James Burrage at WebKanix

I turned on my DAB set this morning and had a flick through. It’s one of those ones with the knob that goes through the stations as you turn it, and I landed on Core which immediately changed its name to BFBS Radio. I knew it was closing (the last presenter-led show was a while ago), but the addition of BFBS was interesting. Oneword has also closed and whilst it retains the same name and a scrolling message about the closure, Birdsong has made a return.

Thinking about closures, I remember listening to the last few hours of Capital Disney on DAB last year, and the set still has “SMASH HITS!” in the list, although there’s nowt there. In London, Virgin Radio Groove has gone, and digital station The Arrow is dropping presenters. Sky News Radio has lost a partner, and Virgin Radio Viva will now not launch. Capital Gold and Classic Gold are now one. Life is also set to close.

It’s not like the services aren’t being replaced, though - I’ve noticed one or two additions here, including Traffic Radio. Personally I think it’s a shame for listeners - Capital Gold and Classic Gold felt distinctively different to me, and Sophie Bruce on Core was always great to listen to. A rolling news service on radio would be great - and it would be a shame if this now does not launch. Virgin Classic Rock took on several presenters a while back and made the station far more enjoyable to listen to. Many of those presenters have now gone. The Arrow has always been a haven when you didn’t fancy the heavier Planet Rock, but will also now have less presenters.

At the end of the day, digital radio sets are getting cheaper, more people are buying them and according to Digital One, stations are interested in joining the platform.

Smooth Radio

This week Smooth Radio North East launched, with local presenters Tom Davies and Paul Wappat, with the likes of Mark Goodier doing the morning show. Everyone I’ve spoken to this week is aware of the launch and has listened at some point. The buses passing the flat have their adverts, and the coverage on local TV has been widespread.

I’m not really a ”smooth” listener - but I have to admit the station sounds excellent. The local news in the evening is superb (especially CSI: Crook running this week), and the number of calls and texts being fielded by local presenters is immense. Everyone absolutely loves the music - well done them for pulling off a great launch.

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This poorly thought out rambling was posted by me, James Burrage, on Sunday, January 13th, 2008 at 2:38 am and is filed under Radio. If anyone responds to this post, you can follow them through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.