Media Monday – Does it hurt when radio outlets ban artists?

“So that’s got to hurt his sales, right? Well, no. In fact, his album sales increased almost 600 percent…”

Media Monday – Radio’s demise? Don’t bet on it!

“… as Mark Twain might have said, The report of (radio’s) death was an exaggeration …”

45 years – a lifetime of hits and memories

“Over the years there have been so many mentors, bosses, employees, and friends I’ve made in this game … too many to single them out”

Monday Media -Shared Experience vs On-Demand consumption

Back in 1955, when television was just hitting its straps, Science Fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called “Dreaming is a private thing.” The essence of the story was that people didn’t want a shared entertainment experience. He argued that people don’t want to have to get their entertainment according to someone else’s…

Media Monday: What to do with rapey, racist, rock and roll relics.

I guess we have to start with “Baby it’s cold outside” … You no doubt heard over Christmas that a small survey of listeners at a single radio station in North America called for a ban on the song – and that fed into the whole #metoo discussion, and discussion of political correctness, and of…

Monday Media – DAB Radio Goin’ up the country?

A few weeks ago I was accused of being, and I quote, “Another doomsayer doing his level best to kill off commercial radio.” That’s because I had the temerity to suggest that DAB+ Radio, or Digital Audio Broadcasting, risked going the same way as AM Stereo – into the dustbin of ideas whose time never…

Monday Media: The more things change …

I’ve been a customer of Audible, on and off, since I don’t know when – and I mean that literally. My current subscription dates back to 2013, but I can’t remember when I first opened an account. All I know is that it was long before Amazon bought the company in 2008. In fact, I can…

Monday Media – Where to for DAB Radio?

I’ve been in Radio long enough to remember the slow-motion train-crash that was AM Stereo – and I have to say, DAB or Digital Audio Broadcasting shows all the signs of being deja vu all over again. To explain: for 50 years, Australian broadcast radio was all AM, or Amplitude Modulation. Stations had whopping great…

Is this thing on?

I gave my first ‘Contest’ speech in more than 20 years on Saturday .. I was a contestant in the Toastmasters District 69, Eastern Division, Area 27 Humorous Speech contest. Which sounds a bit more spectacular than it actually is. Essentially it means that I was one of two people representing my Toastmasters club against contestants…