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Is the art of radio broadcasting on its way out?
According to radio legend Tony Blackburn, it is. And more importantly its commercial radio that’s to blame.
Blackburn, who celebrates his 70th birthday this week, has been looking back over an amazing career spanning from Radio Caroline, to Radio 1 and Radio 2, at an event hosted by the Radio Academy last night.
As well as the BBC Blackburn has also worked for a handful of commercial radio stations, but this didn’t stop him having a dig at the bosses for their tendency to limit playlists and cut presenter talk-time short in favour of more commercials and music.
He stated that as a DJ you are often inclined to take a job, even if you don’t agree with the station’s policy to play ‘the same 300 songs over and over again’. He said that the choice of many commercial radio stations to limit their playlists, and thereby limit their presenters, made no sense to him.
He questioned why commercial stations don’t broaden their playlists and encourage young presenters to have more of their own personality on air, such as the BBC does. Money and funding is the obvious answer to this question, which Blackburn did acknowledge.
I think Blackburn is right in pointing out this downfall of commercial radio. It has to be admitted that some of these commercial stations are all about the music (and at times, the sponsors) rather than the presenters and personalities.
I was speaking to a friend of mine only recently about the topic. She doesn’t work in radio but she does listen when driving to work. When I asked her what sort of stations she liked to listen to she said ‘I like Heart, because I like the music they play’. I asked her what her favourite show was, but she couldn’t tell me: ‘it’s just song after song – I don’t really notice the presenters’. Unfortunately this is not the first time I’ve had this conversation. Only a few years ago my Mum dropped a bomb-shell by stating ever-so casually ‘I don’t really like radio – it’s all annoying commercials and then some songs, you don’t hear anyone speak any more’.
Don’t get me wrong – this type of radio certainly has its place, and the on-going growth of commercial radio is testament to this. Not everyone tunes into their radio hoping to hear world-class broadcast journalism, sometimes all you want to hear are your favourite songs. And with stations like Absolute and their ‘No Repeat Guarantee’ at least there is hope that some networks are trying to tackle the problem of the ‘same 300 songs’ being played continually that Blackburn complains about.
But I do agree with Blackburn that the art of presenting shouldn’t be forgotten, and that the chance to create amazing radio personalities shouldn’t be exclusive to just the BBC. Realistically we do have to realise that commercial stations need as much air time as possible for advertising. They also need to give the listeners what they want, and if that is constant music then so be it. But what air time DJs do have should be dedicated to them and creating great radio and I applaud those stations that are trying to give the focus back to their presenters. And if they don’t, then where will we find the broadcasting legends and Tony Blackburns of the future?
You can listen to the interview with Tony Blackburn, titled ‘Radio Talk: Tony Blackburn at 70’, on the Radio Academy website here.
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