It was enjoyable, and partly informative, to listen to these interviews. Clearly, the large groups in UK radio is following a careful path now, delineated by research, with a twist of gut-feeling.

I did feel, however, that this was more like a rather too cozy chat in Holly Willoughby style, not the Jeremy Paxman one that might have been more relevant, intense and got some of the questions answered?

I think the fact you are all former colleagues, well-acquainted, all ‘ILR’ men, limited the scope of the intensity of the questions.

Phil Riley and Stuart Taylor, both cleverly avoided the main issues; Stuart said as the staff did not know how many were to be redundant it was not fair to discuss it; Phil said he could not give anything away about how ‘Free’ was to be marketed, programmed.

With all respect, might we have a RE-MATCH (nice sportng term eh John ‘mate’?)once these key questions CAN be answered? And if it is to be more journalistic in results, as you can’t get Jeremy Paxman, maybe John could accept straightforward questions from specific radio broadcasters and journalists, and interview Stuart and Phil separately?

Thank you for sharing this very sociable chat with us, but clearly the harder times are ahead for Stuart and Phil, and their staff, and in due course we will see what affect the journalist cut-backs have, and also if the West Midlands takes ‘Free’ to its heart?

Len. ‘The Old Man’

MOST impressed with John Myer’s ‘blog’ from 30 January, re-produced below, which rather BALANCES the NEWS issue above, where I felt he was rather soft on Stuart Taylor.

Well done John! I particulaly like the point you make about OfCom.

“Here is the news – the news is no longer required.
Radio Talk from the Radio Academy last week was a good one. Phil Riley was defending changing BRMB to Free Radio and Stuart Taylor was defending cutting back on his news staff. A ’slimming down’ is how Stuart put it, insisting listeners would not hear any loss of quality.

I worry about news across our radio stations. I am not convinced it does not contribute to audience growth. A full-service radio station must have news so that people know what the hell is going on. You have to look at everything in the round but Stuart is probably right in that, even after these cuts, GMG still have a bigger news operation than nearly all of its competitors.

Some time ago I told OFCOM that in return for allowing more networking, they must insist, even putting into the format, that a minumum level of local news is provided. I even went as far as to provide them with a written description of what a local news bulletin should contain.

As usual, my advice was ignored and PD’s tell me that ’showbiz news’ is just as important as anything else. Radio is changing and so should news delivery and content. Quite right, I am an old sod with old fashioned views and should be shot at dawn for not being progressive enough. But – it does raise an inportant question. What is news and how should it be delivered in these modern times? To be honest, the way in which news is delivered has not changed that much has it?

We consume everything so differently these days and our listeners tend to know the news before we air it ourselves through their superfast smartphones and the internet. Is waiting for a news bulletin at the top of the hour really the best we can do and does it matter?

I don’t get newspapers anymore. I download them. My kids never read a newspaper – they watch SKY. They never buy a book, they download it. My tribe listen to Capital but not once have they complained about a lack of news on that station. I try and tell them news is important. They tell me it isn’t, or at least not in the way I think it is. Perhaps the problem lies in that very remark. Do owners have a duty to inform as well as entertain? You can’t just pander to those who just want entertainment otherwise we have an audience of idiots surely?.

Richard Horsman blogged last week that news on commercial radio is boring. He thinks we need to relax regulation. I am the very opposite of that view. We need more regulation not less in this respect. If I was the head of Ofcom right now I would put in each and every format a minimum requirement for news in return for giving them the licence. Furthermore, I would spell it out what that means in reality.

It is a long time since anyone told me they waited in their car to hear the news at the top of the hour? Is that because of how we showcase news because I don’t believe for a second people don’t want to be informed. It’s the way we tell ‘em”

I prefer Johns easy style to the rather more combative approach of the past. His interview was soft but it was interesting. My take is that Phil Riley prepared well and had a reasoned argument. Stuart Taylor came over as a cost cutter. On balance I would much rather work for the former even though I think Free Radio is a ridiculous name. Stuart Taylor has a nice voice and he spoke well but he was lacking any gravitas I thought. On that basis, the interview was informative.

I am not supportive of Paxman style interrogations anyway. It was a pleasant listen on the tube although I prefer just one download in future. The blog was very agreeable.