UK: HEART ATTACK LIVE

Suffolk's GenX Radio presenter Tim Gough dies on air — The BBC website dedicated a lengthy article, with testimonies from former colleagues who remember him for the time they spent together behind the microphone
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It’s as good a day as any in Ipswich, a Suffolk town where GenX Radio is based, a web station that within a year has been so successful that it has taken the leap into the airwaves, submitting an application to Ofcom to open a DAB channel (the authorisation will come a few days after Tim’s death). Even though it has no competition, because it is the only commercial station in the region, it needs to upgrade its palimpsest in order to land in the digital band. So it recruited a veteran of the airwaves for its most important programme: the breakfast slot, which between 6am and 9am takes listeners from waking up to resuming their activities. And Tim Gough is an exceptional presenter: he has decades in the business behind him and, above all, began his career in 1986 at Radio Orwell, a station based in Ipswich (transmitted on 1170 kHz on medium wave and 97.1 MHz on FM).

A morning like any other

A still from Green Day's video clip, in which Madness depicts the daily grind of getting up to go to the office even when you got home very late. — A still from Green Day’s video clip, in which Madness depicts the daily grind of getting up to go to the office even when you got home very late. But work calls!
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The sun rose at 7.37am. The sky is grey but not cold, it’s 13 degrees. It’s Monday, a new week begins and it’s time to get the energy going. Tim is happy. These are the first broadcasts he is conducting after ten years away from the microphones. He lives 30 km from the station and to avoid travelling to the studios before dawn he has equipped himself at home. He has been on the air for almost an hour when he plays Grey Day by Madness, a ska group that in 1981 with this song parodied a grey morning like that, but in which you still have to get up and drag yourself like zombies to the office after a night of revelry.

Suddenly the music stops

In the BBC report, there is an image taken at Saxon Radio (used to broadcast on 96.4 FM, and merged with Radio Orwell) showing a Tim in his early twenties preparing the setlist (he made his debut at the age of 19, in 1986)
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Grey Day is a track full of energy, evoking for Tim the years when he took his first steps at Radio Orwell, in 1986, and he thinks it’s the right push to face a new cloudy week. But shortly afterwards, at 7.50, the music suddenly stops: Tim is taken ill, probably from a heart attack. The ambulance arrived and the paramedics tried to revive him, but after 25 minutes of effort, they had to throw in the towel. Tim left live. As soon as the news spreads, the emails start arriving: hundreds of messages of love. After all, Tim is a well-known personality: after his debut on Radio Orwell in 1986, he became a specialist in morning host. He moved on to Saxon Radio and SGR-FM and made appearances on Smooth Radio, several stations in the East Midlands and other national radio stations. The BBC article collects several testimonials from former colleagues, who agree that he is a friendly, funny and very talented guy. (Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini)

February 11, 2021February 11, 2021

UK: Radio for Baby Boomers to start on February 14

February 14 starts broadcasting radio for the Baby Boomer generation — Boom Radio is scheduled to officially begin broadcasting on February 14, 2021, but can already be received online at this address
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Boom Radio is a new British radio station that aims to intercept the tastes of Baby Boomers, the generation of over 57s (born between 1946 and 1964, now aged between 57 and 75). The station offers a mix of music, characters and conversations and will be on air on DAB (digital radio) in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow. The radio station is the brainchild of two radio managers, Phil Riley and David Lloyd, who after realizing that the baby boomers audience, while listening to the radio a lot, did not have a station that intercepted their musical tastes, set out to fill this gap. Their biographies are interesting, both are driven by a sincere passion for radio. Despite the long career behind them, which began as a disc jockey, they decided to get involved (they are also baby boomers), also committing financially in this adventure. But if they have been able to realize it, as they themselves have declared, it is because as soon as they started talking about their idea they immediately had a great response from radio hosts and especially financiers.

October 1, 2020October 1, 2020

UK: High Court of Justice silences TuneIn

The Lexology website has published the ruling of the High Court of Justice explaining it in detail
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The famous aggregator will have to turn off more than 90% of the audio streams it hosts to prevent UK users from listening to foreign broadcasters. It has in fact lost the lawsuit filed in 2017 by Sony and Warner, two big names in the music business (together they control 43% of the global market). The High Court of Justice has recognised that TuneIn has violated the record rights because it is not a simple intermediary (which publishes only the links) but also inserts advertising. In the UK, therefore, those who want to listen to a foreign broadcaster will have to search the web for the address of the radio and streaming site (or change aggregator). The ruling protects radio stations (TuneIn places advertisements into their programming) and other countries may comply with the decision of the English High Court. But in perspective it calls into question one of the pillars of the web: the ability to listen to radio stations around the world. So far, record companies have considered foreign listeners to be marginal to the web, but now music could change.

September 3, 2020September 3, 2020

UK: Largest network of commercial radios launched

Bauer Media Audio reaches over twenty-six million daily listeners in Europe through radio, online services and podcasts. In seven countries - UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Slovakia - it owns leading brands including KISS, Mix Megapol, Absolute Radio, Radio Norge, Radio Expres, Radio Nova, Radio 100 and RMF — Bauer Media Audio reaches over twenty-six million daily listeners in Europe through radio, online services and podcasts. In seven countries – UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Slovakia – it owns leading brands including KISS, Mix Megapol, Absolute Radio, Radio Norge, Radio Expres, Radio Nova, Radio 100 and RMF
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From September 2020, 49 of the 56 stations acquired in 2019 by the Bauer Group will change their name to Greatest Hits Radio, making the network the most important in the UK. Only four stations will retain their names under the Hits Radio brand: Pulse 1 in Bradford, Signal 1 in Stoke, The Wave 96.4 in Swansea and Fire Radio in Bournemouth. Three others will remain autonomous (Lincs FM in Lincoln, Pirate FM in Cornwall and Sam FM in Bristol). All the digital-only radio stations acquired last year (from UKRD, Lincs, Wireless and Celador) will be closed down. The closure of the local offices has resulted in staff cuts and protests from listeners as they had to say goodbye to their favourite presenters. Here are the details of the operation.

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020

UK: New community radio licences awarded to provide information on Covid-19

Ofcom, UK's independent communications regulator — Ofcom, UK’s independent communications regulator
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In order to give more information to the public during the Coronavirus pandemic, Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator, has approved the opening of some new temporary radio stations. Licences have been awarded in areas that are not already served by community radio stations on the condition that arrangements have been made with local community leaders. In support of this venture, the Community Media Association, the organisation for British community broadcasting, has contacted the societies that manage music royalties to organise favourable conditions. PRS for Music is asking only £ 86 a month plus 20% VAT for 12 weeks.

Funding programme for entertaining those at home

Audio Content Fund, a new scheme supported by the UK Government to provide funding for original radio and audio production — The Audio Content Fund
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The Audio Content Fund, a government funded scheme that finances original public radio, has allocated £ 200,000 (later increased to £ 400,000) to ideas, targeting listeners in lockdown during the pandemic. Among the approved projects, there is a 15-minute transmission made by people over their 70s for an audience over their 70s, and a ‘virtual’ version of Strawberry Fair in Cambridge, a music and arts festival that attracts up to 50,000 people to East Anglia.

Strawberry Fair, Cambridge Festival 2020, 12 hour transmission on radio — The 2020 Cambridge festival, organised for June 6th, 2020, will be substituted by a 12-hour transmission.
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Julian Clover, Editorial Lead at Cambridge 105 Radio — Julian Clover, Editorial Lead, Cambridge 105 Radio
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Julian Clover, Editorial Lead, Cambridge 105 Radio said: ‘Strawberry Fair is one of the highlights of the year for our city and is one of our most popular outside broadcasts. While we won’t be able to make it to Midsummer Common we hope that our Virtual Strawberry Fair is able to give a taste of summer to Cambridge 105 Radio listeners.’

Four radio stations covering the festival

Map showing radio coverage for Strawberry Fair, FMScan — A map from FMList shows the area covered by the four broadcasters.
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In addition to Cambridge 105 Radio (105.0 MHz), parts of the coverage will be heard on neighbouring stations: Star Radio (Star broadcasts on 107.9FM in Cambridge, 107.1FM across Ely and the Fens and now on 107.3FM in Saffron Walden), HCR104fm (Huntingdon Community Radio) and Future Radio (107.8FM from Norwich).