...national Christian radio in Britain is, as of now, ten years old. UCB's national DAB service started at the end of November 2009. Which could come as a surprise to readers in other countries. The USA, for example, has a long tradition of Christian radio stations – today there are probably 2,400 stations (on AM, … Continue reading A reason to believe…
Tag: Radio History
See radio differently…
...is a re-branding exercise by an outfit called Radiocentre (it declines the use of a definite article in its literature). Speaking to radio and industry professionals in Leeds, Yorkshire, in October 2018 Lucy Barrett from the organisation said most stock photographs that accompany a newspaper or online story about radio tend to feature "mother, father, … Continue reading See radio differently…
It’s always been the case….
...that presenters switch between BBC and commercial radio stations. I recall Tony Butler in Birmingham switching between BRMB and BBC Radio WM in the 1980s. And then back again it the 1990s. And then back to the Beeb. And then back on commercial radio in the 2000s. And, of course, Ed Doolan, who also shone … Continue reading It’s always been the case….
Mic it up…
…I've established that it's the microphone which defines exactly what radio is. That's because notions of 'broadcast', transmitters', 'wireless' and 'transistor radio' have, I think – over the past three decades – become either confused, redundant, or both. Pic: (c) Martin Cooper The microphone is the instrument which captures the human voice. Through the mixing … Continue reading Mic it up…
“…Ha, but my life is but a box of wormgears.”
The musings of Marvin the Paranoid Android seem to sum up neatly some of the trickier bits of the lives we ourselves lead. (The quote is from Life, the Universe and Everything (1982), London:Pan Books, p. 45). Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide, created a genre-busting cross-platform cultural epic in the late 1970s … Continue reading “…Ha, but my life is but a box of wormgears.”
Some of my favourite presenters…
Then, when I became a professional broadcaster in 1982 there were colleagues who I enjoyed both listening to and making programmes with. Still do, in fact. At the BBC World Service in the late 1980s there was the Geoffrey Stern, working as a presenter alongside his London School of Economics lecturing job, who made my … Continue reading Some of my favourite presenters…
The soundtrack of your life…
Radio is a personal medium. It's my medium. It's also been the medium of the baby boomer generation, of which I am one. Radio, by the end of the 20th century, had become for many who were born in the two decades after the end of WW2 part of the soundtrack of their lives. Tanja … Continue reading The soundtrack of your life…
From the archives: September 1989
How to write about radio, about the experience of listening? Here's a piece from an industry trade paper, in September 1989. It's a review of a tape of a live show I'd recorded onto cassette in June of that year and then posted (by Royal Mail) to the magazine. How else was a journalist in … Continue reading From the archives: September 1989
From the archives: 9 April 1992
Here's the start of BBC Radio York's election night results programme in 1992. An example of local live reporting... I'd gathered up all those clips during the course of the campaign trail to build this audio montage. It was a busy night for the BBC Radio York team, reporting live from every parliamentary constituency count … Continue reading From the archives: 9 April 1992
