Young listeners ARE deserting music radio!

Yet another round of Rajar audience figures are manipulated and hyped, and the stations and media agencies are proclaiming how well syndicated commercial radio is doing, to tie-in of course with '40 years of commercial radio'.

But, take a look at the whole long-term picture. 

Graphs from MediaUK* basically show that by aiming only at under 30s stations such as (for example) Capital's flagship one in London, have lost 50-60% of their 'listening hours' in less than 10 years.

No amount of massaging the figures can hide what the second graph 'hours per listener' shows. It's how long people tune-in and stay listening. This is

"useful to know if the audience likes what they hear, or the consistency of the station sound"*. 

It shows the average Capital London listener 'hears' only 4.5 hours of the station in SEVEN days - it used to be 10 ! I'm amazed that any advertising agency would recommend using any station with such figures - what chance do you have of them actually hearing your ad!?

Of course no amount of poor figures, or the fact BBC Radio 2 is light years ahead in audience size, will change the 'system'. But the most important fact it shows is that stations such as Capital are of little use to the young audience seeking new music or a varied musical diet. 

Ofcom and the government should ask if it's really healthy for the UK music industry to be 'led by the nose' by syndicated stations that narrow-cast tiny playlists indistinguishable from those in radio around the world? In a country that is fast losing any local identity, there is nowhere left in commercial radio for the next generation of musicians and song-writers to go....... and it's their music that British radio needs to survive.

Beautiful yes, but not a VOICE for radio...

On Thursday the BBC’s Tony Hall decreed that, 'by the end of 2014, the corporation is aiming for 50 per cent of local stations to have a woman presenting the high-profile Breakfast shows – either in a solo capacity or as part of a team.'

Just before that (Free) radio ‘guru’ David Lloyd asked in a well thought-out blog “Is there anyone out there?” Crucially, this usually chirpy, informed blogger asked, “am I alone in despairing, largely, of a generation?”

My answer to David is ‘No’ !

And to Tony Hall, I say ‘Please NO!”

Tony, I am not against women on the radio. Over my 20 ‘ILR years’ I personally took-on quality female presenters.++  But I have to state there are some hours of the day where a female voice works.... and others where it does NOT. It’s been a ‘law of radio’ for decades, and to unnaturally adjust the ‘gender misbalance' (as Sound Women* call it) this way, would be politically correct, but a grave mistake.

As David Lloyd discussed in his blog, ‘there are some great radio courses’, but I doubt greatly if there are 20 or 30 female presenters on them this year who would be of sufficient quality to hold down presenting breakfast shows in 12 months time!!

Let me explain. This (hastily written) blog actually developed from a half-written one that I was cogitating over before I saw David Lloyd’s question.

'Am I alone in despairing, largely, of a generation?'

My answer: “No David definitely not alone, because radio had indeed ‘lost’ a whole generation!”

HOW and WHY?

I am talking about the ‘dj’ (sorry BBC folk, presenters).

Let’s look at WHO the dj’s were that we enjoyed on radio in the ‘golden years’ of the 60s to 80s, where, when there were NO 'Media Studies' courses, many of today’s dj’s learned their craft... just by being inspired.

The earlier ones learned their craft from (for example): Tony Blackburn, Johnny Walker, Keith Skues, Roger Day, Simon Dee, Kenny Everitt, John Peel, Dave Cash, Tony Windsor, Dave Dennis.....

The slightly younger ones from : Noel Edmonds, Alan Freeman, David Hamilton, Terry Wogan, Emperor Rosko, Simon Bates, Steve Wright (or locally) Les Ross, Dale Winton, Roger Scott, Gavin McCoy etc,.

So the ‘passing’ of radio techniques, ‘wisdom’, was not done on a ‘Media Studies’ course, but by the individual being inspired by what they HEARD coming out of the radio, and copying facets of several presenters to create ‘their’ own, personal ‘dj persona’.

Now let’s look at WHO the dj’s of today (or potential dj’s) have had to lisen to and learn THEIR craft from, in the 90s and 'noughties':

Zoe Ball, Sara Cox, Chris Moyles, Chris Evans, Jo Whiley, Scott Mills, Ken Bruce, Sarah Kennedy, Simon Mayo, Jonathan Ross, James Whale, Chris Tarrant (I really cannot name many truly influential ILR dj’s from this period as it was the era of ‘liner cards’, and endless segues) More recently we have, Scott Mills, Vanessa Feltz, Elaine Page, Richard Madely, Claudia Winkelman and Christian O’Connell

I think it’s quite clear what the KEY differencea are

• the influx of female on-air staff

• or (male or female) staff who are NOT actually dj’s, but ‘personalities’

Many have no native presentation skills; the true art of the (music loving) dj has been lost.  Only this week we had Alex Jones a 'tv personality' on BBC Radio 2; beautiful yes, a face for television, but not a voice for radio...

So to get on BBC Radio 2, an aspiring radio presenter would be best advised get work on television?! 

To get a job in ‘local’ commercial radio’... well... there are not really many, as you are competing with a large number of trained, talented but recently redundant people looking for work.

So, the point of my original Blog was:

“Is it any wonder young people are no longer inspired to want to work in radio?"

But now, knowing that Tony Hall and the BBC are pushing for 50% female staff on breakfast, I have to say it is political correctness gone mad. I am sure some pressure groups will take great offence at my stance, but as John Ryan, director of 2ZY points out** in his Blog: 

'Where are all the new women presenters going to come from? It’s not since Viva! 963 that twenty great female presenters were needed in one fell swoop. But the radio road in 2013 is littered with older, ex-commercial, or former BBC Local/network women who left the business for whatever reason in the last 20 years. It will take time for the new generation of female talent to percolate into the territory of BBC LR from universities.'

My conclusion?

I think Tony Hall has (surprisingly) already stumbled (in the name of political correctness) in his new role....

Tony, I'd love to charge a large consultancy fee, but here is some free advice: the PROBLEM with BBC Local Radio breakfast shows is that :

• They are run by NEWS side of the BBC

• The presenters are often ex-University students

• The presenters are too young to relate to the audience

• The shows sound like a radio version of Blue Peter

Your solution is to employ former ILR presenters from each area, have a 80/20% mix of music/news, and pay for them by getting rid of a whole tier of Local Radio management, as 'guru' John Myers suggested in a report the BBC seem to have lost.

Look in your filing cabinets Tony!

Len Groat

ps: You might also want to check the old ratings of Zoe Ball and Sara Cox on Radio 1 Breakfast!
____________

pps: Numero Uno 'radio guru' John Myers has now Tweeted:

"Ahh Tony. You were doing so well and then this tosh. You hire the best for the job not the best woman or men."

ppps: Young radio guru David Lloyd, has now blogged (calmly) on this:

http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/muttering-darkly-over-muffins.html
______________________


++  Krissi Carpenter, Erica Hughes, Jenni Costello. I also worked with Anne-Marie Minhall as a young presenter for our ‘Careline’, and then dj on GEM-AM, a team of 'mums' for the (then innovative) ‘Toddler & Playgroup spot’, and even Chris Burns. Before that at Metro I worked with Maggie Mash and Ann Dover.

+ http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/is-there-anyone-any-good-out-there.html?m=1

*Sound Women produced this very questionable piece of 'research':  http://www.soundwomen.co.uk/research/ and seem to 'have the ear' of the BBC

** http://blog.2zy.co.uk/4-questions-about-women-at-breakfast-on-bbc-local-radio

"Radio Wages ~ Like They Used To Be..."

I was interested to read in Media Guardian* on 16 July:

"GMG Radio's sale triggered a £1.33m payout for Stuart Taylor, the former managing director of the radio division. Taylor received £710,000 as a "transaction bonus" on achieving the unexpectedly high sale price, another £509,000 for loss of office when he left GMG on 30 June following the sale"

I've put part of it in bold as it made me think about 'transaction bonuses'. I wonder who invented these in radio, and when?

Just for fun I added-up all my annual wages in the 17 years I was at Trent/GEM-AM from '77 to '94. It started at £4,250 in 1977, and gradually went past the (then) stunningly high £10,000, later over £20,000, and in my last few years almost reached the 'Himalyan-high' of £30,000. 

So, give or take a few thousand, my total basic wage over 17 years was £260,000.....

Now what did I get for 'transaction bonuses'?

Nothing.

And what did I get for (as Head of Programmes and Music) achieving 23% reach on GEM-AM, and 34% reach on Trent-FM, Nottingham ?

Nothing.

Of course the currently 'politically correct (radio) attitude' to these 'old days' is that groups such as Midlands Radio (which owned Trent/ GEM-AM for the later years) were not financially viable as stand-alone groups - it's been argued that the Saga group was making a loss and inevitably had to be 'swallowed' by a bigger fish.

Presumably, all the radio 'gurus' (and young would-be radio 'gurus') make such judgements based on the HUGE profits the large groups make?

No.

Because GMG group had to 'write-off 54.2 MILLION from the value of GMG Radio'* which ran the Smooth and Real station brands before the sale.

Of course Radio Trent, GEM-AM and Saga never such HUGE losses, something the 'radio gurus' might be well-advised to remember..... as well as radio investors, the government and Ofcom.

I'm sure I'm noted as being a sceptical as regards the way UK commercial radio is run nowadays, but surely someone sensible in government can do something to allow some LOCAL stations to be started up again!? 

With cautious management, local ownership, and the marvels of today's technology, it would be easily feasible to have a station with 18 hours live, that makes at least a small profit. And it could target more than just the under 30 year olds, and have local features rather then the mind-less 'show biz gossip' that has made the vast majority of listeners turn way from it to BBC Radio 2 (not as good as it thinks it is but hey it has no real competition...)

A new local station (in an area such as Nottingham) certainly would never lose MILLIONS or give disgustingly large pay-offs to people who over-saw stations that clearly failed because of their centrally controlled, non-local programming policies.

When the history of the first FIFTY years of commercial radio is written in 10 years time, I'm happy to be judged on the stations I ran for love rather than money, which had large audiences; the time is right for reviving 'Radio Like It Used To Be'...

Ofcom - com Off it !

Today Ofcom, under rules approved by Government agreed:

1. That moving local programmes of the Teeside Radio station 'TFM' to studios in Newcastle Upon Tyne (a distance of 40 miles):

"would neither substantially alter the character of service nor narrow the range of programmes available. The new arrangements of co-location and programming sharing would fall under the Ofcom current policies as programming would continue to be broadcast under the enhanced* local area"

2. But also today Ofcom questioned removing a once a week Asian programme from the 'Bee' radio station in Blackburn, as it:

"would substantially alter the character of the "'Bee" radio service so needs to take the request to consultation..."

Fact 1: the population of the TFM radio area is 818,000 people with 167,000 actual listeners*

Fact 2 : the 'Bee's area population is 411,000 people with 37,000 actual listeners* but with only 10% being Asian that equals an average 3,700 people

QUESTION to Ofcom and the Government:

A. HOW can altering the 'character' of one programme on a (once a week) show only aimed at 41,000* people (of whom a maximum of 3,700 actually listen) be more important than allowing the closing of a truly local station aimed at 818,000 people with 167,000* listeners?

B. How can replacing a service whose presenters were trained to reflect Teesside with one staffed by presenters trained to reflect Newcastle upon Tyne, not "substantially alter the character of service"?

THE 'request' you need to 'take to consultation' Ofcom, is the Metro Radio one !

Len Groat

* All audience stats - Rajar (Last Quarter 2012)

TFM.Time for Unions and MPs?

UPDATE: 9th April

PUBLISHED TODAY: 

Ofcom believes removing a WEEKLY Asian programme would "substantially alter the character of the "'Bee" radio (Bolton) service so needs to take the request to consultation"

BUT..... it's okay to let Metro move ALL programmes for Teesside to Newcastle- without even being asked!?!_________________


I met an old friend the other day at a conference; I had not seen her for years. She stood sideways on so at first I could only see her name badge as I approached. Just seeing her name made me feel warm, nostalgic, for I had been in a 'kind of' relationship with her for over 15 years. However, I suddenly saw she had not only changed her hair colour, but her face was very different, in fact, unrecognisable. The warm friendly glow had gone and a blankness replaced it - she seemed very 'distant.' As I said a jovial 'hello', she finally spoke. But it was not even her voice...

How could this be? We'd grown so close, had endless breakfasts together, shared love songs late into the night, and she'd advised me for many years about travel problems in my area and been very useful with her snowline..... Now all I could see was a gaunt, distant echo of what had once been - she was a stranger....

'She', was of course a radio station.... and the scenario above could have been applied to many stations in the last 6 years, though most recently (and suddenly) to TFM. 

The  snappy, modern TFM was of course Radio Tees in the 1970s when I was on Metro Radio in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. TFM was still doing quite well* but was suddenly put in an 'arranged marriage' last Friday.

This week a gaggle  of radio 'gurus', researchers, advisers, and consultants**, will probably be pontificating, telling Twitter, Facebook, the World and the whole radio industry how THEY believe, why, it went wrong. Telling us 'how' THEY would have handled it in the past, how things 'might' go in the future.

But hang-on. WHAT do they REALLY know? 

Because like every radio service in Britain, TFM has listened to the advice of endless radio 'gurus', researchers, advisers, and consultants. Yet despite the advice of a legion of 'informed opinion' who now suddenly know what went wrong (some of whom have never even presented a regular daily show on radio) the staff at TFM found it is not them, it is a whole radio station.... 'for the (local) chop'. 

More precisely, as the Evening Gazette+ reported:

"22 members of staff will leave the iconic Radio House in Yale Crescent, Thornaby, to move to Metro Radio in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.

I was on Metro Radio from day one in 1974, and though it seemed like a long time it was only for the first 21 months of my ILR ‘life’. However I do hold dear many memories of the  Swalwell studios, the anticipation of us being the first commercial station in that area, our great team which included James Whale, Giles Squire, Maggie Mash,and Dave Gregory. Indeed Dave moved down to Radio Tees to do breakfast there, and I visited the station in 1975. 

Looking back I can safely say that there is VERY little in common between these 2 areas, and Metro has always been the ‘glossier’ station, (Radio Tees) TFM was the more ‘real’ one ~ a reflection of their different life-styles and areas. Therefore, I find the fact they are to merge programmes completely, and just have 2 journalists to cover all of Teeside, VERY disturbing. 

Of course, some will dismiss my points (last year I was called a 'radio dinosaur' by one young would-be radio 'guru') but even as I wrote this I was delighted to see that those in a stronger position than I am, are equally disturbed, such as Graham Robb++ who has reported that:

“Local MPs are rightly concerned as the radio licence for Teeside has effectively been extinguished – there is a moral case to re-advertise it although the rules might prevent it”. 

The word MORAL is what matters here; the station should be run for its LISTENERS not its ADVERTISERS : a point Ofcom might well remind Bauer of, and certainly MPs have a national and local voice via the House of Commons and television. 

If Bauer cannot make it LOCAL and viable, please let another group at least try!

And WHY did Ofcom give them the licence+++ right through to 2025 !!??

With social media being strong now, and northern listeners being more faithful to 'their station' there will be a lot of ‘word of mouth ’advertising’ about it (mainly negative I suspect) which WILL colour local people’s opinions about this.  Bad ‘word of mouth’ can be very effective…

If I was the husband, wife, partner or parent of a TFM employee who now has to commute all the way to Newcastle daily, I'd certainly voice my thoughts....

Importantly, for the whole (shrinking) I(L)R industry remember TFM had 20% weekly audience reach. So the staff have not 'failed'. 

The Teeside BBC local station only has a 15% reach

...yet the BBC will not close it or have to justify its existence, thanks to the legally enforced licence fee (time for a review?) 

With a 20% reach TFM easily beats the Smooth and Heart networks*.  And even in my 'old' radio area, the once mighty East Midlands, (heavily tv marketed) Capital has shrunk down to 25% weekly reach, and the regional GEM106 has 3% less reach than TFM.

So where does all this leave the TFM staff? Well as we have watched various (money-based) mergers happen, on-air staff have largely been mute for fear of never working again if they (dare to) criticise the 'mighty radio machine' and the 'suits' behind it. But even though a few have got work on BBC local stations, there are still several hundred experienced I(L)R presenters and journalists now seeking work. 

Perhaps staying 'mute' is not necessarily a good option any longer? If the Teeside BBC local station was stripped of its staff this way the Unions would bring 'Auntie' to a halt. 

Maybe those still in work on some of the highly syndicated, quasi-national commercial stations should worry, it might be them next? Surely, instead of burying their heads in the sand they  could form a new UNION, to negotiate with the (millionaire) suits in these large groups? 

To start with, any show of more than 3 hours is a creative travesty. A ban on members using excessive voice-tracking might make the suits' sit-up and pay attention!? And as regards News there should be more journalist out in the area, not sitting behind a computer screen?

A Union might not bring back a local service to TFM, but at least that station would be remembered as THE one that inspired the poorly treated staff in commercial radio to finally say 'enough is enough', and be HEARD?

_____________________

* TFM most recently had 20% Audience Reach - (all) Smooth has just 10%, Real Radio NE 12%, the Heart (Network) 14%, Capital South Coast 11%
___________

** "Main reason for the TFM change? The world's changed but TFM (and lots of ILRs generally) didn't keep up." ( @matt on Twitter )

UPDATE: Four days later I asked this (would be) 'radio guru' "Would you like to enlarge on this Tweet-sized generalisation now some days have passed? 

He eloquently replied, "Nope". 

A case of 'radio gurus' ain't what they used to be !
___________

+ http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2013/04/06/tfm-radio-station-to-move-to-newcastle-84229-33127381/#
___________

++ http://www.recognitionpr.co.uk/blog/changes-to-tfm/

++ "airwaves belong to the people they do not belong to Bauer Radio or Ofcom"

+++ "most recent licence was renewed in 2012 with an expiry date of 28 June 2025, the long period this licence has to run makes it worth millions. To wantonly change the structure of delivery away from the local area with so little consultation is a serious mistake by Ofcom, especially given the hard work by the business and political community in Tees Valley to establish itself as a distinct part of the UK economy"

John Myers * East Midlands *Radio Judgement Day?

In an interesting post on Twitter on 2 February 'radio guru' John Myers asked:

"Is radio in the Midlands, better or worse without this station? Can you name the jocks?"

It led to an old (sharply produced) audio presentation made by Century 106 to sell the station to advertisers.

http://myersmedia.co.uk/2013/radio-like-it-used-to-be/

John was famous (notorious?) for his time 'sorting out' this station including the sacking of the Religious presenter which was filmed for a tv show. The resulting footage must have served the lady well as she was polite, and (fittingly) 'very Christian' in her response ~ though it was the PR equivalent of John drowning a fluffy puppy on camera.

My thoughts on the question John asked are that Midlands radio is FAR worse off without 'Century 106' (or the station that followed, Saga 106).

Why? Because after Smooth took over Saga 106 (when John was THE boss) and the others in the Saga group, they gradually cut back on local shows. Firstly they introduced regional ones, and now 100% of the shows come from...

.......... London.

Yet in London, Smooth continues to fail to even get in the Top 10 stations by either share or reach in Rajar surveys! So a station with poor results in its 'flagship' market is foisted undiluted onto an audience in a completely different cultural area 100 miles away (and further afield) ...

Now, ironically, Smooth is about to be 'swallowed' by Global Radio. Their quasi-national stations Capital and Heart peddle inane narrow playlists spiced with 'personality news', all aimed at under 30 year olds. So before long Smooth may be 'rippled' into an even lower common-denominator service... certainly not 'local' !

Therefore, I think it's fair to say that John asking if it was

"Better or worse", can only have ONE answer..

For Century 106, Saga 106 and Smooth.... 'radio history' will NOT be hard to write, as to WHICH served the East Midlands best?

The LOCAL ones......

I've asked John this question on his Blog:

"Of course you were there to turn Saga into Smooth, BUT forgetting branding and bankers, WHICH served the East Midlands best ?"

It will be interesting to read his thoughts..

____________________

Update 5 February

"In tests 10 out of 10 John Myers preferred Century 106 to Smooth 106" !


(John has answered the question in his blog)

"Century 106"

http://myersmedia.co.uk/2013/radio-like-it-used-to-be/

Do YOU agree ! ?

By co-incidence February is the 10th anniversary of the launch of Saga 106 in the East Midlands!