The BBC is scrapping the 15 Minute Drama slot, which has been on air since 1998, as part of plans to extend Womanâs Hour from 45 minutes to an hour.
Absolute Radio launch a country service
Itâs less launching a country service, and more rebranding âCountry Hits Radioâ.
Given all the radio station consolidation over the last decade or so, Iâm putting together tables showing how British Radio got to itâs current set of networks. Starting off with Greatest Hits Radio:
Greatest Hits Radio.pdf (189.6 KB)
It should be clarified that the stations listed as of 2021 only distinguish themselves through individual news bulletins (a required by each license) and advertising. All programming is either national or region-wide
There are currently three stations which are due to join the GHR network before the end of the year.
- Imagine Radio (South Manchester)
- Imagine Radio (High Peak)
- Imagine Radio (Derbyshire Dales and East Staffordshire)
These stations have not been included because they have not yet joined the network, and given their recent history, there is uncertainty around whether the latter two stations will be merging all output (incl. news)
Is there a list of what independent commercial stations remain in the UK (if any?)
Itâs difficult to do at the minute as there are several new stations popping up online and in DAB.
There is a list on Wikipedia, but I certainly wouldnât say itâs comprehensive.
Iâve somewhat changed the formatting of the tables so any mergers are around local programming, as opposed to just local news. This gives a better idea of how much local programming has been cut over the years. Separate news and advertising feeds are shown at the end.
With that in mind, here is an updated table for Capital, and a new table for the Heart network.
Capital.pdf (128.2 KB)
Heart.pdf (157.1 KB)
I have just completed the table for Smooth & Gold. I was not originally going to have a table for Gold. However, it was difficult to justify considering that most of the current Smooth stations were formerly Gold stations, so it made sense to put the two together.
Gold & Smooth.pdf (143.3 KB)
I know it is not until at least 2030 but people will miss the superior sound of fm when it is finally shut off. How is the sound quality of UK dab v Australian dab+?
I cannot see Fm ever being switched off in Australia, with the slow up take of dab+ outside the metro areas, and the lack of interest in the technology by the ABC.
Maybe the Am band might be the first to be shutdown in Australia?
Are the vast majority of listeners interested, or care about the sound quality? I get that there is a difference between the two, but are the general listeners choosing either way on this basis?
honestly, are people listening on equipment where it matters any more? i dare say most users have the radio on as a secondary background thing whilst they do other things - driving, cleaning, gaming etc. Most are not listening on $500 studio monitors, but on the factory fitted in car radio and speakers, or the $50 cheap radio they got from K-mart (or now i guess alexa or google home)
most wonât be able to tell the difference
AM outside of the ABC, perhaps. Get more of the heritage regional stations onto FM where possible for sure, but I wonder how removing AM (particularly the large regional stations; Mount Canobolas is the obvious example off the top of my head here) would affect the ABCâs emergency obligations, given the lack of a real alternative in many remote areas not covered by any more than satellite internet and VAST otherwise.
Thatâd probably be the only thing stopping a wholesale move to FM for them - the cost of building a transmitter network that would have the same reach as their AM blasters - but like international shortwave, the hand may well be forced upon them in terms of things like maintenance costs down the track. That wouldnât be cheap in this day and age.
Getting back on topic, as for British DAB⌠Britainâs original version of DAB used MP2 (same as our SD digital TV channels in Australia, or at least initially did - as opposed to HE-AAC v2 in DAB+) so if anything, it was much less efficient - however, they also donât have VHF television which meant they could use more of that spectrum than we can (with more still being earmarked for so-called âsmall-scaleâ digital radio licences). Most new stations are DAB+, and receivers made in the last 8 years had to support DAB+ to get the governmentâs voluntary certification âtickâ.
Of course, like Australia, station cramming means that youâd have the same quality issues whether they are DAB or DAB+ - although I havenât heard it with my own ears, the stuff I read suggests itâs pretty much followed the same trajectory in terms of trading quantity over quality over the years; most wouldnât be FM standard anymore. Whether itâs for similar reasons to Australia (licensing right costs like, we assume, the random Listnr/iHeart stations on DAB+ here) or just plain olâ brand extension âgreedâ, I wouldnât really know.