Bruce says Bye.

BBC Radio 2 are preparing themselves to say Goodbye to veteran mid-morning presenter Ken Bruce.

He is preparing to step down from his show and word has it that his replacement will be 5Live and ex-Radio 1 'DJ' Simon Mayo.

Mayo is very visible in the Beeb with his daily afternoon show and Simon Mayo Book Club. He sounds like a decent man to fill the boots of Bruce.

Don't worry though, we're getting plenty of notice- the change isn't due to happen until 2011 !

Now that's what I call working out your notice.

Ireland could get full iPlayer.

Mark Huggers, The BBC's Director of Future Media and Technology, has said that he wants to see the BBC iPlayer go global.

This is great news, as it means that in Ireland we would be able to access all of the features on the Player that are blocked to us now.

You can access the radio feeds and listen again to audio in this country, which of course is great. The chance to use the TV sections as well though, would be a real bonus.
Speaking at a Screen Digest conference he also spoke about using the BBC website in a more interactive way:
"I know that bbc.co.uk is the third biggest web property in the country, yet every time I go there I feel completely alone. Instinctively, I know there are other people on the site so the idea is connecting audiences with programming and with each other, embracing that big theme of social media".

It's beginning to look a lot like...

With Ireland's first festive station coming to FM at the end of this month (Christmas FM in Dublin), I thought it interesting to take a look at stations in the US that have already flipped to Santa Songs.

(Info from R&R).

- Capital smooth jazz KBZN/Salt Lake City
- Wilks AC KCKC (Star 102.1)/Kansas City
- Entercom AC KUDL/Kansas City- CBS oldies WODS (Oldies 103.3)/Boston- Greater Media classic hits WROR/Boston- Clear Channel oldies WWBB (B101)/Providence- Clear Channel AC WNIC/Detroit- Clear Channel AC KSOF/Fresno
- Regent AC WLHT (Lite Rock 95.7)/Grand Rapids- Clear Channel AC WOOD-FM (Star 105.7)/Grand Rapids- Greater Media AC WNUW (Now 97.5)/Philadelphia- Bonneville's WMVN/St. Louis- Clear Channel adult hits WRIT (My 95-7)/Milwaukee
- Entercom hot AC WMYX/Milwaukee
- SMAHH oldies KEGK (Eagle 106.9)/Fargo, N.D.

Those darn kids.

New report by Paragon says that 14-24 year olds are listening to radio more than in the recent past.
Could it be true?
Are they shunning their iPods and MP3s and tuning into FM/Digital/Satellite?
Full article (in PDF) at this URL:
http://www.paragonmediastrategies.com/

Russell of the Caribbean.

Poor old Russell Brand...now that he has no radio gig, how is he going to make a living?

I know - as 'Jonathan', Captain Jack Sparrow's younger brother in the next 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie.

That's what Disney are hoping for anyway.

That would be the business - Depp and Brand! You can onnnnnnly imagine.

i Test.

i105107 are testing out their frequencies and playing around with noises (and doing whtever technical people do - I have no clue)!

If you're in these locales, then have a listen why don'cha?

Saggart 104.7, Cavan 104.8, Mt.Oriel 105, Athlone 105.6, Birr 105.6, Dundalk 106.2, Capard 106.2, Drogheda 106.2, Monaghan 106.7

Alpha - Beat.

Atlantic 252 listeners will, no doubt, remember the man they called Pizzaman. He was one of the station's greatest presenters, working everything from evenings, to afternoon drive before ending up on mornings.
Since Atlantic, he has worked on Galaxy in Manchester, Metro in Newcastle and cut his teeth even further in Edmonton and Calgary in Canada (under the on air name Mojo).

These days young Pizzaman is known as Nick Jordan and works Middays for Alpha 103.2 in Darlington, England.
But all of that is about to change.
Alpha is going through a 'soft re-brand' and will become Aplha Radio - dropping the frequency from the name. With the re-brand comes a schedule change and Nick will become the new Breakfast host on the station.

In my humble opinion, this is where he belongs. He has the talent, the ambition, the desire and the passion to make great radio (always has). His commitment to the craft never wanes and I have no doubt that the show and the station will benefit from the move.

Eventually, I'm hoping to hear Pizzaman/Mojo/Nick on a National. Absolute would do well to take a look at him.

Trip down memory lane? Here's the man in action with Lois Lane in the studios of Atlantic 252 in the late 90's: