2001. A garden in Dublin. Three business partners are naming their radio consultancy. They choose "Absolute Radio International”. Little do they know how important that decision will become.

Fast forward to 2007 and those people are at the iconic Virgin Radio and they make a difficult but decisive decision: rebrand.

Absolute Radio is born but three days before launch, a legal challenge over the name threatens to throw all of their plans off course.

This is a story of how courageous courage, curiosity and relentless optimism led to the creation of one the radio industry’s most well-known brands.

This is the story of Absolute Radio - a brand worth fighting for.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction

Every year, millions of Australians stop what they’re doing for four minutes to watch horse racing’s most iconic event, The Melbourne Cup. In 2015, how they watched that race was set to change.

A bold idea was about to become a reality - for the first time, the event would be live streamed to mobile phones across the country.

What had led up to this moment is a story of courage, curiosity and creativity. Of overcoming the odds to deliver, in just 100 days, something that had never been done before.

The cost of failure? Enormous. The reward for pulling it off? The start of a new era in how live television is consumed.

 This is the story of the race that stopped a nation - and didn't break the internet. 

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction 

(01:10) The Bold Idea

(06:26) The Streaming Rights

(12:18) The Big Day

(16:19) The Legacy

In the early 2000s, the UK radio industry faced an existential threat: streaming was changing everything, and radio risked being left behind.

The problem was clear. But the solution required something unprecedented: getting one of the most competitive industries in the world to work together.

With FM and DAB, listeners could switch between stations on one device without a moment’s thought. But streaming created chaos - thousands of websites, hundreds of apps, fragmented experiences. 

Eventually, the industry would come together behind a simple vision: agree on technology, compete on content.

Getting rivals to agree meant solving technical challenges nobody had tackled before. It meant creating a space where all parties were on an equal footing. It meant putting short-term thinking to one side.

This was about the long-term survival of radio - this is the story of Radio Player.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

The Relentless Optimist is a Meliora podcast. We believe better is always possible.

Find out more: www.meliora.company

This podcast is produced by 18Sixty - podcasts for ambitious brands.

(00:00) Introduction

Melbourne, 2011. Three founders have a big idea: personalised radio that knows your taste in music, your location, your favourite content.

It's ambitious. Perhaps too ambitious. And whilst they're busy trying to solve that particular problem, they'll build something else entirely.

The initial idea is One-to-One Cast - personalised radio. What they build is a world-leading podcast platform that will change the industry forever.

This is a story of having the courage to pivot, the curiosity to find out what users really want, and the optimism to make it work.

Life is what happens when you're busy making plans. Omny Studio is what happens when you're trying to build One-to-One Cast.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

The Relentless Optimist is a Meliora podcast. We believe better is always possible.

Find out more: www.meliora.company

This podcast is produced by 18Sixty - podcasts for ambitious brands.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:14) The Initial Vision

(05:15) Revolutionising Workflows

(06:41) Building the Brand

(10:23) The Pivot

(13:54) The Legacy

Brisbane, 2023. A 25-year-old stands twelve yards from goal. Between her and history: a goalkeeper, a football, and the weight of an entire nation watching.

Cortnee Vine is the youngest player on the pitch. If she scores, Australia reach their first ever FIFA World Cup semi-final, and it’s all happening on home soil. Until now, women's football had been a side story. But in this moment, everything is about to change.

But this story isn't just about what happened on the pitch. It's about the hundred days before that kick - when a telecommunications company took a gamble. What if 85% of the country decided to watch? What if the Matildas went all the way? What if technology helped change the standing of women’s football forever?

Stadium networks upgraded ahead of schedule. A content delivery network rebuilt from scratch. A studio constructed inside a telco office. Engineers watching dashboards as numbers jumped by tens, then hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands - in microseconds. The longest penalty shootout in FIFA history unfolding while invisible infrastructure carried it to millions of screens across a continent.

This is the story of the penalty kick that changed everything - on and off the pitch.

Some sporting events are just games. Others stop a nation in its tracks.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

The Relentless Optimist is a Meliora podcast. We believe better is always possible.

Find out more: www.meliora.company

This podcast is produced by 18Sixty - podcasts for ambitious brands.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction

A rickety staircase in Soho leads to a small office where four founders are about to do something impossible. They have an old Nokia phone, a laptop with a few dozen songs, and an algorithm.

Years before the iPhone. Before streaming. Before smartphone apps. They’re about to answer an age-old question: What's that song? And in the process, change music discovery forever.

Dial 2-5-8-0 down the center of your keypad. Hold your phone to the speaker. Wait thirty seconds. Shazam! Magic.

Except it wasn't magic, it was something far more remarkable. And keeping it alive would require courage, curiosity and relentless optimism.

From a laptop with a few songs to a $450 million acquisition, this is the story of Shazam - the early years.

Some innovations feel like magic. The best ones make the impossible a reality.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

The Relentless Optimist is a Meliora podcast. We believe better is always possible. 

Find out more: www.meliora.company

This podcast is produced by 18Sixty - podcasts for ambitious brands.

Sound effects: Soundly

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:18) The Problem to be Solved

(05:34) Building the Database

(09:25) Financial Struggles

(10:51) The iPhone Revolution

(14:43) The Legacy

November 2010. A 19th-century chapel in North London fills with an unusual congregation. They haven't come for worship - they’ve come for something that's never been attempted before.

Sir Elton John sits at a white piano, about to make history. Not just with his performance, but with the invisible technology carrying his music into homes across Britain.

One artist, one piano, and a bold gamble on what a live broadcast could become.

This is the story of how a small venue, an untested streaming technology, and three songs that became thirteen changed everything.

How do you convince a man who could fill Wembley Stadium to perform in a chapel? What happens if the technology you've promised doesn’t work? And why did a global superstar choose to deliver hit after hit to a crowd of just 600 people?

From a cold night in Islington to the streaming services in your pocket today - this is a story of how courage, optimism, and curiosity rewrote the rules for digital media.

Some moments change everything. Some risks are worth taking.

Welcome to The Relentless Optimist.

The Relentless Optimist is a Meliora podcast. We believe better is always possible.

Find out more: www.meliora.company

This podcast is produced by 18Sixty - podcasts for ambitious brands.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:01) The Vision

(02:47) The Tech

(04:11) Securing Elton

(12:40) A Performance Like No Other

(14:26) The Legacy

Created by Humans, Voiced Contributions by Humans, Narrated by AI