German Boss Radio Ad Banned
A radio advert's been ruled 'offensive' following complaints that it suggests all Germans are Hitler-style megalomaniacs.
Hitler's Radio (apparently). Picture by Glen Aylett
The advert for recruitment agency Reed Online features a man yelling at one of his employees in German - then asks: 'Boss a bit of a tyrant?'
The Advertising Standards Authority banned the ad after it received 13 complaints; some claiming it reinforced an out-of-date stereotype.
Give it a listen and tell us what you think:
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Radio Offers Lifeline to Anxious Haitians
Following the powerful earthquake which hit Haiti on Tuesday, worried relatives are looking to a New York station for news.
Brooklyn's Radio Soleil d'Haiti has been taking calls from local Haitians desperate to hear the latest on the state of the country.
Picture by Yana Paskova, New York Times
One caller shared a rumour with DJ Ricot Dupuy that Haiti's presidential palace had collapsed (it has been damaged, but still stands). Others looked for news of relatives.
Dupuy says it's been impossible to answer many of the callers' queries due to communication channels with Haiti being knocked out.
He told ABC News, "I did get through for two-and-a-half minutes before getting cut off."
There are also concerns that the owner of Radio Melodie, a popular station in Haiti, and his wife were killed in the quake. The rumour's yet to be confirmed or quashed.
Due to the communication problems, Dupuy's had little choice but to continue playing the same feed over and over on air.
Nervous family members still linger around the Radio Soleil d'Haiti studios, as they await more news from the presenter's contacts. So far, relief has come to few.
Terry WoGONE!
Terry Wogan today said 'cheerio' to his Radio 2 breakfast time slot.
Check out our report:
Wogan Picture courtesy of the Radio Times.
Digital Radio Hits 10m Sets Sold
As 2009 draws to a close, the number of DAB digital radios to be sold in the UK reaches the ten million mark.
It's taken less than three years for the milestone to be reached after just five million sets were sold before 2007.
As you might expect, the Digital Radio Development Bureau are delighted. Tony Moretta's their Chief Exec:
PURE is the UKs biggest producer of digital radios.
"Ten million sales is an incredible achievement for any technology, and it proves that digital radio is here to stay.
"With even greater promotion by radio stations, wider support from the car industry and the further development of the technology through colour screens, Wi-Fi etc, we expect the growth of digital radio to continue strongly over the next few years to the point where a nationwide digital upgrade can become a reality."
Manufacturers aren't quite ready to crack open the Christmas bubbly yet though - the rate of sales is actually in decline.
This year has seen just 1.3 million radios sold, compared with 2.2 million in 2008.
The overall sales figure is also still dwarfed by the estimated 120 million anologue sets in homes across the country. At the current growth rate it'd take 60 years for digital to match that.
Ofcom Propose Scrapping Local Radio Ownership Rules
A report published today by the broadcasting regulator suggests removing the rules which limit the ownership of multiple stations in the same local area.
The report outlines a number of recommendations for the Sectretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport - Ben Bradshaw.
Currently local station ownership is limited by what's sometimes known as the '2+1' rule - the 2 representing commercial owners, and the 1 representing the BBC. What this means is that where there are at least two commercial stations, as well as a Beeb station, there must be at least two different commercial owners. (Click below if you don't get it).
Ofcom suggest that the '2+1' rule should be ditched so that anyone can own as many stations as they like, saying: "It'd reduce regulation on an industry facing difficult market conditions.
"Research shows a majority of consumers are not concerned about single ownership within local commercial radio."
Amongst the organisations supporting the proposal are RadioCentre and the Guardian Media Group.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) are against the idea, saying it would provide an insufficient guarantee of plurality.
Disaster at BRMB Event
Dozens have been crushed by crowds at BRMB's Christmas lights switch-on.
One woman's in hospital with serious injuries after a rush at the concert caused a safety fence to fall on revellers. There are reports as many as 60 others were also hurt.
It came as JLS ended their performance in front of the 20,000-strong crowd. The switching on of the lights was cancelled after an emergency meeting by Birmingham City Council.
JLS on stage. Picture by BRMB
Phil Riley Chief Executive BRMB said "We are all as disappointed as everyone else that we had to cancel the event. As you can imagine we’ve worked hard across the last 3 months to ensure that today’s line up was bigger and better than ever before.
"However the safety of our listeners is our utmost importance and once this was compromised there was no other option than to cancel the event".
Ironically, a statement from BRMB described JLS's performance as "show stopping". Also due to perform were Taio Cruz, Alexandra Burke and the Sugababes.
Absolute Ditch the Xtreme for the Eighties
Absolute Radio are dropping 'Absolute Xtreme' in favour of an eighties music platform.
It comes after competition from BBC 6Music, NME Radio, Xfm and Kerrang proved too overpowering for Xtreme.
'Absolute 80s' will be available on DAB in London and up the M4 corridor from early December. Absolute say they aim to connect with a brand of adults who aren't quite ready to give up their childhood.
Chief Operating Officer, Clive Dickens, told the Media Guardian, "These are people who have responsibilities, are members of families but still want to participate and have fun and be involved in music. A huge chunk of our audience grew up in the 80s."
The new station will work using a 'jukebox' system, meaning playout is computerised - so no presenters. Programmed in will be the likes of The Human League, Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Fans of Xtreme are being pointed in the direction of Absolute's listener-lead Dabbl service, which is changing its playlists to include new music.
Mobile Phone Listening’s Up
More of us are listening to the radio on our mobiles.
The latest quarterly figures from RAJAR show seven million people are tuning in on their phones every week - up 7.5% on this time last year.
Youngsters have been the most eager to take to the medium, with listenership amongst 15 to 24-year-olds rising above the overall national level at 8.3%. A third of the age-group say they've listened to the radio on their phones at some point. 3.2% say they listen every single day.
The new figures also show a 14% rise in digital radio listenership since last year.
Nine out of ten of us listen to the radio every week.
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