Archives for November 2010

Editor's note: Tim Davie was interviewed on today's Feedback, Radio 4's weekly accountability programme - SB.

"The BBC should be ashamed of themselves for running this ad. They are telling their listeners to buy something they know isn't ready for us yet."

That was William Rogers, Chief Executive of the commercial radio station UKRD.

He was talking about the Digital Radio UK Christmas campaign featuring David Mitchell and Arthur Smith, launched this week (November 22) and running until Christmas Eve.

BBC TV and Radio is running its own companion advertisments but some commercial radio stations are holding off.

Mr Rogers isn't finished.

He says it was "fundamentally immoral and dishonest" to run the campaign "knowing that the DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) infrastructure is not good enough and knowing full well that when people buy a DAB radio it may not work when they get it home".

This week on Feedback I talked about these claims with the BBC's head of radio Tim Davie.

Fifteen per cent of listening is currently on DAB radio and that figure rises to nearly 25 per cent for listening on all digital platforms - online etc. Many of us have lots of analogue radios which we have no desire to see become redundant.

The Government"s target date for digital switchover (which means analogue switch-off) is still 2015, though it is now called an "aspiration" by the Coalition, "ambitious" by tactful radio executives, and "impossible" by some others.

Hear what Tim Davie has to say about Britain's digital future:

PS On a personal note it is difficult to talk to the whippet thin Tim Davie without wondering about his obsession with running marathons, and the fact that this year he ran the 48 miles from home to work nonstop for charity.

I really must go to the gym again.

Roger Bolton is presenter of Feedback on BBC Radio 4

• Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with Feedback, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page.
• Ford Ennals, Chief Executive of DRUK (Digital Radio UK) was interviewed by Evan Davis on Today and the programme followed up on his numbers a few days later.
• Former BBC Radio executive James Cridland took on the issue of listener numbers on his blog.
• Feedback is now on Twitter. Follow @BBCFeedback.
• The picture shows DAB radios in a shop. It's by Salim Fadhley. Some rights reserved.

Of all the highs and lows of my job, visiting the Test Match Special commentary box at Lords in July last year must rank as one of my most memorable and uplifting moments. As I listened to Aggers, Blowers, CMJ and the rest of the team analyse the quality of each delivery while conveying the whole glorious mood of the occasion, from stray pigeons to the sunburnt crowd, I was struck by the preciousness of the whole enterprise.

Like many ideas that prove a triumph for radio, ball-by-ball cricket commentary was considered by many to be too slow to be a compelling proposition. Indeed, the very idea of communicating something so visual on radio was seen as largely impossible (rather like some of the initial concerns about the recent series A History of The World in 100 Objects). Segments of ball-by-ball commentary began in the mid 1930s following the launch of cricket reporting in 1927. In 1957 the first full day of cricket commentary was broadcast leading to TMS becoming fully-ingrained in English culture in a way that is perhap unparalleled in broadcasting.

This year as the first test begins in Brisbane (with a slightly wobbly English first innings), I hope that everyone with the vaguest interest in how the Strauss vs Ponting battle develops will find time to sit quietly listening to TMS. Even if you are able to watch it on television, let my offer a friendly challenge to sit listening to an hour of TMS after watching the television. I suspect that the most vivid pictures that will be created in your head by the likes of Geoff Boycott, Michael Vaughan or Ian Chappell.

Below you will find details of our coverage (including not only TMS but our excellent 5Live programming) as well as the link to a rather good Ashes archive for your to explore. Enjoy the cricket.

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music at the BBC

• Join the discussion of The Ashes on Twitter. Follow BBC cricket people and use the hashtag #BBCAshes.
• The schedule of commentaries on 5 live Sports Extra and a blog post about Radio 4's LW coverage by Andrew Caspari.
• BBC Sport's Ashes archive is full of clips from television and radio coverage over the decades - going back to 1938.
• The Test Match Special blog brings together posts from all of the BBC's cricket blogs.
• Adam Mountford, Test Match Special producer, has written about the BBC's Ashes coverage on his blog.
• The picture shows Trevor Bailey and Brian Johnston - the Test Match Commentary Team - in action at Lords in 1981.

Editor's note: BBC local radio has always been pretty close to its listeners. In Manchester they're putting them on the air. We'll keep keep you up-to-date on the experiment - SB

When the marketing department came up with 'Be Part of It' as a slogan for BBC Local Radio, I wonder if they ever imagined we would take it quite as literally?

BBC Radio Manchester is giving over a whole day of programming in the new year to the audience. 'The Takeover' will put up to 24 people with no previous experience on the air.

But if we could find a simple audition process, that took us all over our two cities and eight boroughs - then pre-record and check a number of hour-long shows, what could possibly go wrong? Well... I don't know yet. As the process is only just beginning.

The Takeover taxi begins its tour today, visiting 42 locations over three weeks. We'll be asking each candidate to record one minute in answer to a random question about themselves pulled from a hat.

The radio station management team will listen to every single one, and rank them. Then we'll invite up to 24 of them to some brisk training, idea gathering - and the inevitable compliance - to come and record an hour with us for transmission on the New Year Takeover. You can hear our debutantes on 3 January.

'Search for a Star' mechanics are hardly new. There are very few genuinely new ideas in a 100-year-old medium. But we reckon this is a new take on an old stunt.

Who knows who we'll find, what stories we'll uncover, and what lasting contacts we'll make with Greater Manchester communities as we go? We'll let you know as the weeks unfold.

John Ryan is Managing Editor of BBC Radio Manchester

• More about the takeover, including the schedule of visits, on the BBC Manchester web site.
• Alan Beswick launched the takeover on his breakfast show this morning.
• The video is the one made by the marketing department for the 'Be Part of It' campaign and the picture shows Alan with his Takeover taxi.

Like most fathers, watching how my young sons spend their time reminds me how far technology has advanced in 30 years. As a child of the 70s and 80s, playing Jetpac on my ZX Spectrum was as cutting edge as it got. The type of graphics that can now be generated on handheld machines was beyond imagination. Now I find myself regularly looking at the latest Nintendo console or staring at my iPod shaking my head and muttering cliches like "whatever next". Therefore, it is exciting to stumble on something that has proved itself more timeless.

With this in mind I was intrigued to see the word "Rihanna" and other artists scrawled on a pad of paper sitting next to our kitchen radio. On quizzing my 10 year old he said that he wanted to get down the name of this week's Top 5 so that he could download a few of them from iTunes (unfortunately for Rihanna, she did not make the final download list). His interest in the chart and his almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the Top 20 was identical to mine over 30 years ago and it speaks to the timeless appeal of a simple concept. Perhaps the only difference is that I would spend Sunday afternoons making my weekly tape by sitting my basic cassette recorder next to a radio, shamefully trying to capture the records and not the links.

The chart can be dated back to 1952 when NME collated a Top 12 based on data from 12 record shops. By the time Radio One started broadcasting in 1967, Pick of the Pops broadcast the Top 20 on Sunday afternoon with Alan Freeman at the microphone. At that point it broadcast simultaneously on Radio 2. Now Reggie Yates is hosting the programme, still revealing the number one just before seven, just as his predecessors have done for decades.

There was a time a few years ago when it seemed like the charts' glory days had faded forever. When downloads really took hold, and some believed that weekly information could be viewed as ancient history, there were those that questioned the validity of a Sunday run down. Also the end of Top of the Pops was a signal that a simple run down on prime time television can struggle to get an audience when YouTube can serve up any number of videos on request.

But at BBC Radio we are more optimistic about the chart countdown than we have been for years. Not only are we enjoying strong listener numbers to the Sunday show but increasing visitor numbers to our website. It is attracting over 700,000 unique users a week. This has been achieved not only by sticking to a brilliant formula but also adding new ideas. Recently, we've added the Mid-week Update with Greg James and added 30-second extracts of tracks to the website. We intend to keep bringing innovation to the chart and making it a focus for Radio 1.

As for those who are now well beyond their teen years, it is still worth listening to the Sunday evening countdown. Even if your musical tastes have shifted a little, and you believe that music of your era was of an infinitely better quality, listening to a head-to-head contest between JLS and Take That is a moment of radio drama that connects directly to our past and the current. So, as my son celebrated JLS overcoming Take That, I knew that he felt much like his dad when Human League (Don't You Want Me) saw off Cliff Richard (Daddy's Home) 29 years ago.

I wonder if this will hold true in another few decades?

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music at the BBC

• Don't You Want Me? was at number one for five weeks and kept Daddy's Home off the Christmas number one spot in 1981.
• The Radio 1 chart pages include the addictive 'The Love 40' and a free podcast you can download and keep.
• Fraser McAlpine edits the always entertaining Radio 1 Chart Blog.
• The picture shows Human League in 1981. It's from the BBC's picture library.

Editor's note: BBC Radio production staff cover many music awards ceremonies every year. Sometimes they get to visit the lectern themselves - SB.

The Country Music Association (CMA) awards have given me many of my most treasured work memories... being transported by golf cart to interview country legend George Jones on his tour bus... bumping into Willie Nelson and Garth Brooks at the same time backstage... driving through Nashville in Raul Malo's vintage Cadillac. But last year was extra special for me when I was unexpectedly presented with the Wesley Rose International Media Achievement award "For Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement and Promotion of Country Music Internationally." My very own CMA award! And in that moment all those years of ridicule for loving Tammy Wynette and Line Dancing were suddenly worth it!

What's easy to forget is, although Country music is perceived as a specialist genre over here, in the USA it is massive and country stars are huge celebrities, filling the tabloids, the reality TV shows and selling out 60,000 seater stadiums. And the buzz, hype and glamour around the CMA awards night reflects this. This is a night of big hair, bit hats, big dresses and big money, and Nashville embraces it with a passion.

Last year, for the first time, Dale Winton hosted Radio 2's CMA highlights show. I've been working on Radio 2's coverage of the awards for the last ten years, and producing the shows for the last five with several different presenters including Nick Barraclough, Bob Harris and Paul Sexton. Dale's approach was 100% enthusiasm for the music. Mainstream country pop is one of his many musical passions, and the fact that he spends so much time in America means he knows exactly what's going on in the country world. His excitement at being in Nashville for the first time was pretty infectious and I found myself looking at the whole experience with fresh eyes.

Our priority on CMA awards night is always to interview as many winners and performers as possible and it helps that, as a production team, we are so flexible and self-contained - i.e. there's just the two of us! For our whole time out there the team is literally me, Dale and a portable recorder. For the awards we're based in a tiny booth backstage alongside press and media from all around the world, and last year Dale was on top form - talking to Brad Paisley about Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear, chatting to country legend Barbara Mandrell about her cats and showing off an encyclopaedic knowledge of the country charts. All this plus some one on one interview time with two of his (and my) favourite women of all time - Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire, and a chance to try on some Rhinestone studded jackets made by the famous Nashville tailor Manuel. Why take Dale Winton if you can't make the most of country music's camp possibilities!

When the Awards show wraps at 10pm, that's when my work really starts and for the next 24 hours I'm imprisoned in my make-shift editing suite in my hotel room....editing, mixing, structuring the show and writing Dale's script (which he then adapts and personalises in his own inimitable style). On Friday afternoon we decamp to Audio Productions Studios on Nashville's Music row where we put the final touches to the show, call up London and at 4pm Nashville time we get ready to roll.

You can hear the results on Dale's Best of the CMAs which goes out on Radio 2 at 2200 on Friday 12th November.

Al Booth is producer of Radio 2's CMA coverage

• The picture shows Al collecting her CMA Award. From left to right: CMA International Consultant Bobbi Boyce, Al Booth, CMA Board Member Victoria Shaw, and CMA Senior Manager of Membership & Industry Relations Hank Adam Locklin.
• Dale Winton's CMAs show is on BBC Radio 2 this Friday at 2200.
• The official CMA Awards web site lists the nominees in full - it's going to be a long night.

We know that the BBC's podcasts are hugely popular with people who know about them and understand how to get hold of them. A recent example is A History of the World in 100 Objects which has had over 12 million downloads so far, over the course of the series. I like this example, first because it's a big number but also because the content itself is stunning.

I also like this example because we've made every episode of the 100-part series available rather than the normal approach of withdrawing the podcasts 7 days after the original programme was broadcast. This means that if you only discovered the series half-way through its 9-month run, it's easy to download any or all of the previous episodes to listen to whenever it suits you.

In research we've recently conducted listeners have been telling us that we should make more podcast episodes available for longer than seven days. More than 75% of podcast users say they want that.

As a result we're now providing extended availability for all podcasts where it makes editorial sense and where the BBC has the rights. This means that:

• 30 days availability will become the norm for weekly podcasts
• Most of Radio 4's podcasts will be available in perpetuity (40 out of the current 60 titles)
• News and sports podcasts will normally remain available for 7 days only, as topical information goes out of date quickly and there is little evidence of people wanting to subscribe to older programmes
• Daily podcasts will typically be available for 7 days only
• Some shows will be available for 7 days only because of rights restrictions: Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4, for instance

We're planning further changes because our research also tells us that many people find it hard to engage with our podcasts. There are too many barriers to trying them out and we want to reach out to the people who don't currently use them by demystifying the whole process. Next on the list are: building podcasts into iPlayer and improving the BBC's podcast pages on non-BBC sites like iTunes and on other platforms.

Mark Friend is Controller of Audio & Music Interactive at the BBC

• In another change, you can now download Radio 3's weekly specialist classical chart to keep - with up to nine minutes of music from each featured album. Download the chart and read Radio 3 Interactive Editor Gabriel Gilson's blog post about it.
• The BBC podcasts page lists 268 programmes you can download and keep. All of the national networks are represented and many local stations. The World Service has 70 and Radio 4 60.
• Picture by John Nuttall. Used under licence.

I woke up on a high this morning. As well as Liverpool fighting their way out of the relegation zone, I experienced three amazing gigs at the BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Three iconic Radio 2 artists. Three very different, but equally ecstatic, audiences.

Elton John opened the proceedings. But this wasn't the huge arena show you might expect from one of our national treasures. Instead Elton performed in the intimate setting of London's Roundhouse with his idol Leon Russell, who first watched Elton perform in the early Seventies at LA's Troubadour club. Their recent album 'The Union' seems to have given Elton a new energy and vigour and like so many great creative people, he's re-invented himself once more. The unique collaborations are one of the joys of Electric Proms. Elton on stage with Plan B and with Rumer respectively showed how different generations can still be united by music.

The culmination of Friday night's Robert Plant was a spine-tingling performance with the London Oriana Choir which followed a rapturously received version of 'Rock n Roll'. As he reminded the audience, Robert had first performed on the Roundhouse stage with Led Zeppelin 40 years earlier. Four decades on, with the incredible Band of Joy, Robert Plant was as compelling as ever. BBC 2 has a real treat in store for fans of this extraordinary artist: The 'Robert Plant By Myself' documentary that transmits this Saturday evening is one of the most revealing interview for many years - the perfect compliment to the live performance.

The final show saw Radio 2 favourite Neil Diamond perform so many of those classic tunes that have made him such a loved songwriter, including songs that he's written for others, like The Monkees' 'I'm a Believer.' The Roundhouse crowd were in fine form singing and rowing along with Lulu as she performed 'The Boat that I Row'. I've never known an audience so full of love for their hero, which you will be able to see when the concert is broadcast on BBC 2 on Saturday 13 November.

If you had a chance to catch Simon Mayo's Radio 2 Drivetime show from the backstage bar at the Roundhouse you would have heard all the pre-gig gossip as well as live performances including Rumer singing a spellbinding version of Elton's Rocket Man, and Lissie performing Stairway to Heaven, both of which are available to listen to online.

Bob Harris's aftershow programme on Saturday night was the ideal way to reflect on the three spellbinding yet diverse gigs, which included live interviews with Lulu and Nell Brydon, both giving their verdicts on the performances. The audiences loved the memorabilia exhibition at the Roundhouse, and many fans have sent in pictures of their artefacts which are currently displayed on the Radio 2 website.

In case you missed any of the gigs, you can listen again on the Radio 2 web site (and in glorious HD Sound on the Electric Proms site) and watch on the red button. The Robert Plant and Neil Diamond concerts will be broadcast on BBC 2 on November 6 and 13 respectively.

Like the collaborations on-stage, the Electric Proms partnership between Radio Two and BBC Two gave both viewers and listeners a wholly unique experience. This is the first year that Radio 2 has programmed the concerts, and I'm proud of the efforts of Jeff Smith, Radio 2's Head of Music and his live music team in pulling off a stunning first Radio 2 Electric Proms.

Bob Shennan is Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music

• Jeff Smith, head of Music at Radio 2 and 6 Music, wrote about the Radio 2 Electric Proms (and has responded to some comments from listeners) on the About the BBC blog.
• The concerts were reviewed by many, including The FT, The NME and The Guardian.
• The picture shows Robert Plant during his performance on Friday.

The Chris Moyles Show Tour happens to coincide with Radio 1's Access All Areas week - when we throw open the doors of Yalding House (figuratively for the masses and literally for a lucky few) for all to see.

There's an expectation that audiences want to watch as well as listen to outside broadcasts (OBs) of a certain scale nowadays. So, when this project landed in the inbox, we thought we'd try to find a way of making a bigger splash with the AAA element. We eventually decided to give the audience a higher level of access to Chris and the show than they've ever had before. As well as a live stream online, users will (for the first time) be able to watch the action live on their TVs (by pressing the red button). Additionally, for those viewers on the way to work, the stream will also be live on 16 BBC Big Screens across the UK.

We've tried to incorporate the visualisation element without affecting the 'sound' of the programme. Some features that are usually audio-only have been produced on video this time, so that the audience watching on TV has something to watch as well as hear - the radio programme will play out our audio during these features. On the flip-side, we have also prepared video items to play out over long segues in the radio programme to keep the TV audience engaged.

Technically - We're using 9 cameras in total, some robotic, some operated. OB facilities are from SiS, who we've worked with before and who have been very flexible in delivering what is a somewhat unconventional OB. We're sending the transmission by satellite to Satellite Operations at TV Centre where the red button video will play out and our partners Red Bee will handle our online stream from Broadcast Centre.

Please let us know what you think of the whole experience!

Adam Heyhurst is Series Producer for the Chris Moyles Show Tour

• The Chris Moyles Show tour is directed by Will Kinder. Executive Producer is Ben Chapman.
• Access All Areas week is under way now. Full details on the Radio 1 web site.
• The Chris Moyles Show tour is on the Radio 1 web site, on the red button and on BBC Big Screens around Britain. Details here. Chris was in Portsmouth this morning and will be in Newport, Derby, Darlington, Perth for the rest of the week. Tickets for all four Cities are sold out.
• The Chris Moyles Show is on Facebook and the team is on Twitter.
• The hashtag for Access All Areas is #R1AAA