Airtime
Back in London today for a meeting at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Media Centre in White City chaired by our Director of Nations & Regions, Pat Loughrey. It was a chance to compare notes with my counterparts from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Cymru and colleagues from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Local Radio in England. We talked about some of the new programme ideas that were being tried around the U.K. and the latest audience research which confirms that listeners don't want to be categorized according to age or gender, but prefer programmes tailored to specific interests. There was also a report showing the increasing number of people who listen to radio on digital platforms such as DAB, Digital Television or the internet.
Afterwards I travelled back to Paddington Station with Aled Glynne Davies from Radio Cymru who was telling me how his station has been supporting Welsh-language pop and rock music. I'd seen a report on the growing number of new bands in Wales in a recent edition of The Culture Show on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 2, but hadn't realised that Radio Cymru had been so closely involved. I'm keen to pursue a similar strategy for supporting new muscial talent through a Radio Scotland initiative.
Of course, the downside of meetings in London is the amount of time you now have to spend in airport departure lounges. Assuming the flights are running to time, you still have to check in at least an hour before take-off and it can take an age going through the security checks. This morning in Glasgow the self-check-in machine wouldn't recognise any of the forms of identifications I slotted into its scanners. I had to join the end of the queue behind a university rugby squad from Ontario who seem to be on a tour of the U.K. As I waited, a man in front of me who was dressed like Johnny Cash -but with the girth of Elvis - seemed to lose the rag and forced his way to front, beckoning his two sons to follow him. Much to my disgust he then got checked in before the rest of us. They'll be talking about this in Canada before too long.
Tonight, at Heathrow, I wandered the concourse, trying to avoid the tempting array of coffee shops and muffin stalls. I drifted past some vending machines and realised that one of them was stocked with paperback books. I gazed through the glass at the various titles, but nothing took my fancy. If only they made books out of chocolate.
