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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 12:03 pm   #41
Nuvistor
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

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Sundays I used to listen all day, then we got Elaine Paige, that delightful creature who savaged Susan Boyle and cackles throughout the program.
I listened a short while to Radio 2 last Sunday afternoon while driving home, yes she does cackle, not someone I normally listen to and it didn’t take long to find something else. Presenters are human and sometimes they can get the giggles but this was something else, very unprofessional and not nice to hear on a major station.
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 1:09 pm   #42
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I was trying to describe my taste in music to someone this week, and I was struggling. I like quite a lot of classical music, but I tend to avoid the rather hackneyed pieces (not the composer's fault!) plus Pink Floyd early stuff, pipe organ, Caravan, occasional ELP, Mahler, Schostakovitch...


And in a flash of inspiration, I had it, an exact description:

Uneasy listening.

Just what the beeb avoid nowadays,

David
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 1:15 pm   #43
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

Options going forward, either the BBC's current offerings or, Classic, Capital/Heart? Hmmm, more a compromise than a choice.

Not sure how useful 'Global' traffic reports about the North Circular will be in deepest Cornwall et al.

I dare say, I shall be supporting our remaining village pub a little more often, no phone signal, no games machines, no music, just the sound of nature & likeminded country-folk out for a good pint of local ale and a catch-up.

On that note, that's exactly where I shall be in about 10 minutes.

Mark
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 2:22 pm   #44
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

The big commercial groups have long been envious of the BBC Radio's 1 & 2's unique position as national ad-free services.

Smooth Radio, bolstered by networking and the increasing take up of DAB, announced a few years ago its intention to take on Radio 2 and is now in a position to try. Any retained 'localness' by inserting a bit of local news and travel is really a fig leaf to please a weak regulator. A few local news stories can be produced off the patch at a central or regional hub and with the mass adoption of sat nav and mobile phone alerts, travel news is almost redundant. The most important aspect of local for Global, etc., is the ability to sell ad spots in local areas.

However, with Radio 2 taking the fight to the likes of Smooth and Heart by expanding DJ shows, stripping out as much of the specialist content as they dare and consigning what remains to unsocial hours, the fact that the commercials have to carry advertising puts a them at a permanent disadvantage.

Unfortunately, when an environment becomes competitive rather than complementary, the biggest losers are the listeners who end up with clone stations and lowest common denominator output.
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 2:30 pm   #45
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I did think if I was ever making a reproduction dial for a retro FM radio project, it would have been nice to put the names of as many as possible of the old local independent stations -- Ram, Trent, Sound, Heart, Signal, BRMB, Beacon, Capital, GWR and so forth -- in the right places, even though it would not be possible to receive them all from any one location. I suppose you could get away with it on a portable set!
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 10:07 pm   #46
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I have to put up with Capital/Heart/Pulse1 at work. I can't tell the difference between them. Loudmouth presenters peddling sham 'mateyness' and really awful **** records from gobby, angry individuals with shared access to vocoders and ProTools. I changed to
Radio 2 this morning (Sounds of the Sixties was on - don't care for Tony Blackburn but he is way preferable to any vacuous presenter on the Global stations) and within minutes one of my whippersnapper colleagues had retuned the radio to Pulse1. I switched it off. No radio at all is better than stuff that makes you shout at the machine because your ears are bleeding.

In other words, I wouldn't wish redundancies on anyone but I'd be delighted if Capital/Heart/Pulse1 et al were never heard of again.
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Old 2nd Mar 2019, 10:35 pm   #47
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

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shared access to vocoders and ProTools. I.
That's one of the worst thing about the current pop scene - the heavily "proceed / "robotic" voice. Couple it to dumbed down "simple" music and you have a banal and instantly forgettable "noise".
Geez I'm starting to sound like the ol' man now - but he was slanging off Pink Floyd, Queen, Led Zep (etc), so was obviously wrong
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 12:45 am   #48
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

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But there again, tastes in music are as varied as the numbers of listeners
Everyone is in a target audience, it's just a matter of finding your best match. Very difficult if you're in a communal setting, and getting more difficult on the move, but at home you can tune into just about every station in the World via the internet and re-broadcast to your own radios. OK, not as convenient as turning a dial, but much more varied.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 8:13 am   #49
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

Now the BBC have moved radio 1 type stuff into radio 2, Does this mean that big bands and middle of the road will be moved onto radio 3?

(runs like hell)

David
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 9:32 am   #50
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

It strikes me that, as a race, we are now used to replacement products being inferior to their predecessors.

How often have we made/received mobile 'phone calls, & the signal/sound has been unusable? Bubbling DAB? Cars with a range of only 130 miles on a 16 hour charge, battery powered vacuum cleaners, 125 decibels and lasts 45 minutes, not long enough for some homes, and so now, onto radio stations.

Streaming online content to our sets is an idea Bill, and I've done just that rigging a Raspberry Pi to a selection of vintage radios, though listening through my poor vintage HiFi tuners shows up the low resolution on many stations, that said, some live FM broadcasts also sound lifeless, usually, the very Global ones we now speak of.

I'm sure things will improve, medically we made progress in leaps and bounds and still learning, yet, when was the last time we saw a new invention, and not a modern re-hash of an otherwise decent product/idea?

Mark
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 10:09 am   #51
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

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Now the BBC have moved radio 1 type stuff into radio 2, Does this mean that big bands and middle of the road will be moved onto radio 3?

(runs like hell)

David
Now don’t be giving the BBC ideas David, although I like big bands.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 10:22 am   #52
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

Does it really matter what station or network Big bands (or any other genre for that matter) are on, as long as a particular type of music is broadcast in a form that the target audience can hear? For all it's limitations, one of the benefits, IMHO, of the old Light Programme, was that it featured a wide variety of musical and other shows in it's attempt to cater for the widest possible audience.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 10:30 am   #53
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I remember some comedian likening the BBC radio stations to the Thunderbirds like this:

Radio 1/Thunderbird 1 - makes a lot of noise and smoke, gets there first at everything, but can't do anything significant.

Radio 2/Thunderbird 2 - The heavy-lifter, the workhorse. Lumbers along, gets there later but does all the real work.

Radio 3/ Thunderbird 3 - shoots straight off into space. Rarely heard from

Radio 4/Thunderbird 4 - deeply submerged probably in the stuff that is politics.

There wasn't Radio 5 at the time.

David
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 11:36 am   #54
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I do some shows for a local community radio station which has served as a springboard for some presenters to go Global. On chatting to one or two it seems the whole thing's nothing like you'd expect. The playout is strictly controlled, timed to the second so the local adverts will fit in seamlessly. As a presenter, you record your link while a track is playing then you trim it to slot into the gap. It works, but it's not only the music that's processed to death!
I'll stick to my late night show where I like to play new, old but mainly obscure stuff.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 2:20 pm   #55
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

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Now the BBC have moved radio 1 type stuff into radio 2, Does this mean that big bands and middle of the road will be moved onto radio 3?
All jazz other than Jamie Cullum (and Clare Teal if big band is put into the jazz category) is already on Radio 3. And despite her populist approach Clare Teal's show has been reduced by 50%.

Now that the BBC's popular output is so skewed towards the 'younger' end (four national stations devoted to pop) what is really required, if we assume that as a public broadcaster the BBC has a duty to serve the whole population/demographic, is another channel geared to the tastes of the those who prefer an easier MOR sound and presentation style and that would be a home for Listen to the Band, big band, show tunes and many of the other lost programmes that were once the staples of Radio 2. But, assuming channels, etc., were available, don't hold your breath: the BBC have a problem with Radios 3 and 4 being too 'middle England' (and probably too old) and there is a move for local radio, which has been a refuge for the older set, to attract a younger audience.

Given the success of Classic FM - 5 million listeners many of whom are ex-Radio 2 - it is feasible that a national commercial station could fill some of the gap but since DAB struggled for such a long time that, as I understand it, it became a case of 'we don't care about your content is we'll give you a licence', this has driven a coach and horses through the whole regulatory system and, amongst a plethora of pop channels, given LBC "do you want a five minute argument or a ten minute argument?" a national platform. In the early days of DAB there was a station called Prime Time - clearly not viable back then - but would probably do well today.

It will be interesting to see what format (probably unconstrained in content compared to Classic FM) Scala Radio follows. I'm sure Bauer fancy a bit of the Classic FM and disenchanted Radio 2 audience. What effect it has on Radio 3 remains to be seen though, worryingly, it could be a handy excuse for some dumbing down as many R3 devotees complained about after the arrival of Classic FM.

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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 4:34 pm   #56
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I get the impression that if we were classed as a minority, we'd get carefully catered to.

Well, I'm a member of a minority, one of the very smallest ones in fact.

I'm an individual!

David
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 5:01 pm   #57
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I still don’t listen to or care what the commercials are doing. My wireless is still tuned to the Home service.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 5:45 pm   #58
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

The BBC are gradually removing or recheduling anything that Radio 2 would be expected to play, in favour of more cRap 'music' to get darn wiv da kids. Added to that their preference for idiots like the Ginger Whinger and other PC choices presenting and it is totally destroyed for many of us over 30.
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 5:55 pm   #59
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I suppose the only thing they will listen to is when lots majority-type people start to reckon that broadcast TV isn't worth the trouble and no longer need a licence.

David
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Old 3rd Mar 2019, 8:16 pm   #60
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Default Re: Are you all ready for single channel radio?

I've never been a Radio 1 listener, apart from the top-40 in my teens and John Peel from around 2000 until his death. This was partly because the old MW signal was appalling in my area.

My main station is 6Music, though I listen less since the changes made in the new year. Second place would be Radio 2; a station I wouldn't have touched with a barge-pole in its old 'Granny-FM' days. As for it been "Totally destroyed" for the over-30s, I'm a month off 49. There are a few things on Radio 4 I listen to as well.

As other people have said it isn't so much the fact that commercial stations have adverts, it's the endless repetition of the same few that gets on my wick. If I wasn't interested in a product or service when I was told about it once telling me another dozen times a day isn't going to change that.
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