Radio Moments - Clips

‘The GWR phase’ in British Radio was hugely influential. From a small station merger, a UK titan was spawned.

GWR began as Wiltshire Radio merged with the struggling Radio West in the tough economic conditions of the early 80s. After a three week gap for ‘test transmissions’, the new GWR bounced on-air.

GWR, as a corporate entity, was to prove a hungry new player in an industry freed from ownership restraints inch by inch, and one which would stand up to the regulator, thanks to the beautifully contrasting characters of the team including Ralph Bernard and Steve Orchard, whose faces dominated commercial radio for a generation. It was to acquire 22 radio licences in the 90s.

On this launch promo, you can hear the start of the GWR sound. Its cleaner, more scientific approach to radio was to spread across the country, contrasting with the free and easy style which had largely been the hallmark of first generation ILR. Whilst some stations had benefited from huge presenter freedom, in the hands of the talented, other stations had suffered. GWR’s strategy was to strip things back to a carefully-chosen playlist, and only add in the carefully chosen content necessities. Presenters were helped in what to say rather than what not to.

Music policy was well-judged. Many FM stations in the UK had lost their way musically, once the oldies had been sucked off into a successful network of ‘Gold’ stations. The remaining FM rump tended to leap into young CHR, alienating audiences and leaving a gaping format gap. GWR was to restore an AC format, alas too late for some FM heritage stations which still lay poorly-focused and vulnerable to the new regional competitors. Simply Red ruled.

How will history judge this period? Misty eyed radio enthusiasts might decry the GWR age, without pausing to recognise its contribution, nor considering the real state of the assets at the time of acquisition. It was an early example of using research and open-minded thinking to establish what the listener wanted and serving it to them, whilst carefully explaining what was on the plate in a carefully-framed clear proposition. Many in news look back at GWR as a station which troubled to ask what listeners wanted in their news bulletins, rather than follow newspaper or BBC influences, which had over-governed music radio news provision for a decade.

Some might argue that the GWR pendulum was to swing too far, but it is without doubt that some of the thinking was sound, and some of its achievements notable, at a time when the cottage industry of commercial radio was to become the serious business it needed to be to survive in the more competitive generation and troubled economic times to follow.

New post by davidlloyd

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 25th October 2013, without the sensible Academy interviews and discussion.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

As commercial radio celebrated forty years in October 2013, representatives gathered in the House of Commons to toast the occasion. The event was by invitation from Dame Anne Begg MP, chair of the all party parliamentary commercial radio group.

Neil Fox from Magic and Russ Williams from Absolute hosted the event, volunteering some personal words. Andrew Harrison, outgoing RadioCentre chair added his thoughts; and RadioCentre's Matt Payton unveiled some timely research which placed a figure on the value listeners attach to their stations.

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 18th October 2013, without the sensible Academy interviews and discussion. This is the week which saw the 40th anniversary of the first UK commercial music radio station, with Capital having launched on 15th October 1973.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

For more on Capital's history, check: http://www.davidlloydradio.com/#!capital/c1ugc

More of my random memories of 40 years of commercial radio at http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/who-was-lazy-susan.html

It seems almost inconceivable now that music radio should pause for a serial. But in those days, radio did. Waggoners' Walk appeared daily on Radio 2; and the BBC was all we had as a reference point.

Hence even Capital, in its early days, carried short bursts of drama between programmes, like 'The King and His Mistresses' at the outset; and later, as you can hear here 'Honey Adair'

A leading commercial radio figure, Michael Bukht OBE died in 2011.

In the dark days of the early 70s, Michael was the first Programme Controller proper of Capital Radio. He was also MD at Invicta, a GWR Programme Director and, notably, a visionary co-founder of Classic FM.

As the Crafty Cook, Michael Barry became a TV favourite on BBC2 with ‘Food and Drink’.

In this audio, hear Michael tell in his engaging, fruity, no-nonsense style of those tough early Capital days.

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 11th October 2013, without the sensible Academy interviews and discussion. This is the week which saw the 40th anniversary of the first UK commercial radio station, with LBC having launched on 8th October 1973.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

For more on LBC's history, check: http://www.davidlloydradio.com/#!lbc/c19oe.

More of my random memories of 40 years of commercial radio at http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/who-was-lazy-susan.html

New post by davidlloyd

New post by davidlloyd