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Could This New U.K. Radio Format Be A Success Here?
There's a lot more room for variety on radio in England thanks to everything being digital. So there are a lot of additional stations to choose from, without the need to worry about room on the FM band.
Which brings me to a new broadcaster there called "Bournemouth One." It plays the same range of songs as just about everybody else but claims to have a 'secret sauce,' so to speak. It boasts that its format is "Clutter Free." That means no DJs, only five minutes of commercials per hour and - here's the real thing - local news and traffic (which they call "travel") at 20 after and 20 minutes to, with another update at the top of every hour.
Otherwise, it's almost all music. (Where a DJ might be on its website right now, it simply says "On Air Now: Afternoons.")
Those news people are really the only voices you'll hear on the station and they report all day and night, or when an emergency happens.
Does this sound like something you'd listen to? (Actually, you can, here.) But even though a more modern generation often says they hate disc jockeys interrupting, I've always believed it's what's between the songs that gives a station its unique identity. The jingles, the personalities and less often the contests. That, to me, is the magic of radio. And that may be why there was so much attention paid to Tarzan Dan returning to Boom a few weeks ago.
Maybe I'm alone on this, but strong talent on the air is the difference between an actual station and Spotify or a juke box. I'm in the shrinking minority, but give me the former every time.
Bournemouth One - Clutter Free Radio
- darcyh
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Re: Could This New U.K. Radio Format Be A Success Here?
I would sure give it a fair chance with an extended listen. Hopefully the news won't be recorded repeats updated periodically. Of course it would depend on the music selection.
- g121
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Re: Could This New U.K. Radio Format Be A Success Here?
re: RA: "It boasts that its format is 'Clutter Free.' .. Does this sound like something you'd listen to?"
I'm pretty much on board already. If I'm listening to music OnLine/OnAir, it's almost always Mac's Music City Roadhouse. It's a hobby station relying on listener donations .. I've donated twice.
It's all about the music mix .. Mac's Music City Roadhouse music blend is Blues, Southern Rock and country Honky Tonk music.
Last edited by g121 (January 2, 2024 1:23 pm)
- Damian
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Re: Could This New U.K. Radio Format Be A Success Here?
You don't have to travel far in the UK to find an interesting and musically diverse station. " 88 to 91", BBC Radio 2 plays all genres of popular music, with interesting presenters, during a normal week,
- ig
- Iain Grant
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Re: Could This New U.K. Radio Format Be A Success Here?
Whatever.
Another 'online' 'station' that believes all you need to do is play the music you believe everyone wants to hear, and it's that easy. (BTW They don't.) It's online, Spotify can do a much better job with your playlists, and if you're that concerned about news, check out a dedicated local news source every 20 or 10 or 90 minutes.
What I love most about 'online' radio is if you take a few seconds, you can see the real listening audience, not the hype on their (for some reason, always 'our') website.
Stream Started: Monday, Jan 1st. @ 00:15
Maximum listeners: 34
Current listeners: 4 (including me)
ig.
[edit] I'm not shitting on online radio, Of course, there's a place for it, but 'finally' getting to play PD at your own "radio station", isn't it? If I had an online station giving out Friday night's lotto numbers, it would kill every other terrestrial and online station on the planet. It's about content. About finding something that people can't get from a playlist, and that will be some type of spoken word format, not music. Music is just too subjective and only worked when there was no real competition in the market for it. The Toronto Fire scanner feed on Broadcastify regularly has more listeners than any online local server, and the NY, Chicago and LAPD streams are regularly in the thousands, if not tens of thousands when something big happens.
Whatever the answer is, it sure as hell isn't playing 'Nothing's gonna stop us now' and thinking you're unique.
[/edit]
Last edited by ig (January 3, 2024 6:16 pm)
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.