Living By Numbers

The latest Rajar figures are out this coming week for Q4/2011 (19th September - 18th December).

Radio stations and agencies etc. will get them at 10.30 on Wednesday morning, with the public release embargoed until 00.01 on Thursday.

As usual I'll be compiling my usual chart showing how the main London commercial stations have fared and "cutting through the hype" as one person described it.

So please remember to check back here on Thursday morning.

I'll Have An 'R' An 'I' And A 'P' Please, Bob

I was sorry to have learned of the death of Bob Holness; especially as it was thanks to him, in a small way, that I ended up working in radio.

Back in my hospital radio days in the early-1970s Bob Holness, who lived in Pinner had become a good friend of Radio Northwick Park. At the time he was the regular presenter of the Monday edition of Radio 2’s Late Night Extra and one evening a few of us were kindly invited to come to Broadcasting House and sit in the studio's control room while the programme was broadcast.

It was quite exciting to watch what was going on, with studio guests coming and going, as well as reporters arriving with tapes for the programme. At times it all seemed rather hectic yet, at the same time, everything went quite smoothly as far as the listener was concerned. It also struck me that, while Radio Northwick Park’s facilities were rather modest compared to those in this BBC basement studio many of the general techniques, with which I was becoming familiar, were the same.

A couple of years later I found myself working at LBC as a studio operator and, by then, Bob had also joined the station. He originally reported from the station's traffic helicopter but after a while partnered Douglas Cameron for many years on the station's 'AM' breakfast show.

So thanks, Bob. Those few hours one evening watching 'Late Night Extra' being broadcast was a life-changing moment. It was also a pleasure to have worked with you.

(Photo © Paul Easton 1975)

Christmas Day In The Workhouse

Even with increasing automation there’s still a chance some of you will be working over the Christmas period; possibly even on Christmas Day itself. I’ve done it myself on more than a few occasions and there does seems to be something a bit special about being on the radio, or just working there, on Christmas Day.

Actually, for my first “radio Christmas”, as a young Tech Op at LBC/IRN in 1974, my standard shift pattern meant having to work 0830-2030 on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. So it was not much of a family Christmas at home that year.

Radio tends to don several different guises on Christmas Day.

In the morning, radio usually provides “music for opening presents”. I know several presenters who encourage kids to call-in and talk about what they got for Christmas, which, whatever the usual target audience, always seems to be popular.

Later in the day TV, and other distractions, tend to take over and radio listening decreases for the majority of people. That’s usually why many stations tend to concentrate their efforts and have their main presenters doing shows on Christmas morning; by the afternoon and evening programming these days is often networked, automated/voice-tracked or otherwise pre-recorded.

In the late evening, though, radio can provide a welcome refuge for those who are thankful that, after a day of cooking, eating, drinking and entertaining, Christmas comes but once a year!

For those of you on-air, at whatever time of day (but especially those ‘low’ hours), it’s worth remembering that not everybody will be full of Christmas spirit and seasonal goodwill. It’s not just the ‘Eleanor Rigbys’ of this world, but also those who are, perhaps, away from their friends and families for various reasons. Others will be having to cope with their first Christmas on their own after the loss of a loved one during the year; whether through the break-up of a long-term relationship or marriage, or because of a bereavement.

For them, TV can sometime consist of too much ‘enforced jollity’, so radio has the chance to become even more of what someone once called “your friend in a box”; possibly even providing the only contact with the ‘outside world’ someone may have that day.

It’s even likely some presenters may fall into that particular category themselves and, after their show, will go back to an empty home.

So, it might be worth bearing those people in mind when you’re on-air, and being a little bit more “one-to-one” in your presentation style.

If you’re in management it’s usually a good idea to put in an appearance at some point on Christmas Day; mid/late-morning always seems a popular time. If you can bring in some mince pies, chocolates and, maybe, some ‘bubbly’ as well this can be a good way of boosting morale among those who are having to work, as well as adding to the overall festive feel at the station. I’m sure many of you already do this, but it doesn’t hurt to point it out to the others.

If you are on-air over the Christmas period have a good time.

December Will Be Magic Again

'December Will Be Magic Again' by Kate Bush is one of my favourite Christmas songs and I always like to play it on this particular day.

This year I thought I'd dig out the vinyl original rather than the CD and it reminded me how much I loved the picture sleeve (by Nick Price)!

May this December bring you magic, love and hope for the future.

Everybody's Talkin'

Back in the late-70s a US TV series WKRP in Cincinnati, was set in a struggling fictional radio station.

At the start of the series the station, which had been playing easy-listening music "that was out of date 20 years ago", underwent a radical format change under its new programme director.

Following the change the station's reception area was "invaded" by some former listeners protesting about the change and demanding WKRP revert to its previous format.

Arthur Carlson, the sometimes-ineffectual general manager (who only got the job because his mother owned the station), began to panic; especially when he learned a TV news crew was on their way up.

Meanwhile PD Andy Travis seized the moment and asked the protestors "Do you want to be on TV?  We want you to wave your banners and let everybody know you're as mad as hell because WKRP is now playing rock music!"  A cynical ploy, perhaps, but it was a clever way of getting some free marketing.

In 1996 Status Quo famously took legal action against BBC Radio 1 for not playlisting their latest single; a re-working of the Beach Boys' classic 'Fun Fun Fun', which was a collaboration by the Quo with the Beach Boys. Following the major changes at Radio 1 which had seen the departure of  popular, long-serving presenters such as Simon Bates, Dave Lee Travis and Bruno Brookes, it could be argued Status Quo's action only succeeded in helping to highlight the station's transformation from "Smashie and Nicey" cheese to Britpop "Cool Britannia".

Now, ahead of the launch of Absolute Radio 60s  - one of its latest digital 'brand extensions', - Absolute Radio have said they won't be playing any music by Sir Cliff Richard (and some other 60s artists) because he isn't "cool". The howls of protest by Cliff's supporters have been deafening, including articles in the national press as well as other media coverage. Even 'core' Absolute artists, such as Roger Daltrey and Francis Rossi, have come out in support of Cliff and, in the process, have helped the new station  to get the sort of PR coverage money can't buy.

As Oscar Wilde once said:  "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" and the furore over the Cliff "ban" is giving the new station a great deal of all-important "talkability".

It's been interesting to watch this PR stunt develop and I can't wait to see what happens next! I suspect a surprise, happy ending; although I'm not (yet) convinced a one-off 'Absolute Radio Cliff' station is on the cards! 


(Disclosure: I occasionally undertake work on specific projects for TIML/Absolute Radio, but have not done so in the past six months. Jack FM Oxfordshire and Glide FM, which are owned by the management team at Absolute (but run as totally separate operations) are regular clients).

Winner!

Excitement + Emotion = Great Radio!

London Rajar - Q3/2011

As usual here's my hour-by-hour breakdown of how the main London commercial stations are performing - coupled with my regular caveat about not taking a single quarter in isolation.

The London commercial market is dominated by Magic, Capital, Heart and Kiss who seem continually engaged in what I've described in the past as a game of "musical chairs".

Last quarter Magic was back as London's No. 1 commercial station, but this time Capital has the most listeners while Heart has the highest share, while Magic gets pushed off the top spot.

Smooth has gained an additional 126,000 listeners this quarter, with a corresponding increase in hours of 1.16 million.

LBC 97.3, which took a bit of a hit last time has lost a further 20,000 listeners, but also gained an extra 2.14 million hours. Some people have suggested LBC should have done quite well this quarter because of the summer riots in London, but they only lasted for about a week and, therefore any short-term gain would have been evened-out across the full survey period.

The same goes for BBC London, who also won plaudits for its coverage but has shed 80,000 listeners since the previous quarter

LBC has also lost what used to be a clear dominance of late-night and overnight listening.  After many years in the 2200-0100 weekday slot, "London's late-night legend" Clive Bull left the station a few weeks into this survey period. Although overall audience figures for that slot have generally held steady, it's going to take another quarter to see how things settled down after Clive's departure. 

(Click on charts to enlarge)

 

Finally a quick comment on digital-only stations in London. Stations such as BBC Radio 4 Extra, 6Music, Jazz FM and Absolute 80s (which has now passed the 1 million mark nationally) are starting to make their presence felt with more than 200,000 listeners a week.

Note: Figures used in all charts for Absolute are 'Total Absolute Radio (London)

Survey period - 27th June - 18th September 2011. Source: Rajar/Ipsos Mori/RSMB.

Charts for Q2/2011 can be found here.

Recommended commentary on the latest figures from Matt Deegan, Adam Bowie and Nik Goodman