the Radio Rabbit

Don't Worry Be Happy

2008-03-31T23:55:00.002+01:00

Thankyou from all of us at theJazz.

Those were the final words from a pre-recorded station ident, followed by Bobby McFarrin's 1982 hit Don't Worry Be Happy.

On the stroke of midnight the song cut off and a we are treated to a blast of popular jazz music for 54 seconds... then..... silence.

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.

"theJazz is closing down at the end of March"

2008-03-31T23:44:00.002+01:00

This isn't a time to be piccy, if there is such a word, because the producers have probably already moved on to another GCap project, but you'd think for something like a station close-down, which a few anoraks will be taking particular note of, that they would make an alternative version of the above sweeper to say: "theJazz is closing tonight at midnight".

No?

Anyways, just 10 minutes to go and already in the last hour we've had 6 adverts for myclassicfm.com. I wonder what will happen after midnight to this channel. The Birdsong +1 ?

Cross Promotion is alive and well.

2008-03-31T23:13:00.002+01:00

47 minutes to go, and a promo-trail for the online jazz stream over at myclassicfm.com

Well why not, they've nothing to lose. Shame Global didn't say "we'll give you £375 million - as long as you leave theJazz where it is"

Ralph would be turning in his grave, if he was dead.

All that Jazz

2008-03-31T23:01:00.000+01:00

The Rabbit is listening... the last dying hour of GCap Media's (or even Global Radio's) theJazz.

One hour and counting.

This is a typical case of use it or lose it because having been listening for the last 10 minutes with a pint of ice cold water, the lights down low and fantastic jazz ouuzzzing out from my little free promotional black box called a DAB radio, this is actually a great relaxing way to spend the midnight hour.

Shame I've only ever used the station for background music at the occasional dinner party.

It's All Gone Pete Tong

2008-03-16T18:49:00.001Z

BBC Radio 1 are negligent. We've got the proof, it's a Radio Today exclusive.

Pete Tong deliberately mentioned there was a house party. In a house. Somewhere. And at some time.

As you can imagine, over 2,000 people, probably all drug addicts or teenage mothers we imagine, turned up and wrecked the 21-bedroom manor house in Devon on Friday night. And according to one eye-witness statement we've just made up, Tong himself urinated in a wardrobe while naked.

It was the birthday party of 18 year old Sarah Ruscoe. According to the Telegraph, her mother is considering legal action against the BBC: "I think it's totally negligent of the BBC to allow a statement like that to be broadcast."

The power of radio, eh?

Sales executives would kill for a testimonial from Sarah Ruscoe's mother, if the outcome had been slightly more positive. And not entirely irrelevant. Imagine it: a live read on a radio station with average reach of just 21% in any one part of the country, somehow convinced 2,000 people to appear at the same time in the same location, without mentioning either.

A commercial with no details, an OTH of just one, and more people respond than the Osmond family has teeth.

Fortunately this time around, and unlike last week's preposterous non-story concerning Radio Teesdale (which inexplicably made it as far as the pages of USA Today), the press didn't simply regurgitate the story.

The Telegraph published a complete confession from Ruscoe. In fact she'd put up a poster at school inviting 'everyone' to attend which then, according to the Observer, was published on the internet with the instruction that attendees should cause as much damage as possible.

Which would explain the man found trying to remove the door from the fridge.

The moral of the story is this: no matter how tinpot you or your peers may consider a station to be, the simple fact that it reaches into a person's home or car means it has power. Radio 1 certainly wasn't responsible for the uninvited guests or the subsequent damage, but it's a far more credible scapegoat than a sheet of paper stuck on a corridor wall.

Something Out of Nothing...

2008-03-10T08:53:00.000Z

I'm putting my life at risk just telling you this, but something profound and deeply disturbing occurred last week.

You may not believe me, and frankly who would? I can offer no proof, not a shred of evidence to support my theory but my belief is absolute.

Here it is. Brace yourself.

The entire population of the Earth has been transported to a doppelganger planet, in the exactly same orbit as Earth but on the exact opposite side of the sun. Everything about this new Earth is identical, except for small yet terrifying differences.

No, wait. Sorry, that was the plot of 1969 sci-fi flick Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. My mistake.

How else do you explain it then? Why has the media gone nuts about a presenter who forgot to put his studio live to air?

Andy Greener is a volunteer DJ at Radio Teesdale, a community radio station in Barnard Castle. He forgot to press the big button that puts his studio live to air, so the emergency back-up CD kicked in.

Goodness. Presumably this state of affairs continued for a week? Is that why it's such an unusual story? A day perhaps? No. Just for an hour early in the morning when next to nobody noticed. Right.

This ground-shaking exclusive has since appeared on ITV, the BBC News website, in the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. And this is what I don't understand. How often do stations fall off air? It doesn't happen every day, but haven't we made an astoundingly large gaffe at one point or another? And how many of us work at stations where there is scandal the tabloids would really love to get their hands on?

Was last week a slow news week? Did a community station playing a CD for an hour really warrant so many column inches in the nationals? I wouldn't expect that if it happened on a regional station, let alone a community one.

Next week: your PC cops off with one of the 17 year-old crew girls in the station's toilets. I know, it's way too far-fetched.

Too Little, Too Vague.

2008-03-02T17:39:00.000Z

Too Little, Too Vague. GCap Media's mid-week rejection of Global Radio's improved bid ended intense industry speculation. In a statement GCap said the Global Radio offer of 202p undervalues its business and included too much uncertainty. Interestingly, GCap reckons the offer failed to take into account the benefits of Fru Hazlitt's dynamite strategy of giving away more than a decade's worth of various DAB investments. The rejection could now signal the commencement of the axing of digital brands Planet Rock and theJazz, plus the closure or sale of the Xfm network. In what can only be described as wholesale DAB cleansing [leaving only Classic FM on the national platform], GCap is also bailing out as co-owners Digital One, leaving Arqiva to work out if it has a deal or a dog.

If GCap thinks flogging some of the less attractive family silver will make everything better, its shareholders might just be thinking something else. Whatever happens, it will take a lot more than a dollop of Silvo to buff a shine back on GCap's tarnished record of failure.

Before the merger, Capital Radio and GWR led the way in an historic multi-million investment into DAB. Is this wipe-out policy total madness or a brave new logic? Well, everyone said Ralph was 'brave' to cut advertising on Capital Radio to two commercials per break - and what an absolute stroke of genius that was.

To be fair, though, Fiesty Fru might be onto something. After all, despite now contributing about 5 million weekly hours* (that's half of Capital FM London's hours) GCap Media has consistently failed to effectively monetise its digital-only brands. Well, Fru knows all about sales so if she can't sell 5 million hours, then who can? Whatever the logic and whatever GCap gets for its digital brands, Fru certainly appears determined to jetison any excess baggage, if that's what it takes to stave off a hostile takeover. (*Source: RAJAR Q4, 2007 - so it could be wrong, of course).

Or - we could wake up tomorrow to a higher bid and a done deal. In this industry, anything is possible - just ask Bauer.

Moving on up?

2008-02-24T19:48:00.002Z

After a period of time slowly approaching several million years, BBC Radio 5 Live has a new controller.

Actually it still has an old controller, too; Bob Shennan is only halfway through his six months of gardening leave. Yes, that's right. Six months. Why is a publicly funded organisation even allowed to offer gardening leave? How many licence fees is that, and when hundreds of employees are about to be made redundant? It's not as if the BBC is a commercially driven entity, is it?

Cough.

The new man is Adrian van Klaveren, the BBC's deputy director of news. So not a radio man then, which has come as a disappointment to some who work at the station. Regardless, van Klaveren is reported to be a huge fan of 5 Live and stations that are managed by individuals who give a damn tend to fare well.

Jenny Abramsky, the BBC's director of radio (yes, I know we're meant to call it 'audio and music' but it's radio really) is happy with the appointment too: "Adrian is a passionate listener to, and supporter of, 5 Live and the right person to take the station forward to its new and exciting future in Salford."

Yeah, about that Jenny. Here's the thing. It's a bad idea.

It's true that stations based in a particular geographical area will tend to have a bias towards their location; it's easier to source material, guests and stories when they're on your doorstep. So the plan goes that by moving a key network like 5 Live out of London, the BBC can become more representative of the country as a whole, and therefore represent better value for the licence fee.

It's a nice theory.

Here's the big question that staff are still asking themselves two years on from the decision been announced; will presenters like Nicky Campbell, Simon Mayo, Peter Allen and Richard Bacon all move to Manchester? Will guests make the journey from the capital for their interviews? The answer in both cases is no.

Adrian van Klaveren's challenge is to successfully oversee the relocation of an entire network. Actually that's more of a logistical operation requiring HR, IT and building contractors to work together. If that happens by the way, they'll be resurrecting Norris McWhirter through voodoo to witness it for the record books.

Van Klaveren's biggest dilemma is in fact this; does he allow talented presenters to broadcast down the line from London, thereby making a mockery of relocating, or does he risk his audiences by cutting loose any talent who won't relocate to the North West?

Nothing ever happens

2008-02-17T17:50:00.000Z

I don't know whether I'm addicted to every twist and turn the industry is taking at the moment, or whether I'm completely and utterly bored stupid by it all. The more the industry changes, the more it stays the same.

Does GCap's master plan - to abandon national DAB, sell XFM and reduce overheads across the group (does that mean making staff redundant or selling more stations?) - amount to a package that can genuinely reverse the fortunes of the company, or is Fru simply shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic?

(While we're on the subject, GCap's strategy is to grow the company through online audiences, yet only £800,000 will be invested in "new technology to enhance our revenue performance". Last time I checked, there wasn't much in the way of new media or technological opportunities you could buy for loose change.)

Who will buy Virgin? Anybody? Nobody? Somebody? Tomorrow? Next month? Before we all die? Before the sun goes supernova?

And for the love of all that is holy, will somebody please give throw Global a bone and let them buy something, before my head explodes at the thought of reading another scrap of city speculation of industry rumour?

It has to end sometime, but when? How much longer will staff have to wonder who's running the show and whether they'll still have a job next week?

Digital delay

2008-02-10T16:53:00.000Z

Say what you like about Fru Hazlett, she's hardly backward in coming forward. At least we think she's not. We're not sure yet, to be honest with you.

Tomorrow is the day that GCap's new chief executive announces her rescue plan to turn the company around, to make good on the past two years of broken promises and start delivering substantial growth and profit.

To say the scope of Hazlitt's plan is broad and bold would seem, at this point, a massive understatement. Amongst the likely headlines to come out of the announcement is the sale of several One Network stations. We've heard talk of another brand being cut loose, too. Until tomorrow, this is only idle speculation of course, but we reckon Global are already writing a cheque for that particular network.

That will be big news, if true, but what already seems inevitable is GCap's withdrawal from national DAB. A combination of several sources has painted the following picture:

- GCap will sell it's majority shareholding in the national Digital One multiplex to the other shareholders. For £1.
- GCap will close Planet Rock and the Jazz.

This would mean that Digital One broadcasts just four stations in the immediate future; the three analogue commercial stations - Virgin, talkSPORT and Classic FM - and BFBS, although this is only a trial at the moment.

The Sunday Times mentions a figure of £80 million as the total investment GCap (and GWR and Capital before it, presumably) have made into digital radio so far. In return they've received buttons. Of course GCap would still have digital interests; wherever a station has an analogue footprint there will be a digital one, too. The future of Chill and Fun Radio is unknown.

While not quite a full withdrawal from digital radio, it is a significant, and unfortunate development. Will there be others? Global have already scaled back their commitment to DAB; abandoning plans for Sky News Radio, reigning in costs at The Arrow and Galaxy London. Emap have barely flinched during all of this, except Emap are no more. In their first full week in charge, new owners Bauer have swung the axe at two magazine titles. Magazines work differently to radio stations, but be in no doubt that Bauer is scrutinising every area of its new acquisition.

Darker days ahead for DAB? Perhaps, though the BBC isn't going anywhere, nor is the digital tuner's ease of use or the improvement in quality for AM services. Just how broad and bold Hazlett's plan is will be revealed tomorrow. As soon as we know, so will you.

Survival of the Fittest...

2008-01-13T19:55:00.000Z

For some, last week's closure of no less than three digital radio stations must have confirmed every fear they'd ever had about the medium.

Fun Radio was always going to be a tough sell because children don't have much more disposable income than a couple of quid a week, they won't buy a car on credit nor consolidate their debts into one manageable monthly sum. Of course their parents will do all these things but, as media buyers will no doubt point out, it not called Parent Radio, now is it?

Core was a long and painful lesson in the utter pointlessness of trying to do what your competitors do, but without co-branded TV channels and a web of cross-promotional opportunities with national magazines and analogue stations.

The demise of Oneword is easier to understand: it cost the thick end of £10 million, made no money and had no listeners. Yes it's very easy to pin the blame on BBC7 but the simple fact is Oneword wasn't fit enough to stand in the digital marketplace.

And that's what we are witnessing; not the demise of digital radio but the realisation that if groups are to justify spending millions on a medium that has shown next to no return since launch, there has to be a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

For example, GCap may have pulled the plug on two services but it continues to invest in The Jazz. Budding it up with Classic FM gives the services every hope of finding a crossover audience initially, and a unique listener-ship in the long run.

Oneword and Core had more than a fair crack at establishing an audience and didn't quite manage it. It doesn't sound the death knell for DAB, but serves as a cursory warning for the future.

Thank god for scrolling text

2008-01-12T00:39:00.001Z

Turns out those wondering what has happened to their favourite fresh hits will know exactly what has gone on, thanks to the advanced technology which is scrolling text.

Core has closed. This is BFBS. Now they just need to work out what the hell BFBS stands for.

On the topic of radio stations closing, Oneword has also disappeared from DAB, but is still continuing to broadcast on Freeview. We are taking bets now on how long it will take the engineers to pull the plug on that feed too. Our bet is Monday. Well, more of an informed guess than a bet, to be fair.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

2008-01-12T00:04:00.000Z

It seems to be somewhat of a tradition for GCap digital radio stations to end with that famous song from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series - So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

That tune played just after Dj Boonie - Now Your're Gone with lyrics such as "Is this the way its ment to be? Only dreamin that your missin me? I’m waitin here at home, I’ll go crazy now you’re gone"

In between we had a jingle "Core - great when it's around, crap when it's not". Seems rather appropriate as it is about to disappear forever.

A short tone follows, quickly replaced by BFBS Radio midnight news. And for anyone wondering what has happened, one of the news items includes how BFBS is now broadcasting across the UK on digital radio.

That's it then, as Freddie Mercury and his chums once said, another one bites the dust.

Jingles all the way!

2008-01-11T23:53:00.000Z

13 minutes to go. Last night a DJ saved my life - very appropriate - and makes one realise some thought has gone in to the final minutes of the radio station rather than an engineer just working late and pulling the plug at the stroke of midnight.

Oh hello what's this... 10 minutes left and we are treated to a selection of Core jingles from over the years. I counted around 10 in total. How nice. Where is my record button.

Will anyone miss Core?

2008-01-11T23:42:00.000Z

Producers are having fun playing idents about the station closing - nothing obvious but small 'clips' or 'drops' suggesting this is the last night of broadcasting.

20 minutes to go. The strange thing is Mrs Public isn't either going to be listening at midnight or care much about what is happening until they switch on for some fresh hits in the morning whilst drying their hair.

Then an army station will be there, Mrs Public will think the radio is bust and tune around until she finds something else she likes. My guess is Real Radio Digital or Life.

Last night of Core

2008-01-11T23:01:00.000Z

So here we are.. the last night of broadcasting for a digital station which made quite an impact over the last eight years.

It launched in the hay day of digital radio - before anyone had heard of, let along applied for a 2nd mortgage to buy a DAB digital radio.

Tuning in at 11pm, with one hour to go everything is normal. Song, id, song, id, song, id etc etc.

Let's see what the hour brings.

Myers in Yorkshire

2007-12-18T08:58:00.000Z

GMG Radio Chief Executive John Myers has set out his vision for the future of the radio industry in the UK, and believes that just two "supergroups" will eventually own 70% of the commercial radio market. Speaking at an event held last night by the Yorkshire branch of The Radio Academy, John also suggested that the recent purchase of Emap's radio brands by H Bauer was a good move for creativity and freedom - because being in private hands means that programming decisions don't necessarily come down to profit.

The self-confessed "athlete from the neck upwards" told the assembled audience in Leeds that he believes that brands are the future of regional and national radio in the UK and that those stations with the best brands will be the most successful. John reported that his own Century and Real Radio brands would, however be keeping their own names and identities because of the recognition that they have in their respective marketplaces. He sees the two as having the same brand for advertisers to buy in to.

Myers was in conversation with BBC Radio Leeds breakfast presenter Andrew Edwards, who asked many delving questions about John's early radio days as well as his expectations for 2008. Among the revelations those of us in the audience got were what John used to get up to when he started out as a Tech Op at Radio Cumbria, where the idea for the name Century Radio came from, and how the idea for Rock Radio in Paisley came about (plus a rough guide to how much GMG paid Q96 for the licence!)

John also shared some stories of his time at Radio Cumbria, Red Rose Radio, CFM, Century and GMG - most notably how, when Century launched in the North East, he developed his on-air John Morgan alter-ego alongside John "the Boss" Myers off the air and had fun with the listeners by dealing (as Myers) with their complaints about him (as Morgan)!

Myers took questions from the crowd of around 50 industry folk about everything from Community Radio to what makes a good link. He then went on to present the 2007 Radio Academy Nations and Regions Station of the Year Award for Yorkshire to Rother FM. There was special praise from the judges for how the Lincs FM Group station handled coverage of the floods earlier this year. Mid-morning presenter Joe Sentance picked up the award from John, who is Chairman of the Radio Academy.

BBC prototypes 'social networking' DAB receiver

2007-11-29T14:41:00.001Z

Today is the Radio at the Edge conference in London. Rabbit takes time out to look at the news so far.

The BBC is working on a prototype for a new "future-looking" digital radio receiver called Olinda, which will combine DAB, wi-fi and social networking, and will allow users to see what their friends are listening to.

BBC Audio and Music Interactive has commissioned design consultancy Schulze and Webb to create a working prototype of the receiver, whichis due to be delivered before Christmas.

Olinda is a single-speaker DAB digital radio, with a large screen for text on the front and a smaller screen on the top of the device to aid tuning. The open-source software inside the receiver logs which stations a listener is tuning in to, and automatically generates a favourites list.

The device makes use of home wi-fi and social networking technology, allowing users to share information on when they are listening to the radio and which shows they prefer. Users can add friends to their network of Olinda users, and when a friend switches on their radio, a light corresponding to that friend appears on the front of the device.

The project was unveiled this morning by Tristan Ferne, who runs the research and development team at BBC Audio and Music Interactive.

"We hope this will bring back that sense of community about listening to the radio, but with a twist," Ferne said. "It will supportconversation around radio and discovery.

"Radio is quite a solitary activity. We don't all sit as a family and listen to the radio like we used to. We want to create something that would create a sense of liveness and community."

Ferne stressed that the project was still in its infancy, and called on other broadcasters and technology manufacturers to come on board."We're not going to build this and sell it [ourselves]," he said. "We are not in that market. It's not ready yet – I don't know how this would work."

"It shouldn't just be the BBC. This is really for all radio stations.I'd like your help."

Ferne said the Olinda receiver aimed to "stimulate the DAB market".

"We're not sure there's a huge amount of innovation at the moment,"he said. "We thought that the radio should be visually striking. But if we made it look unlike a radio, people might not get it."

Frank Gillard Awards 2007

2007-11-24T23:20:00.000Z

Rabbit goes to the annual BBC Local Radio awards, named after BBC Local Radio founder Frank Gillard. Over a thousand people in attendence, a mixture of present and past BBC staff along with a selection of listeners from each station and lots of alcohol doing the rounds too.

Radio Leeds won the BBC Station of the Year Award at the annual Gillards in Birmingham on Saturday evening. Stars including Simon Mayo, Jane Garvey, Michael Buerk, Jon Sopal, Jane Hill along with BBC Director General Mark Thompson and BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons all attended the bash.

The evening started with a show about the history of BBC local featuring a mixture of archive audio and film, in recognition of 40 years of broadcasting.

Thirty judges include: John Inverdale, Adrian Chiles, Vijay Sharma, Lorna Clarke, Richard Bilton, Director of the Radio Academy Trevor Dann, and member of the BBC Trust, Alison Hastings.

BBC Radio Manchester passed the award for BBC Station of the Year across the Pennines to BBC Radio Leeds. BBC Radio Manchester won the award for Station Sound .

Six people were recognised for their outstanding contribution to BBC Local Radio, including BBC Radio Merseysides Rugby League commentator Ray French, BBC Radio Sheffield Engineer John Walshe, former BBC Radio Essex presenter Alison Hartley, former BBC Radio York and BBC Local radio stalwart John Jefferson, BBC Radio Leicesters Herdle White, and the BBC's Owen Bently.

Keep it local, Myers urges

2007-11-15T22:12:00.000Z

Creating national brands with local content is the future of radio, according to GMG Radio boss John Myers. He was in conversation with Trevor Dann at the latest Radio Academy event in Birmingham last night.

Both Myers and Dann agreed local radio stations which control links, music and content via a central 'head office' will have a limited appeal in the new world of 'on demand' services. Examples were given of how community radio stations are full of localness, and regional radio stations such as Real Radio Wales, which employes Welsh presenters, add to the local feel for the station.

But bland pop stations offering little speech and talentless presenters have no future.

The debate, held at Aston Villa Football Club, also talked about how radio talent is hard to come by, and as an industry we must watch out for television hosts automatically gaining radio programmes, regardless of their ability, taking away slots from rising radio stars.

When questioned about the BBC's threat to commercial radio, Myers said Radio 1 is becoming more of a threat than Radio 2, and maybe it's time for another clear out at the station. He quoted a recent line about Chris Moyles turning into the next DLT.

Thankyou SBES, it's been great

2007-11-15T19:13:00.000Z

Rabbit goes to the SBES in Birmingham and learns that this show will be the last of its kind. Not only will the show move to a Friday and Saturday slot, but will no longer be exclusively about sound as organisers Point Promotions expand to include video, IPTV and the Internet.

The SBES has been the place to be to see new radio equipment, new gadgets and hold annual meets with former colleagues and friends for over thirty years. But the changes will open up the show to a wider audience: "Market forces made it necessary for SBES to move to larger premises. Market forces made it necessary for SBES to move into the NEC – and now market forces are demanding that we make other changes."

Meanwhile, Day 1 of SBES 2007 seemed busier than recent years, and once again provided many a stand displaying the latest radio tools and toys. The prize for biggest stand this year goes to Preco - well done guys on a very large rig - and the prize for most free food goes to PSquared who had a birthday cake the size of a small town to help celebrate their 10th anniversary.

The Future Zone continues to grow with an even bigger list of names talking about the future of technology and radio. If you are attending on day 2 you will hear from the Radio Academy's Trevor Dann, BBC Audio and Music's James Cridland and Tristan Ferne, Axia's Steve Church, Ofcom's Martin James and also Nick Sheridan from BBC World Service.

Day Two at NAB Europe

2007-11-07T01:10:00.000Z

It’s all over… and I’ve been in the bar chatting with UK radio people post conference. Most said it was the best NAB for networking so far, but not the best in terms of content in the seminars.

Some of the NAB virgins were new to the ideas presented the speakers, but a number of long term NAB attendees told me they’d heard some of the stuff before. I asked whether they’d be going again next year and most said yes as it will be held in London.

I had a good chat with all the Jingle people today.

Jones TM have a lot on offer right now and the now legendry Chris Stevens (Mr. Vice President) played me a secret new AC package on my hotel room B&O stereo. It sounds really fresh and different. That’s due out early 2008 so keep it here for more.

Brandy Jingles were one of the new companies exhibiting this year, giving away funky USB MP3 players with their demos on. They’ve just launched a new website www.brandy-jingles.com. The voice on their demos is me by the way!

Reelworld made a custom demo for the conference which looks pretty cool, I must have a listen to that later.

Now it’s time to get back to the bar for some final drinks before the plane back. See you in London next year!

European Radio Awards

2007-11-06T23:09:00.000Z

I thought Rick Houghton and Ian Carless did a great job at organising awards that honoured some very talented and hard working people.

I asked Rick afterwards to tell me his favourite point of the night. He said it was definitely when the owner of Relax FM Moscow came to collect his award for Radio Station of the Year. The man was in tears as he picked up the honour. Rick told me his team really made a lot of effort to be there and he was overjoyed they won.

One other award went to an online radio station where all the staff are volunteers, I was surprised to find out that they had all paid themselves to enter and be there. They really deserved the award. Jonathan Miles was an excellent MC, very funny and camp as always. He really says what he thinks (even in front of a big audience) which I find refreshing.

Rabbit will be at next year's awards in London, so see you there!

Day One at NAB Europe

2007-11-06T23:08:00.000Z

Back in Barcelona, and the first full day of the NAB conference showed how diverse this event is – I’ve seen people from more countries than I knew Europe had.. and a few that certainly aren’t European. As well as a fair stock of Americans, there’s delegates from the Middle East and even New Zealand here – the latter including Vaughan Hobbs, formerly of Heart and Galaxy, but now wearing the badge for NZ network More FM.

Some big US names were talking today, including Doug Harris from Houston and Pat Welsh from Pollack Media Group in California, but both had the misfortune of being up against Francis Currie talking about the success of the Rhythmic AC format – in particular, Heart. As is often a quirk of these events, the programme and reality don’t always tie in… in this case the paperwork still referencing Francis as being at Heart.

The food has been great as ever, with delegates enjoying a generous portion of chicken at lunchtime, and a good number of pastries throughout the day. The free bar at the Google happy hour was also popular, with champagne continually flowing.

At this point things got a little confusing, with the arrival of people for the European Radio Awards, who rightly joined in with the drinks. However, the wrist-band entrance policy for the awards limited the number of would-be attenders to the event.

Talking of the awards.. Jonathan Miles was a great host, easily rivaling Paul Gambacinni at the Sonys. It did get slightly awkward towards the middle, as the UK won all of the first 14 awards. Luckily, the rest of Europe did get a few gongs… at least, they would have done if the gongs weren’t stuck in a Spanish customs office!

As a final note, it’s hard to forget the incredibly energetic sprints to the stage displayed by Emap’s Mark Story or the touching speech by Station of the year Relax FM. A good time had by all!

Up late in Barcelona

2007-11-06T03:06:00.000Z

Up until 3.40am in the hotel bar last night, ended up talking to Sandy Beech and Jonathan Miles who were reminiscing about their days at Radio Luxembourg. Jonathan also told me he is looking forward to starting at BBC Radio Newcastle when he gets back. He is at the NAB to present the European Radio Awards. I will have the winners list later tonight, so watch this space to find out who's won before anyone else.

Had dinner with Dave Shearer, Rick Houghton and Paul Hollins yesterday. Lots of North West Radio talk which I would love to tell you about but cant afford the court case.

Also had a good chat with my format boss at Talk Radio Jason Bryant, he now owns Town and Country Group (which I am the group voice for).

There was a good session this morning on Radio in emerging markets. One speaker from Moscow station Relax FM said he got rid of all his presenters and doesn't even do news anymore. He says this brought him a massive surge of new listeners. Lets hope that idea doesn't spread to our little Island, or we will all be back at Hospital Radio.

I enjoyed Francis Currie's talk on Rhythmic AC. He's just left Heart and told me he's planning on becoming a full time consultant. "Another one?" I here you say, well he certainly had some interesting ideas which people from Jordanian Radio could put into practice.

I will be back later tonight after the awards thing, so until then!