 like a great business. Quite a few people are now pulling out of it altogether. Rise, audio sound 99 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:09,520 ecosystem research is now available in English and available to download. You'll find a link to that 100 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:16,080 as well in my show notes and in my newsletter at James.Crit.Land. Thank you to Richard Hilton and to 101 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:21,680 James Masterton as well as Brunn Audio Consulting, SOMA FM and Media Realms Radio websites for your 102 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:27,120 ongoing support of this podcast and newsletter. If you would like to support my work in any way, 103 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:32,000 you can buy me a coffee. Become a member to give me regular coffee. That would be nice. 104 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:39,200 It works now after breaking it. Or you can give a one-off coffee or five. You can do that at 105 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:48,240 buymeacoffee.com. Now, I am at the podcast show 2023 in London next week and Radio Days North America 106 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:56,400 in Toronto in early June. I'm free before and after the podcast show in London if you want to 107 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:03,520 catch up for beers and things. My contact details at veryeasyjames.crit.Land is where to find me. 108 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:08,640 You can also search for me on masterdonjames.crit.Land and you'll find me on the Brisbane 109 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:15,120 instance that I'm currently using. It would be lovely to have you follow me on Masterdon. Thank 110 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,680 you very much. My professional website has more detail about who I am and what I do and whether 111 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:27,440 I can help you further. You will find that at james.critland.net. Until next time, keep listening.