Tag Archives: director of radio

MediaGuardian Radio Reborn 2008: industry jobs not under threat from networked content

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Jobs in radio are not under threat from the increasing trend towards networked content, Peter Davies, director of radio & multimedia for Ofcom, told an industry conference today.

Davies said the introduction of networked programming between stations, where shared content is broadcast by different stations within the group, would not result in less employment or training opportunities.

“The opportunities are still there they are just in different places,” said Davies, echoing Paul Myners comments about the newspaper industry to last week’s House of Lords Communications committee.

Davies added that Ofcom did not have a regulatory role regarding training and employment within the industry but that this was a concern of the body.

The future of podcasting

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Last night’s Radio Academy event on the future of podcasting proved a lively affair with criticism from Matt Wells, head of audio at Guardian Unlimited, of the BBC’s podcasting strategy and debate over podcasting’s relationship with radio.

The latter produced the following exchange between Trevor Dann, director of the Radio Academy and first speaker in the clip, and Wells.

[audio:http://www.journalism.co.uk/sounds/mw.mp3]

But as fellow panellist Nathalie Schwarz, director of radio at Channel 4, went on to point out: it doesn’t matter – the generation that are going be most in tune with podcasting won’t care what it’s called – adding weight to Wells’ suggestion that calling it radio is a hang-up of the traditional media.

Schwarz also levelled Wells’ views on the BBC’s podcast service: how you define success in podcasting, she suggested, should be related to what you are trying to achieve.

“The brave new world isn’t just about big numbers and mass reach – I think that’s the old style world of looking at RAJAR as a almost a trading currency to get commercial revenue.”

The entire evening’s discussion can be listened to courtesy of the Radio Academy’s website.