Categories
dab digital radio

Jack Schofield is still clueless when it comes to DAB Radio

I’ve blatantly plagiarised the headline of another frothing piece from Jack Schofield on DAB Digital Radio.

Sadly, the piece does him no credit. It might be acceptable to attack a regulator if they had a track record of making bad, ill-informed decisions that were unpopular with industry and consumers, but that doesn’t describe OFCOM and therefore his position that OFCOM is “muddling along” is unlikely to create much resonance with the reader.

It’s also desperately unwise to dismiss research out of hand.

Jack’s response to OFCOM’s independent research findings that consumers think DAB Digital Radio sounds fine is “This is, of course, nonsense.“. What a brilliantly crafted and well honed argument. Bravo.

The difficulty Jack now has is that he has thrown his reputation behind two key assumptions:

  • DAB sounds worse than FM
  • DAB+ will fix the problem and make everything sound CD quality

The problem is that there’s no evidence that either statement is true (in fact, absolutely the contrary). So how does Jack get out of this one? I’m not seeing any carefully thought out or well crafted arguments that might cause the reader to pause and think, so I’ll assume he’ll just bluster away, degrading his reputation on this issue as he continues.

Jack might get more credit if he stopped and analysed more carefully the risks and benefits of accelerating DAB+ migration, and to whom those risks and benefits would fall. But that would require understanding and assimilation of quite a lot of information and modelling complex outcomes. The kind of thing that radio broadcasters (with a huge interest in seeing a successful DAB market) and OFCOM (also with a huge interest in seeing a successful DAB market) do every day.

As a closing thought, I think you might want to e-mail Jack and ask him for how long he’s owned a DAB Digital Radio, and therefore on what basis he makes his rather dramatic statements of experience of audio quality.

Categories
digital rights

0A FA 12 03 9E 75 E4 5C D9 42 57 C6 64 57 89 C1

I’ve got back to a “proper” wired connection to find much furore over a sequence of hexadecimal digits. Apparently there’s some connection between those digits and the copy protection on BluRay DVDs, and there are threats of invoking the US’s DCMA law to contain the spread of these numbers.

But how far can you go to control digits? I’ve given this post a title of a series of hexadecimal number. Does this mean I might have done something wrong, even if I’ve just plucked those digits randomly? It’s just a sequence.

Combined with other information, for example the starting digits of the controversial sequence, and it might be possible for the educated to extrapolate a conclusion. But then who has erred in the eyes of the law?

As the value of abstract concepts soars, the stakes in protecting apparently arbitrary information becomes far higher. Submarine patents and software patents are other dangerously precidential areas for dispute. How do you draw the line between protecting an investment in content or technology, and protecting people’s freedom to exchange information without fear of inadvertently transgressing the law?

I’ve been shocked in the past at the breadth of patenting of what I would consider “plain common sense” technology. I’ve seen ideas I’ve just “chucked about” with people, patented. There appears to be a seedy side to patenting which is opportunistic and underhand, and discredits the genuine intent to protect investment in innovation.

As to this specific example? My view is that all DRM is merely shoring up dykes against a huge pressure to allow content to move about freely, and the lawyers are little Dutch boys running around plugging the holes. That might be what the DCMA demands, but who wants a career based on sticking their fingers in dykes?

Categories
real life

Twittered to distraction

This is the first chance I’ve had to really experience Twitter via SMS, and it’s not been much fun. Usually I’m logged in on IM somewhere, and the inbound messages cause little distraction. Maybe it’s indicative of how ‘connected’ I’ve been recently that I’ve maybe only had one or two texts from Twitter prior to this weekend. And I recently started to use some of the higher traffic feeds.

I ought, of course, have MGTalk running on the Nokia, but the memory on this phone is so small that if I start the camera it tends to shut all the other apps down, so effectively the IM is out.

So it’s been a beeping weekend. I can’t even customise the alert tone based on sender. I could turn it off, but I don’t want to lose it entirely. Maybe it’s my phone’s fault for not having customisable SMS alerts. But I do wonder if it’s worth the probably considerable expense to the Twitter project to enable SMS alerts? (On a similar note this week, I was in the bizarre situation of receiving Twits from James C whilst going and buying us both a beer. I remarked then that proximity detection would save some money).

Now that I’ve been on the receiving end of Twitter via SMS, I’m reconsidering how useful it is. I’ve had some ideas for Twitter apps that would be really cool on IM, but an absolute disaster if someone got them via SMS.

I’ll have a fiddle with my Twitter settings when I get back, but I suspect I might be deciding to turn SMS Twits off….

Categories
real life

An experiment…

This is my first shot at mobile blogging entirely from the mobile (Nokia 6680) on GPRS. The reason is that I’m camping in North Devon (just a short skip from home, compared to those poor Londoners who arrived at 2300 having spent 6 hours on the motorway), and everyone else is watching the Manchester derby match in the bar. This is wrong in a big way, as it’s a glorious day here on the beach. I may be blogging on the mobile, but my tan is great and I’m topping up my karma.That’s something that some people misunderstand. I enjoy playing with technology, and it’s as relaxing as it can be stressful. This is a bit of play time, with a beer on a beach in the sun. I expect to play some beach cricket once the footy ends. That’ll be equally as fun, despite my appalling bowling.

I know opinion over mobile interaction are sharply divided between those who beleive in the uniform availability of content and functionality across mobile and fixed platforms (that’s me) and those who see mobile as merely an awkward shopfront for ringtones and wallpapers. The basis of their argument is that mobile screens are so small as to make serious use unlikely. The way that I’m persevering typing this blog entry using predictive text designed for SMS probably does nothing to dispell that. I also expect to spend twenty minutes or so linking this entry to the photo I just uploaded to flickr from this same mobile.

But this will change. New text entry systems, better browsers, larger screens, and a more mobile generation will even out the differences between the wired and wireless modes, and blogging from the mobile on the beach will be the norm. Until then, it’ll be an interesting way for geeks (like me) to kill time in the sun waiting for boring football matches to end.

Categories
real life

Losing Good People

James Cridland is leaving Virgin Radio to join the BBC. It’s probably a superb move for James, as I suspect the BBC is infinitely more resourced and inclined to support experimentation and innovation than Virgin Radio will be in the future.

It’s disappointing for commercial radio though. Through his work at Virgin, commercial radio did get some great press coverage for innovation, and he is/was a darned useful sounding board and foil for ideas that should benefit all commercial broadcasters. Hopefully that insight will still be available over beer (but no longer at the Midas Touch, thank goodness), but it’ll be a different kind of discussion now.

I have always felt that James embraced the principles of “agree on technology, compete on content”, and I hope he’s allowed to continue doing so within the Corporation.

Meanwhile commercial radio has lost a star, albeit not one in front of a microphone. There’s historically been a talent drift from commercial radio to the BBC, as the BBC offers platforms and opportunities on a bigger scale than commercial radio. In the past that talent drift has mainly been presenters and programmers; I wonder if this is the beginning of a similar process for smart technologists?

Categories
technology

Pandora at InternetWorld

Paul Brown presented what he was very consistent in referring to as “Pandora Radio”, but to a slighty more
empty theatre than I expected (Rod from Channel 4 packed it out on 4oD. TV sexier than radio?).

Pandora – It’s about discovery of music. Feeding back your thoughts through Thumbs up/thumb down – You never know what you’re going to get. It’s a Musical journey.

(Similar to how mi-XFM is described).

Apparently an average user creates 25 stations.

Paul made heavy emphasis on “Discovery through radio”; “Unparalled music discovery.”. Does that keep the record industry happy?

‘Backstage’ coverage of artists (Licensed from AMG Music Guide) has been popular, and now there is Pandora station sharing / user profiles. Click to other people listening to this kind of music.

The Music Genome Project identified 400 genes in music. Not genre orientated.

They employ 48 human analysts – coding guys;. 20 mins analysis of each song. 500,000 songs, 15,000 songs a month. (Compare that to what we do in the radio industry).

Music genome project seems almost separate – is this the ultimate meta tagging for music?

An ambition to be a Multi-platform Pandora – usual list of platforms.

Pandora users meeting – 50-200 users on Tour/on the road, face to face meetings. How much time do radio stations spend with listeners engaging over music.

Growth: 6.141m reg listeners to Mar 07. Very linear growth,

How’s it funded: “It’s a free service, it’s advertising supported, it’s radio.”

Business Model in more detail:
* 1 to 1 context sensitive ads (not audio) ( Usual blue chip advertisers / Nike customised radio).
* Non-intrusive
* Subscription product
* E-commerce

Other issues:
Licensing is a problem.
Pandora mobile has a cost.
Classical music is coming (Classic fm ?).
Consumer electronics partnerships
Evolution of the Radio Experience

Categories
technology

Google at InternetWorld

Brief blogging from the Google sessions at Internet World.

According to the UK MD of Google:
* Internet accounts for 27% of media consumption. Radio is 25% – hmmm.
* 40% of UK users have a search engine as their homepage.
* Consumers are the new brand managers.
* If you are going to play in the world of user genarated contert, for heaven’s sake have a sense of humour….
* Sony Bravia advert spoof (on YouTube obviously) was fun, and strangely Bristolian.
* US Pontiac TV advert which ended telling people to “put Pontiac into Google”, not their own web address (google screengrab including).

Other notable sessions have been:
Amazon Web Services – EC2 and S3. I was already signed up but now I’m really really fired up about it. This is rapid design, develop and deploy in action.
O2 – seriously determined to put music at ‘front and centre of the O2 brand’ and their sponsorship of The Dome is a big big commitment.

More later.

Categories
radio

“8 Second Talk Break” – great!

Mark Ramsey wrote an entry this week about a purported e-mail from a group programmer to stations asking them to stick to 8 second talk breaks. I was enormously pleased to read about that, but not necessarily because the radio industry is heading towards 8 second talk breaks.

What gave me encouragement is that this particular programmer has realised that he has a problem, and is now programming his radio station not against the other guys on the FM dial, but in the real media world that listeners inhabit. It’s not about beating the other radio stations – the real battle is about preserving radio as a viable media choice against things like iPod, Last.FM and more… and also beating the other radio stations.

Of course consolidation means that one company tends to own more of the other stations on the FM dial, and I do wonder if that encourages complacency. In buying up “the enemy” I sense that some people are brushing off their hands and feeling like they’re achieving their career goals. The sender of our “8 second talk break” e-mail has at least worked out that the old enemy is gone, but replaced by a new set of battles.

I think programming people fall into one of three categories:

  • Thoroughly Unreconstructed – play 15 songs an hour, stick a station ID between each one, talk breaks up to the ad breaks, have a funny breakfast show and a younger evening show. If your station’s ratings are going down, you’re obviously not following this formula closely enough. Grudging acceptance of e-mail, SMS and websites.
  • In Denial – they know they can’t keep making radio like this, but they just can’t kick the habit. Actually, that’s not quite fair. In many cases they have to be outstandingly courageous to take on shareholders who’s expectation of risk/return in the radio industry is now way way out of whack from reality.
  • Risking It – furtively sneaking resource away into cleverer ideas, and implictly supporting new initiatives, but always with the risk that they will get belted by the next management level up if the ratings go down and some resource was diverted away into “future stuff”.

The majority seem to be in denial (those who are thoroughly unreconstructed usually live largely undisturbed on non-metro stations), and those who are risking it don’t make it public.

So is the future of radio the 8 second talk break? It might be.

The point is that what the “8 second talk break” describes is thinking about a listener experience that’s more like having an MP3 player, but with some tangible benefits for the end-user; bursts of useful information (like an Audio RSS feed?), and some serendipity of the music choice. It’s not competing to grab listeners from another station, but to win over someone who might just be tipped back from pressing play on their iPod/iTunes.

I also feel quite strongly that for every low-cost product radio produces, we must protect a premium and a uniqueness in the market by showing that we’re the people who really understand talent; that’s talented producers who make incredible imaging that makes your spine tingle, and talented presenters who can tweak and play with your emotions.

It would be good if this e-mail could embolden a few more of the In Denials and Furtive Risk Takers to come forward and really make change happen, and have the courage to deal with the critism that might generate. Switch to 8 second talk breaks or employ a million pound talent; either might be valid, but at least do something to start evolving radio.

Categories
radio

The Perils of Recycling Radio Promotions

This week’s short-n-sweet post.

I was listening to a station this week (on my WiFi radio) that was a running a very unique cash-prize promotion that relied on some custom-made audio. I recognised the promotion name from my travels, and did a quick Google to find out which other radio station had also run it. Then I popped off to www.archive.org and went back through that station’s archived webpages until I got to the page they put on at the end of the promotion with all the answers.

Now I just need to be “caller nine”……

Categories
dab digital radio

Pirate Radio and DAB

OFCOM published the results of its research into listening to unlicensed (“pirate”) radio in London, which probably surprised absolutely nobody who lives in South London and North West London.

Both those two areas have a longstanding tradition of supporting pirate radio going back 20-30 years, so figures like “16% of people listen to pirates” only surprise me by being a bit too low. I would have thought nearer to 30% listen, if you take the RAJAR definition of one single 15 minute listening session a week. There are good reasons for why pirate radio is so popular, going right back to the early days of multi-ethnic London, and Capital Radio’s shockingly white North London biased output. (As someone who grew up in South London, I feel qualified to comment).

What caught me eye, though, was OFCOM’s comment that:

If digital radio across a number of platforms (including DAB, digital TV, the internet and other technologies such as DRM) becomes the way the majority of listeners hear radio in the future, it is likely that illegal broadcasting activity would be substantially reduced. This is partly because it is considerably more difficult for a single illegal radio service to broadcast on DAB than it is on FM, due to the multiplexing involved in DAB transmission,

Woah. Hold on a second there. DAB multiplexer vendors might want you to believe DAB is tricky, but ETSI standard 300 401 tells you it’s not really. Methodical, structured programmers can hack through it pretty rapidly. This is some complicated maths up the end of the chain, but you can buy off the shelf a COFDM modulator and avoid all that.

Pirate broadcasters will follow the growth in DAB receiver ownership. When it reaches some relatively substantial market penetration, it will be worth their while to switch to DAB. (I’d expect to see a cheap Dell workstation, pre-loaded with a ETI stream recording on a 300GByte hard-drive, coupled to a cheap Asian COFDM modulator into the bottom of an old TV-style RF stack). When they do switch to DAB, it won’t be the technical complexity that defeats them, but the politics involved with sharing a multiplex, and that’s hard enough for legitimate companies to handle.

I have a bet on with someone else in the industry that we’ll see a pirate DAB station in London by 2012. I’m not expecting to have to pay out on it.

Matt is blogging in more detail about the OFCOM report