Blog search

Over the weekend, CNN published an interesting US-focused series entitled "The future of music radio" that looked at the current state of play in US music radio. While the US is very different market to the UK, it would be...

Posted by Adam Bowie on May 20, 2013 12:13 PM

RAJAR Q1 2013 - London

I've updated the previous entry, but I thought it was worth giving London an entry of its own because not only have I added back a Motion Chart of the London marketplace, but there's significantly more data underlying it than...

Posted by Adam Bowie on May 17, 2013 11:16 AM

Sony Radio Academy Awards - A Look Back

The Sony Radio Academy Awards are upon us in a week or so's time. But if you want to get a broader view of who has won what over the years since the awards started in 1983 (and have always...

Posted by Adam Bowie on May 6, 2013 3:00 PM

20 Years of Russ

Today is the 20th anniversary of Virgin Radio. It launched at 12.15pm on Friday 30th April 1993 with Richard Branson joining Russ and Jono at the Virgin Megastore in Manchester. But Richard Skinner was back in the studio and played...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 30, 2013 12:00 AM

No News Here, Move Along

On Monday, I was somewhat sympathetic towards Sarah Sands, editor of the London Evening Standard. One of the biggest stories of the year had broken in time to make that day's final edition, but the headline was buried behind...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 12, 2013 8:59 PM

RadioCentre Roll of Honour

In 1973, commercial radio launched with LBC, Capital Radio and Radio Clyde all launching within weeks of one another. So this year is commerical radio's 40th anniversary, and RadioCentre is celebrating with a Roll of Honour featuring forty names,...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 12, 2013 7:55 AM

Sony Radio Academy Radio Award Nominations 2013

I wrote this piece for the Onegoldensquare blog, but I thought I might as well post it here for completeness! This week, the 2013 award nominations were announced, and we've already mentioned in passing that we got a few. This...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 11, 2013 5:37 PM

Poll Winners: They're Not News

Bank Holidays at radio stations tend to mean the regular talent getting the day off. If it's Christmas, then they may get a full fortnight away. Listening patterns are different at Bank Holidays. People don't get up as early since...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 1, 2013 7:12 PM

In Praise Of... What?

Here's a curious thing. The Guardian has a regular "In Praise Of..." column on its leader page where rather than just moaning about things, it'll sometimes, well, praise something. It's quite a refreshing change to read something positive in...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 25, 2013 9:16 PM

RAJAR - Predicting the Future

Here's a copy of the presentation I gave to the Radio Academy's London Branch earlier today. It was part of an evening called All About RAJARs which saw RAJAR's Lyndsey Ferrigan, Hallett Arendt's John Shorter and myself talking a bit...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 11, 2013 10:00 PM

The Essay - The Sound and the Fury

I really enjoyed The Essay this week on Radio 3. Writer Andrew Martin suffers from phonophobia - a condition that makes extraneous noise particularly annoying. Cheekily called The Sound and the Fury (coming just a couple of weeks after BBC...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 11, 2013 12:39 AM

RAJAR Q4 2012

The first release of 2013 is actually the last data from 2012. In general, last quarter, radio listening had fallen a bit - a combination of the summer and the Olympics. Television did well, which in turn meant that...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 31, 2013 12:01 AM

Ceramic Handmade Radios

At lunchtime I chanced across this shop in Berwick Street, Soho. Inside they had handmade DAB radios and BlueTooth speakers built from ceramic bodies that were cast in Stoke-on-Trent before having the technology added down south. Josiah is the...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 22, 2013 1:57 PM

Radio Times - 25 December 2012

My very occasional suggestions of what to watch on radio and television this Christmas. As ever - these are best viewed large (radio, TV) so that you can read my comments. A very happy Christmas to everyone who reads...

Posted by Adam Bowie on December 24, 2012 10:21 PM

Radio Festival 2012 - Some Thoughts

During the Radio Festival, I was busily writing some contemporaneous notes about what was happening at the sessions I attended. But these weren't really a considered view - more, what struck me as interesting or worth repeating at the...

Posted by Adam Bowie on November 15, 2012 6:58 PM

Radio Festival Day Two

Apologies for any typos in these notes. I'll tidy things up later... The excellent Margherita Taylor - due to be inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame this evening - is once again hosting room 2 at the Lowry...

Posted by Adam Bowie on November 13, 2012 9:24 AM

Radio Festival/Techcon 2012

I'm writing this as we go, and will tidy up the text later. But these are my notes "live"... As David Lloyd, MCing Techcon at the Radio Festival again this year mentions, it's been a quiet weekend in the media....

Posted by Adam Bowie on November 12, 2012 10:54 AM

Radio Books

In the back flap of Danny Baker's new autobiography, Going to Sea in a Sieve, the simple text beneath Baker's photo says: Danny Baker is a comedy writer, journalist and radio DJ. He currently presents six shows a week...

Posted by Adam Bowie on November 11, 2012 4:55 PM

A Radio Future

On Monday, the great and the good of the UK radio industry, and visitors from beyond, will gather in Salford for the annual Radio Festival. If you're going, say hi to me! But there are potentially some dark clouds...

Posted by Adam Bowie on November 9, 2012 12:08 AM

RAJAR Q3 2012

As the long nights begin to draw in, it's time for RAJAR again. There has been a not insignificant amount of uncertainty as to what this quarter would bring, as it covers the Olympics and Paralympics (the Euros mostly...

Posted by Adam Bowie on October 25, 2012 12:01 AM