Radio Festival 09 – Running Order

Monday 29th June

TECHCON PROGRAMME

09.15 REGISTRATION + REFRESHMENTS

10.00 Introduction

10.05 Session 1: Unlocking Loudness

Join Andrew Mason as he explains loudness (compared to level), the standards and regulation relating to loudness and how loudness could be measured. Andrew will also give us an insight into what other broadcasters are doing and suggest how the TV world's issues may affect radio. This is engineering theory for all those working with broadcast audio.

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10.30 Session 2: The Role of Mayan Gods in Engineering Online Audio for Broadcast Performance

The BBC’s new Coyopa system aims to provide traditional levels of broadcast reliability to the delivery of online radio, be it streamed live, listen again or podcasts. Learn from James Cridland what the BBC’s aims were, including why a particular approach was taken and what was learnt by the project. He’ll also unlock the mystic connection with the justified ancients.

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10.55 Session 3: Harvesting Multimedia Content in the Field

Traditionally we have always enhanced standard news vehicles to add multimedia and online capability but BBC English regions have turned this approach on its head with their new iCav, using IP to solve the problems of news gathering for true multimedia teams, needing live connectivity from remote locations, whilst delivering value for money.

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11.15 REFRESHMENTS

11.35 Session 4: Battle of the Wireless Bands

Simon Mason takes you on a journey of exploration into the world of WiMAX and LTE, with a focus on the complex technology and networks required to deliver the high speed data services of the future. Which technology will win the race and why should the radio industry care?

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12.10 Session 5: The Magic of Processing

Making your station sound clear but distinctive has always seemed a black art to most engineers but Orban’s Peter Lee takes us through how the latest Optimod processors handle station output in order to deliver the desired station sound, for a range of platforms (not just AM & FM). So that technical staff can now realise editorial aspirations.

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12.40 Session 6: And the Winner is…

Alec Thomas examines what makes technical innovation award winning. The challenges of design, implementation and finally writing an engaging award entry.

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12.55 LUNCH

13.55 Session 7: Bid Up! - Spectrum Matters

As Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Julian McGougan offers you a view through the looking glass into the future availability and use of spectrum, liberalisation of ownership and usage, the inner workings of OFCOM auctions and why all this matters for ‘old-world’ radio.

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14.35 Session 8: Enhancing the Digital Experience

Both data and audio can enhance the listener experience on digital platforms and the team from Fraunhofer are here to tell us how their technology and standards are ready to be deployed right now to do just that. They will demonstrate this (including 5.1 surround) with in car receivers.

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15.20 REFRESHMENTS

15.35 Session 9: The Realities of Delivering Broadcasts Over the Net

Join Richard Cooper as he explains the BBC’s approach to managing the challenges of online delivery for broadcasters. He will be taking a look at the crucial ISP relationship and costs, how to ride the peaks of audience demand, whether planned (New US President) or unplanned (snow), and the real benefits of having (near) real time data about the preferences of your online listeners.

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16.05 Session 10: Noise at Work Regulations - Is the Message Being Heard?

Do you know what responsibilities you have to protect the hearing of staff at your station? Are you aware of the possible consequences for you and your station? Our expert from the Health and Safety Executive, and an Independent Consultant guide you through the issues and solutions, to help you reach compliance with the regulations.
Click here to download Liz's presentation, and here to download Tom's.

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16.30 Session 11: What's in Your Pocket?

Calling all Students, how good are you really? Using just what is readily available to you (Mobile phone, MP3 player, laptop) produce an A/V presentation, concentrating on the audio element please, no longer than 60 seconds based on the combination of two themes. Get you production to us by 1200 on the 29th June and the best one will win a prize!

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16.50 Conference Round-Up with James Cridland

James gives us his (light hearted) round up of what we’ve heard today, what we should have learnt from this and what we might deduce about where Radio is headed.

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17.05 CONFERENCE CLOSE

Tuesday 30th June

FESTIVAL DAY 1

09.15 Formal Opening

Host: Nicky Campbell

This Year in Radio (courtesy of A Star Media)

09.25 Listenership At An All Time High, So Why Worry?

Nicky Campbell chairs a discussion including Andrew Harrison Chief Executive of the RadioCentre, Tim Davie Director of Audio and Music and Stuart Taylor CEO of GMG.

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10.15 Teenage Wasteland - Engaging With A Youth Audience

Radio is increasingly competing with other new media music and audio sources for listener engagement. This is particularly the case for youth; these are the radio listeners of tomorrow and without finding new ways to reach and engage them radio faces an uncertain future. This trend poses the most immediate threat to commercial radio; advertisers need eardrums and engagement, and stations need the ad revenue to grow their offers in relevant and appealing ways. Time to stop the rot. How can stations fight harder to engage with youth? The future poses a big and exciting challenge but will demand innovation and creativity like never before.

Dr. Anthony Cox (Sparkler)

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10.35 How To Keep 180 Million Radio Listeners (And Over 150 Ofcom And 2000 Partner Stations) Happy.

The BBC World Service has been called "Britain's Greatest Gift To The World" (Kofi Annan). But how does a 75 year old shortwave radio service compete in the multimedia world with the exponential growth of local competition? And, with audiences the highest they have ever been, are there any lessons for other broadcasters?

Richard Sambrook (BBC Global News)

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10.35 Student Radio - Why You Should Be Jealous Of Us. (BREAKOUT SESSION)

If you think of student radio as a presenter speaking to four listeners from an echoy broom cupboard then Nottingham's stations, URN and Fly, have a message for you: things have changed. Hear about life at two stations which are so close to their audience that they know exactly how awful dinner tasted last night and become slightly envious of two station managers who can easily ask thirty excited volunteers to work twelve hour shifts on a multi-platform, multi-site OB.

Ben Townsend (URN, Station Editor), David Walker (Fly, Station Manager),Mark Crossley (Fly), Dave Cribb (URN), Paul Fernley (Fly)

11.05 REFRESHMENT BREAK

11.30 Making Waves Behind Bars - The Power of Prison Radio

Radio can change people’s lives. Prisoners, who’ve never stepped into a radio studio before, and with only a few weeks training, were an integral part of this year’s double Sony Gold winning Prison Radio Association team. Their programmes have a remarkable effect on their audience. Steve Orchard shows how prisoners are rediscovering the joy, excitement and power of radio. Prepare to be dazzled.

Richard Bacon (Presenter), Phil Maguire (Prison Radio Association), Paul McDowell (HMP Brixton), Steve Orchard (Peachy Music),

12.10 Radio - The Fight Back Begins

Faced with both structural and cyclical change, the future of the UK radio industry is far from certain. Mark Oliver's presentation will aim to navigate through the many challenges the industry faces over the next few years to 2012 and propose how it can fight back through new listening methods, fresh business and advertising models, innovative partnerships and revenue diversification.

Mark Oliver (Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates), Godfrey McFall (Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates)

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12.30 Radio At The Edge - What's Next Now?

Discover how people are really using the BBC iPlayer to listen to radio. Is is all on-demand, or does live radio still have a place? And how do people use on-demand radio anyway? How how Absolute Radio scored a success with their iAmp application for the iPhone. Has anyone downloaded it? And does anyone really use it? And discover how Radio 1 is getting closer to the people that matter - the audience - as well as giving them the change to create content. If you like this session, discover what's next now at Radio At The Edge - November 9, 2009.

Mark Friend (BBC Audio & Music Interactive), Hugh Garry (BBC Radio 1 Interactive), Chris Lawson (Absolute Radio)

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13.08 Skillset

Do you need to improve your leadership, management and business skills? Skillset and the Train to Gain service are now working together and will be at the Radio Festival to tell you more about the funding and support you can get.

13.10 LUNCH

14.15 The Radio Doctors

Extended workshops offering in-depth analysis of radio techniques and some hands-on experience. Hosted by acknowledged experts in their fields.

A - The Breakfast Show Session

Join the breakfast show session to discover new ideas, discuss the challenges of morning radio and help you tune up the most important show on your station. Is interaction with listeners the key to success or just a rather dull crutch? What are the dynamics of market leading breakfast shows? Should breakfast radio be the home of tried and tested or new and original? Consistency is king, but when should we break from the clock or running order? What are the key traits and tricks of the best breakfast presenters? Being topical, being in touch – are there new ways to sound connected?

Whether your breakfast show is music or speech based join Keith Pringle, former group PD of the Capital and Chrysalis groups and now a worldwide radio consultant and help make your mornings worth waking up for.

Keith Pringle (Consultant), Piers Bradford (The Chris Moyles Show), Simon Hirst (Galaxy Yorkshire)

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B - Summary Execution - News in Music Radio

What is the place of news on music radio? And when major news is breaking how will you keep your audience? In this interactive session you will be making the decisions which shape the bulletins and keep your station in tune with the listener. With news budgets under pressure we'll also explore how to make your station stand out.

Steve Collins (GMG Radio), Andy Ivy (Sky Radio News), Rod McKenzie (Radio 1 Newsbeat and 1Xtra News)

C - The Feature is Bright

What makes a great radio feature? How do you spot a good feature idea? How do you shape the idea? How do you take a creative approach to the audio? This session will bring insight into the art of the crafted radio feature with discussion from feature makers with experience of working for both BBC and Commercial Radio. There will also be a few practical exercises to get the creative ideas flowing.

Simon Elmes (BBC Audio & Music Factual), John Leonard (Smooth Operations), Laura Parfitt (White Pebble Media)

D - The Recession that Rocked Radio

The media sector has been hit hard. We all know somebody who has been made redundant in radio and we have already seen a handful of radio stations close down. What can we do to get through this in better shape? What do major advertisers and agencies think of our medium and how effective it is in today's world? Are networked national brands gong to save us or should we be re-inventing proper local radio?

Amanda Barrett (UM), Julian Carter (Ten Alps Manchester), David Meliveo (Autoglass), Mark Middlemas (UM), Sue Timson (Consultant and Trainer)

15.30 REFRESHMENTS

15.50 The Myers Review

The Myers Review on localness received favourable reviews all round with RadioCentre calling it ‘a visionary blueprint for the future of commercial radio’. Ofcom have accepted most of the recommendations, but not the local impact test. Former GMG Radio CEO John Myers talks for the first time on why he proposed such a test and why radio needs to think bigger. Expect some straight talking from the big man....

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16.30 Postcard from Australia

There IS good news for DAB! Down under they've recently switched on commercial DAB+ and it’s working. The CEO of Commercial Radio Australia explains their co-ordinated all-industry approach to marketing DAB+, the new advertising opportunities and how new digital programming is increasing listenership.

Joan Warner (Commercial Radio Australia)

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17.05 Nicky Campbell & Shelagh Fogarty in conversation

Tantrums and tiaras. The Sony award winning breakfast combo discuss the dos, don’t, pros, cons, pleasures, pitfalls, joys and frustrations of a on-air presenting partnership. What do they really think of each other? Do you actually have to like the other person? Stand by for the shocking unvarnished truth and feel free to grill them.

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Wednesday 1st July

FESTIVAL DAY 2

08.15 Breakfast with BFBS Radio

BFBS Radio has been on-air overseas wherever British Forces serve for more than 65 years. Why has it at last "come home", and what's it like broadcasting to the whole UK - but targeting a Forces audience both at home and abroad - in competition for listeners with every other station on the dial.

Damian Watson (Head of Programmes) and Lynne Duffus (Drive time presenter)

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09.00 Opening

09.10 Jeremy Hunt MP

The Conservatives believe that Digital Britain has thus far been strong on analysis but weak on action, and have set up their own Creative Industries Review Task Force in response. What then is Jeremy Hunt’s response to the final Digital Britain report, and what do the Conservatives have in store for the radio industry, should they find themselves in power?

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09.55 How To Win a Sony (or an Arqiva, or a Gillard...)

Together with winners and judges, Tim Blackmore explore the significance or radio awards and some of the reasons why you might not have won one. They'll try to explain what impresses judges and how entrants can maximise their chances of winning. Most importantly they'll play some extracts of shows that have won the accolades and still leave time for the questions that are important to you.

Tim Blackmore, Lorna Clarke (BBC Electric Proms), Mark Story

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10.35 You Ask The Questions

BBC Media correspondent Torin Douglas puts your questions and a few of his own to a panel of radio industry ‘heavyweights’.

Torin Douglas (BBC), Alison Hastings (BBC Trust), Stewart Purvis (Ofcom), Bob Shennan (BBC)

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11.20 Radio Remembers

A video reminder of those we lost in the last 12 months.

11.35 REFRESHMENTS

11.45 My Radio - Paul Gambaccini

From the Bronx to Britain, Paul Gambaccini pays tribute to the broadcasters who inspired him and the programmes that sustained him. Some were American, some were British. All conjured up a world so wonderful Paul wanted to visit and, ultimately, live in it. Music men, popular and classical, and spoken word presenters, male and female, convinced Gambaccini that radio was the place to be in his time. They still do, and it still is.

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12.15 BBC Radio 4's Media Show live on stage with Steve Hewlett
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13.00 Festival Close