Thursday, May 28, 2009

Mad Winner.

Niamh Scraff from Lusk County Dublin won the €100,000 prize on 98's Mad Money today.
Video of the winning moment is on the website.
Dave Moore looking particularly dapper in the tux...wonder will he be wearing that to our Dublin Workshop next Saturday???
http://www.dublins98.ie/madmoney/?page=madmoney

End Of The Saint.



Southampton station Radio Hampshire has closed down...as of today.
Staff were given the news today as well - not much notice, I'm sure you will agree.
The station broadcast from St. Mary's football stadium and was previously known as The Saint (as in the name given to Southampton FC).
Not a great couple of weeks for the stadium as SFC were relegated from the Championship a couple of weeks ago.
According to the Daily Echo newspaper in the city, the phones at the studios ring out and it appears that everyone is already gone.
Just wondering, if you are a fan of the local footie team, who will broadcast commentary from the games next season?
Best of luck to the folks left behind and here's hoping you will be able to stay in radio, if that is your wish.

The Website page today doesn't hint at closure, highlighting a competition that closes tomorrow.
http://www.radiohampshire.com/

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Podcast Listening.

I read some interesting stats today about Podcast listenership in the States.
In a survey, Podcast awareness is up from from a year ago by 6% and active listening is up by 4%.
People said the biggest reason they chose a podcast was the ability to listen whenever they wanted.
I hear the argument a lot that podcasts don't show up in ratings, so what's the point in producing them?
The point for me is - awareness.
If you listen to the Moyles podcast, or Ray Foley or the 98 Morning Crew, you will hear content that you like. You have actively gone out and physically made an effort to hear what they have to say on their show. If you like it, you will remember it and chances are you will download the next podcast. This leads to awareness and loyalty. Now, because you have invested the time and energy in to this podcast, actually listening to the live show may be something you will decide to do tomorrow or next week.
the point being, you hear - you like - you are aware.
To the shows and the station you are like the customer test driving a new car. You are in a no risk situation because you can turn back anytime through the journey, but who knows....if you like the car enough you just might buy it.

The full report is on Kurt HansonItalic's blog:
http://textpattern.kurthanson.com/

Monday, May 25, 2009

90s Are On !!


The guys at The 90s Network in Dublin may be interested in this - America's first ever All 90s station has launched in Sacramento Ca.
106.5 The Buzz has moved from Modern Rock to the new format and below is list of songs played on their first hour (thanks to the folks at www.radioinsight.com ).

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime
Madonna - Ray Of Light
Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper
R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts
Aerosmith - The Other Side
The Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize
Lenny Kravitz - American Woman
Alanis Morissette - Ironic
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
Matchbox Twenty - Push

Irish VO Guy.

I always admire it when a presenter takes it upon him/herself to take their career and structure it into a definable and saleable product. Whether that be through looking for on-air or VO work. Here's a gent doing just that and is able to live up to the hype.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Station Of The Day.


i105107 is an Irish CHR station based in the town of Athlone. Their franchise area covers the Midlands and North East (spilling into Dublin).
They are the sister station of Galway's i102104 and are gaining a reputation for fresh thinking and innovative promotions.
A good example of this is The Naked Bus...currently doing the 'rounds' and 'The Obama Bus' (they have a thing for buses)!
Bernard and Keith hold down mornings. Bernard is a stand up comedian and Keith is the former breakfast co-host at Dublin's Spin 103.8.
Really funny - Bernard & Keith.
Current Web Page.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

That's The Job!


Are the folks at ClearChannel trying to do a little bit of damage limitation or are they genuinely interested in developing jobs...for people outside radio that is.
The company will allow listeners in 21 markets 'advertise' themselves on air as they seek work.
Markets taking part include Houston, Detroit and LA.
Full article here:

The Edge Tour.

Take a look around 102.1 The Edge in Toronto.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Swayze.


Is this the station that today wrongly mentioned that Patrick Swayze was no longer among the living?
97.9 KISS FM Jacksonville Florida.
Doh!
But we're all talking about them!

She's Catatonic.



BBC 6 Music have signed up former Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews for their daily lunchtime gig. She's one of my favourite female singers and I'll be interested to hear her on the air.
She has a weekend gig there already but this will open up a whole new style for her - the chance to be on each day.
The regular host of the show, Nemone Metaxas, is on maternityleave from next month. The station haven't said if she will be back but I would imagine so.
Anyway, good listening option if you fancy it.


Monday, May 18, 2009

Ezine.


Hey, the latest edition of the BmacMedia Radio Presenter Ezine was sent out to it's 1,100 subscribers today.
We dealt with liner reads this week and how they can actually be entertaining and creative while also giving the listener something to care about! Do a good liner and you can stand out from the crowd.
If you would like to receive the Ezine every Monday just drop me a line and I'll sign you up today.
It's FREE for cryin' out loud !!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Q107 Ads.

I like the ads for Q107 Toronto's morning show Derringer in the Morning:
(Click to make 'em bigger)!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

JNLR.

Well done to all stations and presenters in today's JNLRs.
Quick breakdown:

National:
Today FM - Reach 15 -1. Share : 10.6 -0.3
2FM - Reach : 16 Same. Share : 11.6 -0.2
Radio 1 - Reach : 25 +1. Share : 22.7 +0.8
NewsTalk - Reach : 7 Same. Share : 3.6 +0.1
Lyric FM - Reach 4 Same. Share : 1.7 Same

Regional:
i102104 - Reach : 13 +2. Share : 7.3 +1.4
Beat102104 - Reach : 20 Same. Share : 12.3 +0.9
Spin SW - Reach : 17 +1. Share : 9.2 0.4

Dublin:
Radio 1 - Reach : 29 +1. Share : 31.4 +0.9
FM104 - Reach : 20 Same. Share : 12.6 -0.7
Dublin's 98 - Reach : 15 Same. Share : 11 -0.9
Spin 103.8 - Reach : 15 Same. Share : 10.1 -0.3
NewsTalk - Reach 12 +1. Share : 7.1 +0.1
2FM - Reach : 12 Same. Share : 7.1 +0.1
Q102 - Reach : 11 Same. Share : 7.3 +0.5
Today FM - Reach : 10 +1. Share : 6 +0.3
Lyric FM - Reach : 6 Same. Share : 3 +0.3
Country Mix - Reach : 3 Same. Share : 2.5 -0.1
Phantom 105.2 - Reach : 3 Same. Share : 1.6 -0.2

Cork:
96FM/C103 - Reach : 49 -1. Share : 47.1 -0.7
96FM - Reach : 37 -1. Share : 34.4 -0.5
Radio 1 - BoldReach : 24 +1. Share : 19.3 +1.3
Red FM - Reach : 21 +2. Share : 12.1 -0.5
Today FM - Reach :18 Same. Share : 12.1 Same
C103 - Reach : 15 Same. Share : 12.7 -0.3
2FM - Reach : 9 Same. Share : 5 -0.9
NewsTalk - Reach : 6 Same. Share : 2.3 +0.2
Lyric - Reach : 4 Same. Share : 1.3 -0.3

Local Stations Reach:
Shannonside/N. Sound UP +4
Tipp FM UP +2
Ocean FM UP +2
Clare FM UP +2
Midlands 103 UP +2
LMFM UP +1
Live 95 UP +1
WLR Same
Radio Kerry Same
East Coast Same
KFM Same
Highland Radio DOWN -1
South East DOWN -1
KCLR DOWN -2
Galway Bay FM DOWN -4
MidWest Radio DOWN -4

Once again Highland Radio have the highest Reach and Share of the locals. Well done!
FM104 continues to lead in the Dublin market (excluding Radio 1 of course).
Spin 103.8 and Q102 went up slightly in Share.
Red FM went up in Share and Reach in Cork.
C103/96FM went down slightly in both.
Good book for Shannonside/Northern Sound.
Bad book for Galway Bay and MidWest.

Full details here: http://www.bci.ie/documents/jnlr_april08_march09.pdf

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Station Of The Day.


WTMX-FM 101.9 The Mix Chicago.
The Mix in Chicago have a really nice front page on the website. It features video clips of station events and presenters, a scrolling 'Whats Playing Now' function, links to the Morning Show team and the station promotion to win tickets to the Final of American Idol 8.


The station's music includes includes Gwen Stefani, Pink, Maroon 5, Natasha Bedingfield, Jason Mraz, The Fray and Taylor Swift ...fairly safe but does what it says on the tin.
Presenters in daytime link every five or six songs and the links usually revolve around a station liner with a hook and tease or straight speedbreaks over intros.
Make your own mind up: http://www.wtmx.com/home.php

Shotgun Tom Kelly.

Haven't seen this in a while...I love this fella - it's Shotgun Tom on K-Earth 101 LA.
Doin' his thang :-)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Clare FM / KFM.

With the sale of Kildare's KFM to a consortium headed by Clare FM, the first question Ithought of was - will there be job losses?

I have never had too much interest in who owns what or why...I liked to concentrate solely on the on air end of things. However these days, the question of 'who owns' is actually quite important as has been evidenced recently by ClearChannel in the States.
So what have we got here? Clare FM and it's own investors have basically taken the main chunk of the station and the rest has been split between other parties.


They could go the cutbacks route and merge two jobs into one and save money that way, so it was nice to hear Clem Ryan, KFM Station Manager (and now CEO) say that there will be "no job losses and no change to our services".
I know a few people working a t KFM and they are dedicated to the station and have the passion and enthusiasm to make it a longterm major success story. I hope management there take the long view and allow the station develop as a full and vibrant outlet. Voice Tracking and job merging etc saves money in the short term but long term? Well, we know where that can lead.

So fair play to Clem Ryan for making that announcement and I hope things continue that way in the lovely county of Kildare (where I lived for a few years, by the way)!

Sony Awards.


The Sony Radio Awards were handed out last night.
Big winners include:
Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 - Music Radio Personality of The Year and Gold winner of the Entertainment award.
1Xtra - Station Imaging.
Galaxy Network - Competition award for Facebuck$.
Beacon Radio - Station of The Year under 300k.
BBC Hereford & Worcester - Station of The Year 300k-1 Million.
Kerrang 105.2 - Station of The Year 1 Million +.
Vanessa Feltz - Speech Radio Personality.
Nick Ferrari - Speech Broadcaster.
Fun Kids - Digital Station.
Neil Fox - Gold Award.

Pity there's no X-Trax anymore for the pics eh?

Monday, May 11, 2009

606 Changes.


Things are 'a changin' at 5ive Live's 606 show.
The show will now only be heard on weekends and regular presenter Tim Lovejoy will be leaving...although he wil come back occasionally as a guest pundit.

The show will have two main hosts (not named yet).
This comes on the back of recent weekend changes to the schedule including Christian O'Connell and Danny Baker landing their own slots.

Article here:

Friday, May 8, 2009

104 and Bob Gallico.


First thing I want to do is wish good luck to the gang at FM104 in Dublin as they move into their swanky new digs tomorrow down in the IFSC area of town from Hume House in Ballsbridge. No doubt Jim McCabe will enjoy his new surroundings in the mornings.
Also, I was thrilled to see Bob Gallico back in town today. He was in 4FM visiting with some old friends after his on air chat with former Radio Nova morning man Declan Meehan on East Coast in Wicklow. I'm in touch with Bob through Facebook...but nothing beats the real thing!
Mr. Gallico.......and the Nova days.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Rajar.


If you're looking for the best (and easiest to read) Rajar coverage, then RadioToday is your place:
All Q1 topline details are there.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Listener Response.

Here's a good article from a Richmond newspaper after the latest ClearChannel clear-out.
It shows that people can still care about their local radio presenters.
http://tinyurl.com/caq7og

Station Of The Day.


AM740 Zoomer Radio.
Have you heard of the term 'Zoomer'? Canadian media guy, Moses Znaimer, has coined the phrase to describe the generation that are not Boomers and are not Generation Z either.
Z + Boomer = Zoomer.
Now they have their own radio station in Toronto.

Opinion.

I don't use this blog as a soapbox very often (in fact, never) BUT...there is something that came up and I need to get it off my chest.
You know the way the radio is industry is said to be suffering worldwide - layoffs, VTing and whatnot. Doesn't make for very encouraging reading if you are out of work and looking for a gig or just 'hanging on' to what you've got. The very last thing you need is someone else, who you have possibly never met, ridiculing or be-littling you in a public forum. I think you know the type of forum I'm talking about - those places where people can come online and say whatever they wish about a fellow professional and do it under an assumed name. We've all seen them and we've all read them.
They do no good. They only harm what we have and who we are, as individuals and as an industry. Radio is a great business, but it can be a tough one too. We get enough bad-mouthing from listeners and the media, I wonder why we have to attack ourselves too?
Maybe I'm naive, but I am a huge believer in each radio professional supporting the other. My idea is that if we all help each other along, then we get better on air as individuals and as a group. This makes radio better and makes radio more appealing to listeners. More listeners = more radio!
You can throw whatever you like at me for this comment (I'm well used to it), but can I ask that people think before posting be-littling or slanderous comments online for all to see about a fellow presenter. It's not nice for them, it serves no purpose other than to serve the poster's short term emotion and, in fact, is dangerous.
I have no sense of humour at all when it comes to unfounded 'slanging' on forums. Constructive stuff? Sure, no problem...so long as we all benefit from it.
That's why I try to keep this blog positive and look at the good stuff in radio - there's more good than bad and radio is filled with people trying their best everyday to be creative and forward thinking in a highly sensitive market and under a lot of pressure.
We're all just trying to make a living doing what we love.

End of rant (let the abuse begin) :-)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

3 Things...


1. I'm delighted to say that BmacMedia became an official sponsor of the Irish Vikings basketball club in North County Dublin this week. The team's main aim is to help encourage young people's sporting talent and, as I'm a huge believer in developing talent, it seemed a perfect fit.

2. The Dublin Presenter Workshop for June 6th has a few places left. Dave Moore from Dublin's 98 Morning Crew is the guest speaker. Plus, for the first time, I will be showing you why your current CV doesn't work anymore. You want to avoid being 'just another CV' ? - well, I'll show you how.

3. The latest eZine went out yesterday. We have new subscribers from Ireland, France and the USA this week. Thanks for your support. The eZine is Free from brian@bmacmedia.com

I'm done :-)

DAB in Oz.

DAB+Digital Radio is on the move in Australia as nine stations in Perth permanently launched. They are Mix 94.5, 92.9, Nova 93.7, 6PR, 96 fm, 6ix, Radar, Pink Radio and Novanation.
The service is free-to-air and can be received by over 90% of the population in the city.
There are over 50 million AM/FM radios in Australia...so it's going to take some time for stations to leave analogue. In the meantime, stations flipping to DAB will stay on the analogue platform.
This from Media Network:
"Commercial digital radio services are expected to be switched on in each city from the dates below barring any weather delays.
Melbourne - May 11
Adelaide - May 15
Brisbane - May 25
Sydney - May 30
ABC and SBS are expected to start digital services throughout June/July".


Full article:
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/first-dab-radio-stations-launch-in-australia

A Little Clearer Now.

After last week's cull, ClearChannel have begun rolling out stations using their 'Premium Choice' facility (ie - Voice Tracking)! Fancy term, but it's just VTing!!!
In the past few days KABQ 'SmoothJazz 104.7' Albuquerque became 'Classic Country 104.7'
KYSU went from Urban to Rhythmic AC 'The New 95.1'.
WBVZ Greensboro is now '100.3 The Buzz' after changing from Classic Rock. No presenters on air.

Thanks to radioinsight for the info.
There's a great article on John Gorman's blog about the firings that adds some personal depth:

Monday, May 4, 2009

UK ShowPrep Site...it's Free!!


Mentioned this last week while it was in it's trial stage and am delighted to let you know that Showprep.fm is now up and running.
Here's what I like about this site:
First, it's free :-)
Second, like all great ideas these days, it's contributer powered (that means you and me)!
Third, it's designed and run by passionate people.
Good three-way combo that.

It won't waste you time to take a look and see what you think. They have loads of different categories including 'The Hub' which is a main menu of all the site offers.
Thanks to Stephen at Showprep for allowing me take a walk through the site before it went live over the weekend.
One last thing, nice feature from Stephen is "You can now log in with your existing facebook user name and password sono messing abou having to register anymore"!
The URL is:

Friday, May 1, 2009

98 May 1st.

So...Dublin's 98 did the big reveal this morning at 8:15 - Mad Money.
From the website:
" There are 98 Golden Tickets to get.
If you find a Golden Ticket you are in the final to win
€100,000".

Nice prize.
Contesting starts Tuesday morning.

10 Candles.

Bold
Happy Birthday today to Lyric FM...I remember when they were FM3 (!).
Lyric is one of those stations that I can never get annoyed with. The presenters are great, the music is awesome and I just love the whole lack of hype that surrounds them. It's just a station doing what it does and doing it well IMHO.
So, Happy 10th Birthday Lyric.
Class.




Hot Currie.


Former Group PD of the Gold Network and the guy that looked after Heart in London is the new Group PD of the UTV network in the UK. Francis Currie was named as their new guy in charge yesterday.
I know a couple of people who went for this gig...their time will come.
Well done to Francis and best wishes with the new gig.