Radio TechCon 2018 - Overview of the Day

There’s probably never been such an exciting time to be involved in radio technology since the medium was invented. What we do, who does it and how we do it is changing by the second, and technical teams across the world are addressing new challenges each day.

The level of change and innovation, and the energy with which it is being tackled was certainly evident today in this year’s Radio TechCon. It’s all in good hands was my conclusion.

Audio Transformation and the role of Public Service

The EBU, the European Broadcasting Union represents public service broadcasters in 56 countries. In the words of the keynote speaker, Judy Parnall (pictured), the EBU’s new Chair, it's all about "making public service broadcasting indispensable". Judy was keen to point our that their 'Europe' is not the EC from which we are poised to part.

She kicked off reminding us, lest lazy journalists forget, just how strong radio is, with 85% reach across Europe last year, and 82% of the challenging 15-24s. It’s true,of course, that loyalty has fallen appreciably amongst 15-24s over time. But it’s still better than folk think.

Judy set the scene for the day, with mentions of all the other ways audio is now consumed, reminding us that the UK enjoys 11% smart speaker penetration, accounting for 1% of listening - and the US stats suggest that a majority of people who have such things just listen to more audio.

After a wry ‘if 5G is the answer, what’s the question", we were reminded that trials are underway in the Orkneys, where islanders are lumbered with poor internet connectivity and no DAB - so it's a decent place to try something new. Dynamic shared spectrum access with parties from the ‘connective fishing industry’ to schools and ferries, this 5G ‘rural first’ DCMS-supported pilot will surely inform.

Norway goes Digital

Having personally just helped the fine team at Celador migrate their Town 102 audience in Ipswich from FM to DAB, it was fascinating for me to hear from Bjorn Aarseth from NRK in Norway who aided the task of taking Norway’s 5.3m population from analogue to digital. He clarified that it was more than an ‘FM to DAB’ transition.

Norway, we are told has awkward terrain, and FM on the road network is not good. It also costs $25m to transmit. Like the UK, they have a relatively young commercial radio industry, beginning in '81, with the first national station in '93.

The goal for DAB was 99.5% population coverage, with 95% for the commercial networks. The base figures suggested that half of the population had access to DAB in 2009, with 94 trials.

Now, they suggest plans are on target. Most stations are on DAB+ with the locals squatting on FM until 2023. Mind you, he conceded that some pirates were rebroadcasting the DAB service content on FM. How great to have someone else paying your simulcast fees.

A theme to recur later in the day reared its head, that of loudness, with Bjorn suggesting Norway’s DAB was normalised to -15 LUFS. He observed too that in Oslo all stations were +/-1 LUF - compared to the recalcitrant UK, where he claimed the comparable range was +/-10%! Radio listeners have a lower comfort zone for loudness changes than TV viewers, he reminded us.

Bjorn (which means 'bear' he told us) mentioned the importance of linear production, so everything is done in a consistent chain from production to airing, but suggested that his programmers knew pretty swiftly if something sounded odd.

There seemed no great enthusiasm for traffic flags; DAB’s vertical polarisation was a challenge; most DAB listening was mono; and cheap car dash cams from China interfered.

He suggested engagement with the audience was key - making sure you help them on the journey

What will happen to the FM spectrum when it's been emptied, asked one delegate. ‘Stuff’ was the reply. No-one had any real idea what sort of stuff.

Over coffee, several engineers suggested to me that the UK really does need to get on with a switch off/over date.

How LOUD should podcasts be?

Adrian Wisbey from the BBC highlighted research suggesting that 50% of listeners reacted when the change in loudness was greater than 3LU. That may mean switch you off.

He suggested normalising to -18 LUFS at production, and be aware that ‘broadcast’ channels such as Apple will change what you dispatch. He said YouTube reduces loudness if it's too loud, but doesn't trouble to lift it if it’s too soft. He pointed out too that many devices are limited as to output volume, so if your podcast is too quiet, then it may be impossible for a listener to correct it. Listen to how other podcasts in your genre are processed, he advised.


LEDs and DAB - not a happy marriage

My mum used to indulge in Waggoners Walk when Radio 2 was on Long Wave. All wonderful until Georgina next-door switched on her twin-tub and interference reigned. 

Now, it seems, LED lighting is the villain for DAB – according to Rob Webber from the BBC. Essentially, don’t trust cheapo lights - it’s the power converter that does the damage.

He displayed how the noise floor changes as floodlights were turned on near a DAB radio set, and, surprisingly, how a car’s DAB reception was affected by the DC hazard lights on a passing lorry.

Sadly, there were not many solutions. Indeed some consumers were showing much DAB suspicion, according to the Mumsnet page flashed up the screen. It’s just about advising listeners to check these things. Maybe there is a case for a bit more advice in this area to UK radio listeners, just as we used to be told where to point our FM aerials.

A new studio - in a month

Mark Farrington and Hannah Austin from Bauer were understandably chuffed with having built a new studio - in a month. A glass box in the corner of the office is now a useful studio which apparently Claire Sturgess loves, equipped with a specially selected Neumann mic. 

A touchscreen mixer lies at the heart - one which is beautifully resistant to tea poured down it. Now THAT is useful. The room turned out to sound better than they’d imagined. 3D printing helped establish prototypes for other facilities, including the headphone splitter. Problems? Well, people on the same floor clomping round like elephants. A stiff
management email will surely stop that instantly.

Lights, music, action

Just when we thought radio studios could get simpler and cheaper, along comes visualisation (It was fascinating, by the way, to talk to the gifted Global guys over coffee about the thinking that's going into the LBC studio look, with new ideas soon to debut).

Jeremy Roberts from ETC and Dan Aldridge from Stage Electrics reminded us that lighting is key. Their presentation kicked off with double Physics and Biology, reminding us that we see colour in mid-light, it is impaired by too much or too little.

Your eyes have cones and rods - just don’t overload the bloody rods. Eyes are most sensitive to amber and greens, which is why emergency clothing uses those colours. This is why I enjoy TechCon. Did you know that as Man evolved, he couldn’t see blue at first.

We then witnessed Jeremy wandering round - shining a huge light onto his tolerant colleague’s face, helping us understand the difference between poorly and well-lit. The placing and angle is critical too, from a height is good, and don’t illuminate the bits you don’t want. Light for the purpose too:  is this supposed to look like a TV studio, or something more casual? 

Watch the windows. Can you cover them up, or bounce the light back? Or prepare to light the subject’s dark side with equivalent brilliance.

Diversify or Die

Diversify or die, cautioned the Radio Academy’s new chair, Dr Yvonne Thompson. Whilst acknowledging the Ofcom depressing stats suggesting that 81% of radio's technical staff are men, there was evidence that attitudes have changed - and that shift in attitude will preface a change in behaviours. 

Diversity, of course, is about more than just appointing women, it’s about social class, ethnicity and sexuality. A healthy pre-prandial debate ensued.

It’s also worth pointing out how TechCon has changed in my many years hosting it. Once the province of highly-intelligent blokes, there is now, without doubt, a much greater diversity in the audience, aided too by the bursaries. The range of high quality speakers this year was incomparable. Delegates were urged again to sign up as a STEM ambassador to give talks on their world to inspire tomorrow's techies.

AI in Broadcast

Cordula Schellenberger from Veritone showed us the work flow of how they ingest audio material and transcribe it. Whilst a medically ‘trained’ bit of software will understand medical terms - and a sporting one will understand 'Man U' - their clever software uses multiple differently-trained engines from all sources. This collaborative approach raised correct transcription rates to 75%.

The session nodded to the use of voice-activated services; and showed how the software above can search words in audio content with enviable accuracy. 

Commercial programmers will delight at its ability to track down every mention of a client so you can pull off all random brand mentions with ease.  Alas, no time for questions. I was wondering what will be the best thing to call your podcast, if it’s going to be requested by voice - and I also worried how easily stations will be tracked down by lawyers now able to find out exactly what’s been said about their client on every station.

Hacking Festivals

Hacking’s a good thing. In this enthusiastic session, we were reminded that we need to agree on tech - and compete on content. Technologists should co-operate - and talk to anyone and everyone about their work.

We witnessed scenes from the Electromagnetic Field festival. Like a music festival, but people getting together in a field with three stages to listen to each other - and hack. The photos said it all, with real energy and discovery from makers, engineers and artists - a festival for the inquisitive. Kids loved it too - with their festival badges being a software defined radio. 

One result was shown, a voice-controlled radio which uses DAB, FM or online sources to deliver the requested station. Not revolutionary in its elements, you might argue, but it’s Apple-like simplicity and ease would have made a great gift for my old man. The hacking fraternity was able to deliver proof of concept.


Object-Based Audio

Object based audio has been a regular TechCon subject: how listeners can choose the mix of the sound elements of any programme. The audio objects are collected and metadata assembled - so we know what’s what - then rendered to the listener’s taste. How much chocolate do you want on your cake?

Headphones cause 'internalisation' it seems, where the mind thinks the sounds come from inside the head. 'Binaural auralisation' offers a remedy. In other news, speech intelligibility rises 12% when you can see the lips move. Try this one at home. But where the voice appears to come from makes a difference.

A demo on this session showed how a spatialised audio drama, using mobile phones, could generate immersive audio without the bother of 5.1 array.

Brilliant Students

Two incredible women from University Radio York showed off their app, in which students could save their university from an alien invasion.  It's a game, by the way.

This was full scale, physically interactive audio demonstrated by Rebecca Saw and Sienna Holmes, with students marching the campus and making decisions which affected the outcome of what they heard. 

The project had been a true collaborative effort across the disciplines, with much problem-solving and some degree of personal investment.  The TechCon audience liked the app, and warmed to its presenters, two energetic and highly capable women. I would have hired them tomorrow.

Emley Moor

A show of hands suggested that about three quarters of the audience had been up the Emley Moor 330m tower, the highest free-standing structure in the UK. 

The mast was built originally like a ball-point pen, with the antenna shoved through the mast and upwards like a ball point pen ink and nib, before the column was then filled with the necessary infrastructure to be able to ascend the mast.

But! Tony Mattera from Ofcom dropped by to explain how they’d had to build a second mast to replace old Emley to free it for work on the 700 MHz clearance programme.

The feat was illustrated with breath-taking footage of the helicopter flying in to deposit the latest section of the temporary mast, looming as high in the sky as its older sister. The video embedded above wasn't the actual helmet cam footage which made us feel giddy, but gives a sense of the task.

A skilled team from Helirig hovered over with a 2.5 tonne sections of the mast dangling, to be grasped by the determined team working at height in their fluorescent garb. Do Emmerdale viewers and Capital listeners really appreciate the risk to life and limb that their programmes require? 

The helicopters, apparently, often hail from Chile - as Chileans love BIG helicopters. Or Russian ones – given their double rotors.

Anyway, it’s up now, ready for the big frequency re-jig which needs antenna work on the main mast. This will take a matter of months  - but no-one will notice because Emley 2 stands poised. A brilliant job. They should show the erection video between programmes, frankly.

Small-scale DAB

Graham Plumb, Director of Spectrum Broadcasting at Ofcom updated us on Small Scale DAB, the new budget small DAB approach pioneered by Rash at Ofcom itself, and soon to be a home for community and smaller commercial radio operators.

The experiment was a success, with around 70 unique, mostly fresh, stations transmitted in ten areas – delivering real experience to ten small multiplex operators.

Expressions of interest are now in for the permanent  multiplexes, and Ofcom is beginning work with DCMS on the relevant legislation and process.  Technical guidance is being reviewed, and the plan is to draft it in such a way it can be easily understood. Ofcom will then work on frequency planning and consult on the licence award process. It is confident it has the resource, and has ‘lots of people’ working on it.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Aside from Stephanie Hirst’s traditional excellent ‘what can you remember about today’ contest, the last session was down to accomplished sound ‘imagineer’ Dirk Maggs.

Having created the original Hitchhiker's Guide in 1978, the BBC brought him back to create some 40^th anniversary material. 

Bubbling with enthusiasm as ever, Dirk shared stories of his conversations with Douglas Adams (“A 6 foot seven 10 year old boy”) and their shared dreams. He told of his plans years ago to create Dolby Surround sound, and how cautious engineers crossed the road when they saw him coming.

In short, here was an original premier-league sound creator who masters his craft to this day. As he saluted the technicians of today and yesterday - and gave them due credit for their contribution to UK radio creativity, it was a fitting end to a remarkable day. Tomorrow’s technology, discussed in the building where the BBC had made its tentative steps in the 1920s.

Congrats to Ann, Aradhna and all the TechCon committee who delivered this event this year. A real success . Thanks too to all the sponsors who made it happen – with Broadcast Bionics at the front of a committed queue. There's a debt too to Savoy Place, the IET's home, and a plug is warranted for the IET's Multi-media network.  

I am not a techie.  I was simply the host, wearing a silly suit. If anything is factually incorrect in this quick round-up, please drop me a line and I'll change it.

I work with radio stations around the world in a range of areas. From programme strategy to research, key brand work and marketing strategy. From presenter training to compliance, consultation responses and licensing. Talk to me via www.davidlloydradio.com

Grab my book 'Radio Moments': 50 years of radio - life on the inside. A personal and frighteningly candid reflection on life in radio now and then. The drama - the characters - the headaches - the victories. Available in paperback or ebook.

Also 'How to Make Great Radio'. Techniques for today's presenters and producers.  Great for newcomers - and real food for thought if you've been doing it years. Available in paperback or ebook.

Need a conference speaker? I'd love to work with you.

Is Radio Falling Behind in Commercial Creativity?

I wandered into John Lewis today. And Partners. Just buying some smelly room diffusers lest unexpected smiling visitors descend at Christmas bearing a jaunty carrier bag of equally unexpected gifts. You just need to have something to hand over in extremis, don't you?

Elton was playing softly in-store. It’s a little bit funny. This feeling. Inside.

Oh gosh. How joined up is that beautiful JL & P campaign. A poetic TV ad which chimes emotionally – supported by enviable media spend, pre-empted by ITV programme sig-tunes played on the old Joanna the night before - the TV ad set created in-store - and they evidently briefed the chap on the PA system.

And - frankly – Iceland also pulled a stunning coup this year too. ‘Banned ad’ is the oldest trick in the book – but now its amplification can really bring dividends. And don't even start on Professor Green's powerful yet simple social media campaign for his new song 'Photographs'.

Advertising has never been quite so exciting.

TV, bound by more restrictions than radio, and later to the party in more integrated commercial offerings is doing some stunningly original stuff which attracts genuine interest.

Outdoor too, OOH, once the province of peeling paper on the grimy brickwork of a railway arch is now a multi-media dynamic presentation.

Podcasts are innovating, adopting the radio spot models instinctively in the media’s early days, but realising now the comparative power of the presenter live-read.  It’s suggested listeners like a brand because it has helped deliver favourite content.

Radio is in a hugely exciting place. Are we keeping up? Not least because we do emotion better than anyone.

First, we have the spot ad. Some are exceptional. Well-written, capitalising on radio’s strengths - maybe using storytelling and clever writing - then well-produced with the right casting and fitting music which adds value and helps recall – plus all the other tricks that canny producers understand. Done well, there’s always a place for great spot creative.

It just seems such a shame to put these masterpieces in a four-minute ad break, where they risk being lost.

Other ads don’t sound quite so polished. Just maybe they still bear some resemblance to their roots in 1930s radio drama or shouty font 48 in a press ad. They certainly don’t engage.

Then we have the sponsors.  Whilst lovable meerkats josh in the Coronation Street credits, we have ‘the station voice’ booming that a time check is brought to you by a puzzlingly unrelated sponsor. Why? Yes, say the name enough and it may be remembered, but is that really the way to help a listener love the brand?

And then with 9 or 10 different clients mentioned in the ad spots, you hear a travel sponsor followed by a programme sponsor?  Call me stupid, but I can’t remember any more than four drinks at the bar, let alone a list of a dozen advertisers.

No longer may advertisers expect attention purely through the size of their wallets. They need to deliver inherent relevant value.

In my Orion Media days in the West Midlands, the smiling Adrian Serle as sales director was ahead of the curve. He insisted on devising a theme to a major client brief. A theme we then exploited with a creative radio concept in which presenters were involved on-air, supported by rich, relevant social media and whatever else - from street activity to designing their bus rears.  Gifted programmers like David Salt and Mike Newman delivered the radio elements impeccably – making sure that the listeners derived value. We weren't the biggest station in town - but we often won business against the clever folk who were.

I sat in focus groups months later – and heard fond recall of great commercial programming content – attributed to the client by name.

How much more attractive is that than just repeated mentions? Both listeners and clients smile. I know we are not the only teams who created something so special. Witness Classic FM's recent impressive 'music for dogs' on bonfire night - or Absolute's work with Wickes.

As the World changes, do we really think that UK radio is going to get the place in agency minds it richly deserves if we simply carry on just delivering volume but not engagement? Interminable ad breaks, dull contests, and uncomfortable random sponsor lines. 

And, frankly: "go online to win" is not terribly compelling radio.

Now the Ofcom rules allow us to be as creative as we like, why are we so often still doing it the way we used to in 1990?

If we launched commercial radio today, with platforms approaching BBC equivalence as they now are, would we garner our current levels of audience if we delivered such a cavalcade of clumsy commercial content? No. Our legacy audiences have become acclimatised to it.  Future audiences will not be.

2005 brought us the Capital venture when ad minutage was reduced to six or even five minutes per hour. It didn’t last long. Ralph Bernard’s temple still throbs when he explains why he did what he did. There were sound reasons.

What would happen now if one commercial radio group or new entrant decided to do things differently? Fewer spot ads. Fewer commercial campaigns - but each one of them truly original.

Unlike many other countries, the dividends have a ceiling in the UK - thanks to a mainstream public service rival which has no ads. You could risk adopting a fresh approach to commercial content – yet still not penetrate sufficient incremental audiences to render the approach viable. But - would it set you apart - reap heightened rewards for clients - and deliver long-term future value for your business? Maybe.

As canny ad agencies, prompted by the sexy on-demand audio sector start to look at the power of audio, I hope we can begin to make some headway in persuading that radio plays its role with fresh, unparalleled creative solutions. Capitalising on the simply unique relationship listeners have with their station – and their presenters. There are acres of coverage of presenters' antics these days - and yet stations are failing to use that connection as they devise solutions to client briefs.

If we just carry on just playing production-line ads for a quarter of the hour and shouting out laboriously ill-framed sponsor lines, I fear for our future. You are killing our industry.

What was the one missing element in the delivery of the Elton theme for John Lewis?  

Radio.

"My gift is my song, and this one's for you."

I work with radio stations around the world in a range of areas. From programme strategy to research, key brand work and marketing strategy. From presenter training to compliance, consultation responses and licensing. Talk to me via www.davidlloydradio.com

Grab my book 'Radio Moments': 50 years of radio - life on the inside. A personal and frighteningly candid reflection on life in radio now and then. The drama - the characters - the headaches - the victories. Available in paperback or ebook.

Also 'How to Make Great Radio'. Techniques for today's presenters and producers.  Great for newcomers - and real food for thought if you've been doing it years. Available in paperback or ebook.

Need a conference speaker? I'd love to work with you.

That Which We Call a Rose - By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

The RAIN summit Europe - held in London this week - was enjoyable, not least because it gave me an excuse to go inside the British Museum, having turned down the infant school invitation in the seventies to see the Tutankhamun exhibition.

The session I was asked to moderate was on on-demand audio and the like, with a very capable international panel.

Walking to the venue, as the rain began to spit, I asked myself that question that bugs many.  Is this podcasting/audio on demand lark ‘radio’ – or not.  And at last, I made my mind up.

It is radio.  It is all radio.

Streaming music with no curation and playing music downloads is not. But all else is.  Whether it’s Radio 4’s Today Programme on demand; Capital live in the morning with the great Ant Payne; or 'Today in Focus' from the Guardian. It's just radio delivered through different means. 

In the session, we spoke of content and how it was delivered and monetised. I don’t think we used the foul word ‘podcast’ much or ever. I think I used the clumsy phrase 'on-demand audio' to set up the session.

How can the Radio 4 PM programme magically become not radio when I dare to listen to it at 11.00 pm? Or Jane Garvey evolve into something other than radio broadcaster when she happens to chatter for Fortunately... rather than for Woman’s Hour? And do I think any differently when I’m writing  around my #radiomoments weekly review 'podcast' than when I’m doing a cue for a live BBC programme? And when a 'podcast' is broadcast on radio – as is The Daily now from the New York Times or Fit and Fearless on 5 Live, what the hell is that?

In commercial terms, when we sell impacts, we are selling ears. Ears that care little how the audio content is delivered.  As an aside, 'on-demand' audio is creating fresh approaches to delivering audio commercial messages powerfully – and prompts, at last, some fresh thought for how we should do it on radio - but that’s a huge topic for another time.

In TV – you watch it live - or you watch it on demand - or you may store shows yourself and watch them later. It doesn’t have different names. You watch Bodyguard and you enjoy it - or you don’t. It’s a TV show. It matters not if it was made for TV or not – nor the genre – you watch it on the TV. And if you watch it on your tablet – you’re still watching TV. Yes, there is YouTube, Netflix and films, but, in general terms the TV umbrella is huge, and we haven't troubled to invent a new vidcast verb.

Are the styles different? Well, yes. 'Podcasts' can be more unwashed than radio - and more targeted. But radio formats and treatment differ too for different audiences. Production values are different - yet the best podcasters still think carefully about them, just as we do on radio.  The passionate experts in their field who do a lively weekly pod soon discover that it really flies when they just get on with it, rather than try to be Ant and Dec for ten minutes at the start.

It's all about just delivering curated audio conveniently. 

OK, I have a vested interest. There is some utterly fascinating stuff in the 'podcasting' world just now, and I’d like to throw radio’s cloak around it.  When people in the pub say they have heard something of interest, wouldn’t it be great  if they said they heard it ‘on radio’.

People love radio – it’s a trusted reliable brand – why invent another?

The BBC Sounds folk have done some good work on the new app – and we know the sound thinking behind it. They want people to explore the wealth of audio Auntie has from today and yesterday without being bothered about whether it was broadcast on 6 Music, Radio 3 or the Home Service. Or indeed whether it’s actually ever been transmitted at all. But what are we expecting people to say at the bus stop?  I heard Sounds? I heard it on Sounds?  If we had all applied the broad term 'radio' to everything – which we didn’t - we could have just called it something to do with BBC Radio.  There isn't a BBC Sights app.

This whole wonderful, rich audio world is simply a dirty great big beautiful radio. The best radio there's ever been.

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,       

Retain that dear perfection which he owes                  

Without that title.


*Photos from Radiocentre - and an excellent idea they are too
** Andi Durrant sort of agrees in part - and he knows what he's doing

I work with radio stations around the world in a range of areas. From programme strategy to research, key brand work and marketing strategy. From presenter training to compliance, consultation responses and licensing. Talk to me via www.davidlloydradio.com

Grab my book 'Radio Moments': 50 years of radio - life on the inside. A personal and frighteningly candid reflection on life in radio now and then. The drama - the characters - the headaches - the victories. Available in paperback or ebook.

Also 'How to Make Great Radio'. Techniques for today's presenters and producers.  Great for newcomers - and real food for thought if you've been doing it years. Available in paperback or ebook.

Need a conference speaker? I'd love to work with you.

How does Ofcom feel the BBC is doing?

The question of BBC regulation is always going to be a sticky one. As a respected, independent regulator, Ofcom is probably the best alternative, not least at a time the BBC is under siege on various matters. Indeed, to be able to cite an independent arbiter is likely better than a tin hat for the Corporation itself.

Ofcom must now 'hold the BBC to account on behalf of audiences by providing robust, fair and independent regulation'. Performance measures are duly set and Ofcom is required to publish a report each year.  Ofcom must report too on the BBC’s performance against the measures stipulated in the Operating Licence.

So – the trusty Trust has gone. That body which called a halt to the closure of 6 Music and BBC local radio networking has disappeared in a puff of smoke. The BBC does have a Board, though, which is charged with delivering on the Charter, but my experience of that is that if you write to complain to headmaster about the geography teacher, your letter will be given to the geography teacher to reply.

Overall, Ofcom concludes the BBC is generally delivering on its remit, but identifies four areas where it needs to go further - namely: transparency into its working practices; maintaining its commitment to original UK programmes; engaging young people; and continuing to improve how it represents and portrays the whole of UK society.

Given this is the first end of term report from the new teacher, let us examine what it says about BBC radio.  It’s not the easiest of tasks, given the report is legitimately multi-platform - as indeed are consumers these days - but given the operating licences do offer some specific demands of radio services. What conclusions are reached – and what of radio’s profile?

Radio merits an early mention – with the breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 trumpeted as “the most listened-to radio programme in the UK”. Radio 4’s Today programme is praised too for its 7m audience. In fact, more people are satisfied with radio and online than TV.

Satisfaction

In spite of the silliness on Twitter, satisfaction with the BBC is generally high – and people say about it what you would expect. Listeners from a white background, those in AB socio-economic groups and older people (aged 65+) are more satisfied, and those aged 25-34 and people from minority ethnic backgrounds are less satisfied. 

Distinctive output is praised – and there is a suggestion that the BBC Asian network and Radio 4 have no "directly comparable provider". I’m not sure life is quite as simple as that.

77% of BBC radio listeners rate the BBC highly for its different types of radio station. In offering "something that other providers did not", two of the highest-rated stations are BBC 6 Music (88% rating it highly) and BBC Radio 4 (86%).135 Two-thirds of BBC Radio 1 listeners (66%) rated it highly for providing something that other providers do not. 

When asked how satisfied they were overall with BBC radio, 74% of listeners across BBC stations rated it highly, although listeners to Magic (81%) and Smooth (80%) rated these individual stations higher.

The threat to younger audiences is highlighted, as is the fact that “younger people are also more likely to listen to commercial, rather than BBC, radio stations”.  Indeed, national commercial radio services now reach 42% of 15-24 year-olds, up from 38% ten years ago, in contrast to other radio stations which have seen their young audiences decrease. “Significant steps” forward from the BBC are demanded by Ofcom in this area, including for radio. 

News

TV continues to be the most-used platform for news overall – with "the internet" now more widely used than radio or print newspapers.

BBC network radio reaches over a third of adults with its news and current affairs programmes  - with such programmes across Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 4 and 5 live listened to by 21 million adults, more than a third (36%) of all UK adults – a reach figure stable over time. Almost six in ten (57%) of BBC radio listeners listen to one or more of these news programmes.

The reach of both The Jeremy Vine Show and the Today programme have remained relatively stable over time, although Radio 1’s Newsbeat audience has decreased by 32% since 2010, greater than the decrease in the station’s reach (-19%). The weekly reach of the 5 live breakfast show also decreased between 2010 and 2018 (-18%), in line with the decrease to the station overall. A footnote confirms the Today programme did show a decrease in listeners in Q2 2018  (as, of course, did the Q3 result).

Ofcom pledges to review “news and current affairs output and how it can continue to be a trusted destination for audiences”. This is a critical issue, and I believe the BBC – and indeed Ofcom - can also do more here to explain how newsrooms work and make journalism more transparent.

Ofcom recognises the changing radio landscape and the move to digital – and salutes the growth of podcasting, whilst sensibly placing its scale in context. The new ‘BBC Sounds app’ will give “audiences easier access to (its) audio content”.

The Operating Licence

Ofcom concludes the BBC complied with its requirements and proudly says “we have increased the proportion of ‘new music’ that Radio 1 and Radio 2 must play during daytime”.

Radio 1 is said to have played a higher proportion of music by UK artists compared to comparable stations. On average, almost half of Radio 1’s daytime music output was from UK artists (49%), compared with 47% for Capital and 43% for Kiss.  On average, almost half of the music tracks Radio 2 played in daytime were by UK artists (48%). (37% for Heart and 48% for Magic).

Radio 1 and 1 Xtra achieved their required one hour a day of news and the frightening hurdle of “bulletins at regular times”. Radio 2 and 3 managed to have regular bulletins too, the latter managing to exceed its mandatory 17 hours a week of news and current affairs programming, with three in peak. Cheers, Jeremy.

Radio 4 did its Parliament dutifully; 5 Live did its election coverage;  6 Music delivered its six hours of news; BBC Asian Network did its compulsory 24 hours of news; Radio Cymru, Wales Ulster and Foyle achieved their news volume; and Radio Scotland exceeded its 50 hours – and offered the required regional and community opt outs.

As the tick list continued, Ofcom nodded that Radio Scotland, nan Gàidheal, Cymru, Wales, Ulster and Foyle had managed to “broadcast content and music of particular relevance” to their home country. That must have been a struggle.

Ofcom suggests that BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, of which news at specific times is required, is doing what it was doing under the Trust and is "considering future news provision”. If I were the chap with the handcuffs in court, I’d be unsure whether this was a guilty or not guilty verdict.

Radio 1 duly blasted out its 60 hours of specialist music.

When the operating licence was released, I was critical that it allowed BBC local radio to just about do what it liked – whether pared down and networked, as it nearly was, or expanded and targeted universally, as it now has been.

It’s no surprise therefore than BBC local radio has indeed managed the Herculean challenge of disseminating  “News and information of particular relevance to the area and communities it serves at intervals throughout the day”; and “content of particular relevance to the area and communities it serves”. It has exceeded the 95 hours of local programming required – giving 109.9 hours. Mind you, the licence means some content may be shared and still deemed local.

Overall, BBC radio listeners are more likely to be older, in an ABC1 socio-economic group and from a white background.

Across BBC radio, Ofcom suggests that factual content was broadcast mainly outside peak listening hours – but reminds us that there is no formal learning output required specifically on BBC radio.

Complaints

Not too many complaints about the BBC have been dealt with by Ofcom, although the figure does include over 1600 about bias.

The relatively small figure owes something to the ‘BBC First’ policy, where angry folk must exhaust the BBC complaints before they bother Ofcom.  

It still puzzles me that commercial radio is not afforded a similar approach, not least because commercial stations’ online public files mean complainants can readily access a real human being with a single click, as opposed to being caught up in the BBC’s complaints mangle where one loses the will to live. 15 clicks of the BBC complaints process are needed before you are permitted to vent your spleen – and that’s if you know your way round.  It surely would not be a challenge to have the word ‘complain’ on the home page and the home page of each BBC radio station.

The famous upheld Radio 4 complaint on climate change is detailed. The paranoid frequently cite this instance as evidence of the BBC’s falling standards. I cite this lonely missive as evidence the system is working.

As we know from the annual report, spend on BBC radio output declined by 13% in real terms from 2010/11 to 2017/18, when it stood at £480m. There was a more modest 0.5% year-on-year decline from 2016/17 in real terms.

How's it done overall?

So, taking the report as a whole, how well is BBC radio doing? And how has Ofcom fared in conducting this exercise?

Specific performance targets are few - and in several cases the levels required suggest this would always be an egg and spoon race for the BBC rather than hurdles. 

As an analysis of how well the BBC is meeting its Charter, it's maybe a decent piece of academic work.   As far as getting to the heart of what listeners really think about their radio stations, it perhaps does not uncover listeners' real worries and delights in the way we know diligent internal qualitative research does when inspired by canny programmers. Does it really assess how the Corporation is serving a listener in their semi in Newcastle, it feels maybe not.

Did the BBC need Ofcom to tell them that radio has a youth audience challenge? Probably not. Is there a risk that the leap to young audiences now demanded so publicly may be randomly applied to Corporation output with which listeners are currently very happy. Probably so.  

Does the report say what maybe should be said about the benefits of a more confident and visible public BBC leadership? I feel both listeners and employees would value that.

Maybe this is all to be expected when you ask a regulator to judge an apple pie contest. But it's still probably the best option there is - we just need to make sure that what is expected of the BBC is always well-defined.

I work with radio stations around the world in a range of areas. From programme strategy to research, key brand work and marketing strategy. From presenter training to compliance, consultation responses and licensing. Talk to me via www.davidlloydradio.com

Grab my book 'Radio Moments': 50 years of radio - life on the inside. A personal and frighteningly candid reflection on life in radio now and then. The drama - the characters - the headaches - the victories. Available in paperback or ebook.

Also 'How to Make Great Radio'. Techniques for today's presenters and producers.  Great for newcomers - and real food for thought if you've been doing it years. Available in paperback or ebook.

Need a conference speaker? I'd love to work with you.