The Darkest Moments
Pin it

There used to be a dusty folder on the windowsill at Radio Trent in the '80s, marked ‘Obit’.   Inside lay a bundle of dog-eared typed sheets bearing instructions on what to do if someone significant took their last breath.   The manila file included a list of the Royal Family, bundled into nea…

Read more
A Wonderful Christmastime
Pin it

I always fear that Christmas day on the radio will once again be stuffed with dull pre-records and friendless second-tier presenters saying they are 'sitting in' for someone better; and sounding as though they really would prefer to be somewhere else. It's been truly lovely this year, t…

Read more
Sales Execs are from Mars; Presenters from Venus
Pin it

I'm lucky to have worked in some truly great radio stations where the commercial and programming teams get on with mutual respect and understanding, regardless of the often very different characters involved.  I've also worked in ones where open hostility has been declared. Most stations li…

Read more
An Academy Fit for Radio's Third Age
Pin it

No-one much seemed to take much notice of BBC 6 Music. Until they threatened to close it. It has never looked back. The Radio Academy AGM felt a little like that tonight. As Chairman, Ben Cooper (Controller BBC Radio1 and 1Xtra by day), mentioned in his own warm-up, usually one has to strong-arm a …

Read more

Tear down the walls!  Deconstruct the language!  Wash away the thinking!  Exams are killing the young, sucking out their souls and mangling their senses until they are completely absorbed with their ‘future’ and the present has been sacrificed at the altar of arbitrary qualifications and random gra…

Read more