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Log inRajar (I don't trust the figures)
Rajar (I don't trust the figures)
by Admin on Thu May 01, 2008 11:13 pm
Call me cynical, if you like.
Just as I don't trust the police to police themselves or Politicians to investigate their own buddies in parliament.
I don't trust Rajar which just happens to be jointly owned by the BBC and the RadioCentre on behalf of the commercial sector. I don't trust them to conduct their own listenership.
Both radio one and two, Moyles and wogan came out with flying colours, the Times online wrote
"Listening through digital radio sets, websites and mobile phones has cemented
the popularity of BBC stations but their dominance could prompt fresh calls
for the privatisation of Radio 1 and 2."
Of course, I Thought the BBC is selling everything else off, why not bump the figures skyhigh, give an impression that its going great guns and then flog it.
Its no different to sprucing an old banger of a car up, to sell. the steering normally goes on the first corner.
Or a quick paint job on a studio flat before selling it on exorbitantly, the decor is normally ruined with the first drop of rain as it comes pouring through the unnoticed hole in the roof.
(The Times)
(RAJAR)
Just as I don't trust the police to police themselves or Politicians to investigate their own buddies in parliament.
I don't trust Rajar which just happens to be jointly owned by the BBC and the RadioCentre on behalf of the commercial sector. I don't trust them to conduct their own listenership.
Both radio one and two, Moyles and wogan came out with flying colours, the Times online wrote
"Listening through digital radio sets, websites and mobile phones has cemented
the popularity of BBC stations but their dominance could prompt fresh calls
for the privatisation of Radio 1 and 2."
Of course, I Thought the BBC is selling everything else off, why not bump the figures skyhigh, give an impression that its going great guns and then flog it.
Its no different to sprucing an old banger of a car up, to sell. the steering normally goes on the first corner.
Or a quick paint job on a studio flat before selling it on exorbitantly, the decor is normally ruined with the first drop of rain as it comes pouring through the unnoticed hole in the roof.
(The Times)
(RAJAR)
Re: Rajar (I don't trust the figures)
by Admin on Thu May 08, 2008 9:36 am
Commercial radio urged to take on BBC
* Published: 06 May 2008 19:40
* Author: Rob Shepherd
* Last Updated: 06 May 2008 19:40
Commercial radio urged to take on BBC
Commercial radio should "stand up for itself", industry executives have urged, after the sector suffered a mauling at the hands of the BBC in the first quarter Rajars.
Last week's figures (1 May) put the corporation even further ahead of its commercial rivals, with BBC stations pulling in 56.8% share of listening, up from 55.4% in the last quarter. It also extended its lead over the commercial sector from 13% to a record 15.7%.
Conversely, national commercial radio's share fell from 11.3% in the last quarter of last year to 10.7% in January to March this year, while local commercial radio's share dropped from 31.1% to 30.3%.
The performance has led to many questioning whether the licence fee-funded BBC's dominance is appropriate.
However, United Radio Consultants chief executive Mark Briggs told Broadcast: "Everybody knows the playing field isn't level, but slamming the BBC for doing very well just doesn't wash."
He said commercial radio will get its house in order, but it was not going to happen overnight.
"GCap Media stations seem to be carrying the brunt of commercial radio's losses," he said. "Setting aside Classic FM's drop in hours, it's the local stations which are struggling. Like in the last quarter, we can see the heritage brands such as 2-Ten FM and GWR are in big trouble. It's because the days of unimaginative, repetitious and overformulaic radio are over. Listeners are searching for more substance in their music and content diet."
UBC Media chief operating officer John Quinn said the latest Rajars showed that public ownership of commercial radio had not worked. "The transition from public to privately owned will give commercial radio the platform to fight back without having to constantly measure performance against City expectations - and without having to worry about taking risks," he said.
He added the industry needed to stop moaning. "The BBC can only be admired for risk-taking in its output," he said.
Quinn singled out GMG as leading the fight for commercial radio, saying: "No company is taking the fight to the BBC more than GMG." Briggs added that Global Radio would follow suit.
(Broadcast)
* Published: 06 May 2008 19:40
* Author: Rob Shepherd
* Last Updated: 06 May 2008 19:40
Commercial radio urged to take on BBC
Commercial radio should "stand up for itself", industry executives have urged, after the sector suffered a mauling at the hands of the BBC in the first quarter Rajars.
Last week's figures (1 May) put the corporation even further ahead of its commercial rivals, with BBC stations pulling in 56.8% share of listening, up from 55.4% in the last quarter. It also extended its lead over the commercial sector from 13% to a record 15.7%.
Conversely, national commercial radio's share fell from 11.3% in the last quarter of last year to 10.7% in January to March this year, while local commercial radio's share dropped from 31.1% to 30.3%.
The performance has led to many questioning whether the licence fee-funded BBC's dominance is appropriate.
However, United Radio Consultants chief executive Mark Briggs told Broadcast: "Everybody knows the playing field isn't level, but slamming the BBC for doing very well just doesn't wash."
He said commercial radio will get its house in order, but it was not going to happen overnight.
"GCap Media stations seem to be carrying the brunt of commercial radio's losses," he said. "Setting aside Classic FM's drop in hours, it's the local stations which are struggling. Like in the last quarter, we can see the heritage brands such as 2-Ten FM and GWR are in big trouble. It's because the days of unimaginative, repetitious and overformulaic radio are over. Listeners are searching for more substance in their music and content diet."
UBC Media chief operating officer John Quinn said the latest Rajars showed that public ownership of commercial radio had not worked. "The transition from public to privately owned will give commercial radio the platform to fight back without having to constantly measure performance against City expectations - and without having to worry about taking risks," he said.
He added the industry needed to stop moaning. "The BBC can only be admired for risk-taking in its output," he said.
Quinn singled out GMG as leading the fight for commercial radio, saying: "No company is taking the fight to the BBC more than GMG." Briggs added that Global Radio would follow suit.
(Broadcast)
BBC radio: Privatise Radios 1 and 2, says Richard Eyre
by Admin on Thu May 22, 2008 8:26 pm
The outgoing GCap Media chairman, Richard Eyre, has today called on the BBC to privatise Radio 1 and Radio 2 and plough more cash into online initiatives aimed at young people.Eyre, stressing that he was speaking in a personal capacity, said it was no longer appropriate that the BBC should spend nearly £100m a year on the two mainstream national stations - which he estimated could be sold for £1bn - when the licence fee was under pressure and its public service rivals were calling for a share of its income."If GCap is worth £375m then Radio 1 and Radio 2 must be worth a billion," Eyre said."I know this is an enormous and hideous proposal for the people who have built them.
But look - BBC management does not own Radio 1 or Radio 2 any more than I own GCap," he added.With a reduced licence fee settlement and calls from its rivals to "top-slice" the BBC's income, Eyre said the corporation could no longer use the "business as usual" argument."If your income goes down then you can't continue to do everything, which is a very difficult thing for the BBC to accept," he told Broadcast magazine's Radio 3.0 conference in central London."I would much rather that they established their real priorities and attended to those excellently rather than sighing deeply and knocking 10% or 15% off everything."Eyre said some of the money spent on the two stations should be redirected towards expanding the BBC's online activities for young people, whom he accused the corporation of neglecting."Outside of music and websites for teenage TV shows such as [teen brand] BBC Switch it is really hard to find much online that clearly has a young target audience," he added."At the current time the BBC's online services are as elitist as they claim BBC Radio would be without Radio 1 and Radio 2."Eyre said he was not proposing the sell-off simply to boost the fortunes of the struggling commercial radio sector.
But he added: "Having said that, if this were to take place it would give the commercial sector what it has forever lacked, and has been forever hamstrung by - national mainstream channels available to all."Eyre was echoing a call by Peter Bazalgette, the former Endemol executive who brought Big Brother to the UK, who used a speech last month to call for Radios 1 and 2 to be privatised to help fund rival public service broadcasters.He said the two stations cost licence fee payers £93m a year to run, including £70m on content. The stations, once in private hands, should be "vigorously policed by Ofcom", Eyre added."I don't buy the argument that only BBC management could preserve [the stations'] character," he said.Eyre also criticised commercial stations for not investing properly in the internet, saying there was a "pretty awful dearth of original ideas" on radio stations' websites.He warned commercial broadcasters against a headlong rush into networked programming and the threat that posed to stations' local appeal."I'm worried about localness. I absolutely understand about shared programming around our stations ...but I'm not happy about it. I'm concerned that it's potentially a veryLondon-centric view," Eyre said.
But look - BBC management does not own Radio 1 or Radio 2 any more than I own GCap," he added.With a reduced licence fee settlement and calls from its rivals to "top-slice" the BBC's income, Eyre said the corporation could no longer use the "business as usual" argument."If your income goes down then you can't continue to do everything, which is a very difficult thing for the BBC to accept," he told Broadcast magazine's Radio 3.0 conference in central London."I would much rather that they established their real priorities and attended to those excellently rather than sighing deeply and knocking 10% or 15% off everything."Eyre said some of the money spent on the two stations should be redirected towards expanding the BBC's online activities for young people, whom he accused the corporation of neglecting."Outside of music and websites for teenage TV shows such as [teen brand] BBC Switch it is really hard to find much online that clearly has a young target audience," he added."At the current time the BBC's online services are as elitist as they claim BBC Radio would be without Radio 1 and Radio 2."Eyre said he was not proposing the sell-off simply to boost the fortunes of the struggling commercial radio sector.
But he added: "Having said that, if this were to take place it would give the commercial sector what it has forever lacked, and has been forever hamstrung by - national mainstream channels available to all."Eyre was echoing a call by Peter Bazalgette, the former Endemol executive who brought Big Brother to the UK, who used a speech last month to call for Radios 1 and 2 to be privatised to help fund rival public service broadcasters.He said the two stations cost licence fee payers £93m a year to run, including £70m on content. The stations, once in private hands, should be "vigorously policed by Ofcom", Eyre added."I don't buy the argument that only BBC management could preserve [the stations'] character," he said.Eyre also criticised commercial stations for not investing properly in the internet, saying there was a "pretty awful dearth of original ideas" on radio stations' websites.He warned commercial broadcasters against a headlong rush into networked programming and the threat that posed to stations' local appeal."I'm worried about localness. I absolutely understand about shared programming around our stations ...but I'm not happy about it. I'm concerned that it's potentially a veryLondon-centric view," Eyre said.