BBC 6 To Face The Music?
BBC 6 Music and Asian Network could be set to close
Today The Times reported that the BBC are due to close two of its national radio stations.
The newspaper says that in a report due to be made public next month, Beeb Director General Mark Thompson will outline cuts to their radio and online output.
The stations apparently set to go are BBC 6 Music and BBC Asian Network.
And Now, Here’s Chavez
The Venezuelan President deploys shock tactics to turn around dwindling listenership to his broadcasts.
Hugo Chávez (courtesy of Fox News)
Hugo Chávez hopes to sneak up on listeners with unscheduled presidential programming.
His 8-hour-long radio shows every Sunday have somehow struggled to maintain audience figures. The all new Suddenly Chávez hopes to avoid this problem by not giving people chance to make other plans.
The shows could be broadcast at any time, day or night. Each starts with a characteristic musical interlude.
"When you hear the pluck of a harp on the radio, maybe Chávez is coming," He said in his inaugural broadcast yesterday. "It's suddenly, at any time, maybe midnight, maybe early morning."
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The Advertising Standards Authority banned the ad after it received 13 complaints; some claiming it reinforced an out-of-date stereotype.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:
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.
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.
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).
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.