Farewell Commercial Radio?

I’m not going to fill a bucket full of tears over the loss of most commercial stations. Over the last few years they have just become the same cookie cutter experience with no original content.

Presenters don’t get to show any creativity and there seems to be this infestation of “celebrity” hosted shows that have plagued the tv music channels for years where they just say a few 1 liners about each track they have supposedly picked (but was probably actually chosen by the station manager).

Long live the BBC and community radio. Don’t see much originality anywhere else.

Intersting. awaits the silly replies stating how wrong this is and how amazing commercial radio is today

My listening mainly consists of music stations – Jazz FM, UCB UK & Yorkshire Coast Radio (+ YCR has good local news) and mainly talk stations – Premier, BBC Humberside, Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra. There are no community stations in the area where I live. So that is four non-BBC (two commercial & two listener-supported) and three BBC stations on my favourites list.

“Interesting. awaits the silly replies stating how wrong this is and how amazing commercial radio is today.”

No Mathew. We’ll probably get an expert analyst coming on and proclaiming how the RAJAR figures reveal that Sharon and Tracey are still tuning into commercial radio for 15 minutes a day, therefore everything is just fine, whereas those that tune to the BBC for more than two hours a day are just elitist and not within the commercial radio industry’s intended audience…. even though there’s a growing number of Radio 2 listeners, who are listening to them for way longer than nearly all commercial stations and apparently it’s all to do with the specialist programs they put out (whilst commercial radio have got things “right” by getting rid of their specialist programs but that apparently helps them to sustain their listenership).

Strange world, this radio lark. I can’t imagine myself running a shop and being perfectly happy with selling much less stock, having fewer customers that stay for less time and spend less money. I guess the “right” solution would be to get rid of most of my staff, have fewer shops, hopefully be a profit making skeleton (after having paid off the debts of the high amounts that I paid for the acquisitions) and I shall just wait and see what the long term effects are, whilst I watch my other potential customers gradually desert to other shops, shop at them for longer and spend more money at theirs.

We also live in an interesting time just now. We have profit making commercial radio groups who have high power transmitters serving large regions that they no longer have to provide quality programming or local programming for but they can take all the (local) advertising they want. We have community radio stations that want to provide local and varied programming but have low powered transmitters and have severe advertising and public funding restrictions put on them to protect the profit making commercial stations. Then we have the BBC who have a near guaranteed funding resource and use the funding to deliver high quality programming that is both amazingly popular and occasionally serving niche audiences.

Then we have a new nationwide breakfast show replacing local ones on commercial radio, for which one of the main features being advertised is for the listeners (who are primarily over the age of 40) to call up and pretend to be a cockerel. Fantastic high quality features like that is making the ugly, freckle-faced ginger kid with glasses seem really cool and ever more worthy of being the most popular kid in the playground.

We’ll probably get an expert analyst coming on and proclaiming how the RAJAR figures reveal that Sharon and Tracey are still tuning into commercial radio for 15 minutes a day, therefore everything is just fine

Interestingly, average hours per listener are 12.9 hours a week for commercial radio: and 16.4 hours a week for the BBC. Which, perhaps, might tell us something.

(Except, of course, the BBC is heavily skewed to older audiences; and younger audiences, whatever they listen to, tune in less).

It might be nice, Art, if you thought about posting something positive about radio. All this negativity is a bit boring.

Well alright. Since you asked. Here’s some constructive criticism aimed at Scotland’s Greatest Hits Network (Clyde 2, Forth 2, Westsound, Northsound, Tay AM …. probably soon to be Magic, who knows?).

Cockerels? I like Robin Galloway as a presenter (aside from the wind-up calls of a yesteryear), he’s very good. However, when I saw this feature advertised on a website, I thought “OMG. Is that one of the best on offer?” A funny feature, perhaps – but being advertised as a main feature put me off rather than made me want to listen. I suppose the one element that’s missing (on websites and probably on air) is children. Get children to call up and be cockerels, perhaps, whilst also having a quick chat with them. It could give that sentimental factor that adults seem to like, which is something that Chris Evans often does with his “What did you do for the first time yesterday” feature.

Specialist shows. We were promised a few of these in the evenings from 7PM or so – but it turns out that most of the “specialist” shows are decades shows or classic chart countdowns. What a pity – and not a hook for me. We also have two country shows, which is fine for that audience. Then on Sundays we have another classic chart countdown show going out at the same time as every other chart show on every other station. This slot was formerly occupied by listeners requests, which made for good listening.

Some of the better programs are still there. Sunday lunchtimes was always a hook for me because the banter was good. Tom Ferrie playing listeners requests for four hours was often a hook for me because of the element of suprise. The two hour phone-in might stir my interest but I rather suspect that a lot of the local discussion content that existed on the local ones will be lost in favour of national issues. I’ll give it a try.

Y’know me James. I’m a man of honesty (and sarcasm) and I post so many negative comments about commercial radio because of what it has become in recent years. At 40 years of age, I’m not old (or young) but I do hate being treated by commercial radio as though I have a short memory, a short attention span and a as customer (not listener) that needs to be talked at for some on-air campaign. The RAJAR figures are also gradually bearing out and following the trends, the long term future of commercial radio doesn’t look all that great, whilst Radio 2 keeps on winning (no wonder) and if the commercial radio industry is happy to have younger people listening for (much) shorter periods of time than their former audiences used to, then it’s probably leading to a slow lingering demise of commercial radio in the years to come.

No, Art – I wasn’t talking about constructive criticism. I was talking about saying positive things about radio.

If you can’t say anything positive, then I’m not sure what you think you’re achieving.

Well OK James. I would probably achieve as little if I made nothing but positive everything-is-just-fabulous-and-rosie type postings. If only life was like that, though some communist states try to give that impression through their media.

As for you finding that my postings are getting boring. I can understand that, especially when I keep banging on over and over again how much commercial radio stations seem to like repeating themselves so often. Boredom is a natural human emotion.

IRONY KLAXON!!!

especially when I keep banging on over and over again how much commercial radio stations seem to like repeating themselves so often.

Perhaps what you have in common with the commercial radio stations you’re criticising is the idea that repetition is a good way of hammering a message home?

LOL James… you beat me to it. Art, you’re getting seriously tedious. I want to read something interesting not you bleating on about “Wah wah commercial radio is so bad because they say the station name OOH RADIO 2 DON’T DO THAT!” If the stations are repetitive, then what are you?

DigitalSpy have got a 6-page thread on where Heart have the NTP set for Starship’s “We Built This City.” I’m sure you’d fit right in.