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Cheery travel announcers have once again been treating us this bank holiday with the implications of ‘earlier accidents’.  It’s another radio cliché.  All accidents were earlier. If what they mean is that the accident is just about cleared away, but I’ll still face some residual delays, then, in fa…

Acceptance The greying woman stands in the shallows, her shoes wet. Waves play cold liquid games with her legs.  Clouds curl. A fish swims up.  It wears her lover’s face. When she awakens she puts the radio on.  Voices, cold light, no music. She showers, chooses her clothes.  Imagines changing her …

"Are you on-air or just behind the scenes?" , people ask when they discover you're in radio. When you mumble " behind the scenes'"  the conversation then usually reverts from Moyles to Moyes.  It doesn't sound very interesting, this 'behind the scenes' busine…

The future of BBC funding is again under discussion. It will always be thus.  The Sykes report rejected advertising in 1923.  Annan in '77 suggested local radio should all be commercial. Peacock recommended privatising Radio 1 and 2 in '86.  Davies in '98 trotted out the bright idea of …

The Board Minutes from 1961 onwards In the 1960s, with a sniff of commercial radio in the air, a number of enterprising folk across the Country, not least those in local press, thought the whole thing sounded pretty exciting.  Companies were duly formed, with the aspiration of operating a franchise…

The early days of commercial radio were truly great.  After all, back then, everything was local. Local ownership. Locally originated live output.  Local management. Presenters could chatter away at will and show their personalities; and have a real influence on the songs they played. If you were o…

“I hate the sound of your voice” said a listener text the other day to an old colleague of mine whilst he hosted a weekend show on a commercial music station.  Listeners can be brutally honest. Actually, they can be downright rude. I cannot imagine walking into Tesco, not liking the decor and shou…