It seems a shame about Phoenix Radio from what I've heard here, I used to listen to their RSLs many many years ago (better signal back then) and they seemed like really enthusiastic radio people.
Phoenix has been going for almost seven years, I remember listening in on the first day of the full time broadcast. Its a shame that they are having to cutting corners going by what Alex has said.
It would be a great station if they increased the dance music on a Saturday night along with a local weekend warm up show on a Friday after drivetime which should replace the fornightly show called Cheese and Whine in the 6 - 8pm slot. A local dance show would be a better offering than the current two hour dronefest (and I do mean droning on about noting in particular) and if that's not possible then they could always get Jay Forster and Mike Swaine involved with their House Central and Bass & Breaks which I believe Tameside Radio (which I can pick up but not brilliantly) use to air.
What Phoenix really needs is new management, the current lot have either got bored with it or are seeing how long it is before Ofcom revokes the licence.
If I was you or anyone else on here I'd give the station a listen to see what you may think of it, as to some people they may like the offering to others they may only listen to a handful of shows.
1) Phoenix has been going for almost seven years, I remember listening in on the first day of the full time broadcast. Its a shame that they are having to cutting corners going by what Alex has said.
2) What Phoenix really needs is new management, the current lot have either got bored with it or are seeing how long it is before Ofcom revokes the licence.
1) If you've listened for a while you might remember me, I did Saturday Afternoons 2-4 for a year then moved to Drive with Rob Bray for a while.
I do recall one drivetime where you had to stand in for Rob and the equiptment fail on air along with a oh bloody hell It may have been a Friday, as I heard it when I was on the A58 at King Cross coming back from a drop off in Burnley.
Seeing that list does suprise me as some of them on there do a good enough job, even with syndication or pre-records. No offence to those who do, as they are helping fill up the various stations otherwise bare schedule.
Yes, its a station that I am involved with but Frome.FM has some blooming good shows on there, both music based and talk shows. Sadly our problem is not enough volunteers to host live daily shows but we have live schedules Mon-Wed and weekends and many of those are done by very clever and knowledgeable people. *Blowing my own trumpet time*...I won a national award for my show, we have the UK's youngest Mod DJ too and several other shows are great at what they do.
Yes, Your Blues Show is definitely worth a listen IMO BluestrainRadio!
I'd also mention in dispatches Future Radio's "Hotrod Hector" show in Norwich - always turns something interesting up that I hadn't heard before.
And I'd like to thank the previous contributors for the kind words about Cambridge 105.
We are not perfect yet - but neither are a lot of ILRs and it is very hard work getting a Community Radio Station up to the standard that we think the people of Cambridge deserve....
Presenters are volunteers, money is tight and competition (certainly in Cambridge) is tough, so getting to the position of broadcasting over 110 hours of quality original programmes a week on a shoestring isn't easy - But we feel we are getting there and are proud of what we achieve with the scarce resources we have!
Yes, its a station that I am involved with but Frome.FM has some blooming good shows on there, both music based and talk shows. Sadly our problem is not enough volunteers to host live daily shows but we have live schedules Mon-Wed and weekends and many of those are done by very clever and knowledgeable people. *Blowing my own trumpet time*...I won a national award for my show, we have the UK's youngest Mod DJ too and several other shows are great at what they do.
I'm sure your opinion is heartfelt, but you're hardly likely to be a dispassionate observer are you? I get the impression the OP was seeking relatively unbiased opinions, not seeking yet another plug for their own station by a CR presenter or director.
Carnalivist: with respect, the question at the top of the thread is clear and I gave an answer to it. I am not saying I love the music that every show plays but I recognise several that are as good as any other CR station would offer. One recently had Huey Morgan as a guest, alongside other guests from Goldfrapp and Elbow. Not a bad effort I think you might agree.
Another show, more Folk and Acoustic based, has regular live guests including the likes of Cara Dillon and Ange Hardy. He also had an interview with Sir Peter Blake recently too.
As Kipper The Cat agreed about my show, that at least is independent! Not many CR Blues shows get the likes of Robert Cray live on the phone!
There is a list of all programmes on the Catch Up anytime section. Click on the right of the website and choose a programme which are available for up to 30 days after original broadcast.
Station has been on the go in RSL form since 2006 and then full time in January 2008 on 1530AM and then switchover to 95.0 FM in July 2014.
Carnalivist: with respect, the question at the top of the thread is clear and I gave an answer to it...
Yes - you obeyed the letter but probably not the spirit of the question. I doubt the OP was asking for a thread full of spam - I took it as though he genuinely wanted some genuine recommendations as to what he should listen to in the CR sector. CR people praising their own station yet again (something all too common on DS in my opinion) is hardly an impartial or credible source of such information.
It would have been something if you had even attempted to recommend ONE station that was not your own, but rather than do that you simply gave another rundown of Frome FMs achievements and its cast of famous guests. (Famous guests do not in themselves indicate that a station is worth listening to anyway - I know one or two truly abysmal ones that have famous guests fairly regularly).
"I recognise several (Frome FM shows) that are as good as any other CR station would offer. One recently had Huey Morgan as a guest, alongside other guests from Goldfrapp and Elbow. Not a bad effort I think you might agree.
Another show, more Folk and Acoustic based, has regular live guests including the likes of Cara Dillon and Ange Hardy. He also had an interview with Sir Peter Blake recently too.
As Kipper The Cat agreed about my show, that at least is independent! Not many CR Blues shows get the likes of Robert Cray live on the phone!
Does Frome FM have to be wedged in with a crowbar to EVERY thread? You even manage to get a plug in when threads aren't even about Community Radio, such as in the Country Music on radio thread among others, where yet again you blew Frome FM's trumpet without recommending any other stations as far as I'm aware. Ironically, even in your retort to me above you seized the opportunity to heap even more praise on your own station.
There's nothing wrong with giving yourself a pat on the back occasionally but there is a limit. If you go overboard there's a danger of sounding like the hubristic, overbearing parent who tells you how clever, beautiful and talented little Camilla and Hugo are every single time you see them.
Although not in the United Kingdom, (it's a British Island) Manx Radio on the Isle of Man has been a REAL community station for 50 years this year.
Check out their website for the programming mix, especially their AM/FM splits for longer news/magazine shows during peak times, specialist shows in the evenings and at weekends.
Including a seven hour rock show, 'Saturday Night Live', 6pm - 1am.
Apart from sponsor credits it's commercial free!
Carnivalist - I think you need to get out a bit more to be honest, to find offence in what I put. And you highlight me and not others doing the same?
I don't listen to enough of the other community stations to give them a glowing report but I do know the likes of 10 Radio in Somerset, Somer Valley, Air in Weymouth, and Radio Cardiff all have several good shows and a professional looking outlook.
As for the Country music thread, could you please tell me what is wrong about recommending a show that I know to be of good quality, to people that enjoy Country music??
Seriously.....all the things going wrong in the world and you get your knickers in a twist about this.
Carnivalist - I think you need to get out a bit more to be honest, to find offence in what I put. And you highlight me and not others doing the same?
I don't listen to enough of the other community stations to give them a glowing report but I do know the likes of 10 Radio in Somerset, Somer Valley, Air in Weymouth, and Radio Cardiff all have several good shows and a professional looking outlook.
As for the Country music thread, could you please tell me what is wrong about recommending a show that I know to be of good quality, to people that enjoy Country music??
Seriously.....all the things going wrong in the world and you get your knickers in a twist about this.
Bluestrainradio.... Dont let it get to you
The same poster took a swipe at me, I just laughed it off.
When you are commenting in the public domain, the smallest view can disagree with others.
Everyone is entitled to a viewpoint.
Personally I found nothing wrong with the post you made in the country music thread.
Carnivalist - I think you need to get out a bit more to be honest,...
And you need to cut out the ad hominems. Resorting to the personal stuff tends to discredit your argument before you've even begun.
...to find offence in what I put.
How you read my post as "taking offence" is beyond me. I was simply objecting to the habit of CR people on DS constantly spamming and boasting about their own stations to an extent that is beyond labouring the point - in my experience you happen to be the paradigm of that behaviour. It adds little to the debate most of the time for the simple reason that constant self-praise is not remotely impartial and therefore by definition lacks credibility. The professionals on this forum rarely, if ever, behave like this, which should perhaps give you pause for thought.
It would be something if this borderline hubris was generally accurate but 90% of the time when I read some CR bod or other heap effusive praise on their own station and then listen I am totally baffled by the disconnect between the spam and the reality.
... And you highlight me and not others doing the same?
Because in my experience you do it more often and with far greater intensity than anyone else.
I don't listen to enough of the other community stations to give them a glowing report but I do know the likes of 10 Radio in Somerset, Somer Valley, Air in Weymouth, and Radio Cardiff all have several good shows and a professional looking outlook...
Then why, to my knowledge, have you never mentioned them before and only mention them now after I called you out on your constant plugging of your own station to the exclusion of all else? In fact I genuinely struggle to recall you making a post on a community radio thread that doesn't mention Frome FM - not to mention all the occasions when you manage to wedge in a mention of your own station on threads which are totally unrelated to the sector.
As for the Country music thread, could you please tell me what is wrong about recommending a show that I know to be of good quality, to people that enjoy Country music??
It's about a pattern of behaviour, not single instances. As I say, you rarely seem to miss an opportunity to engineer a plug for your own station almost regardless of the topic. I merely used the Country music thread as a case in point
Seriously.....all the things going wrong in the world and you get your knickers in a twist about this.
Well if we were discussing world peace or the Ebola virus then I'd refute the attitudes, contentions and arguments of those taking part in the discussion whose views I objected to on those subjects. As we're talking about community radio I'm refuting your attitude, contentions and arguments on the subject of community radio. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
I"m not "getting my knickers in a twist" - that's simply yet another childish ad hominem. If you cant defend your position without resorting to that sort of thing it can't be much of a position, can it?
unless things have changed since I left Phoenix this March (of my own choice because I refused to be part of some blatant and repetitive breaches of license) what you listen to are some good presenters (some), and the majority of it is pre recorded repeats . News was ripped off IRN and "from the sky news centre" cut out.
It's a shame because some of the presenters were talented but let down by equipment and staff failures.
Alex
Alex
From the off, I declare more than a passing interest in your comments regarding Phoenix as someone who got involved behind the scenes prior to full time launch (sourcing several thousand pounds of funding, installing the STL antenna on the roof of the Dean Clough studios), then in the following years setting up & running many of the live OB's including full coverage of Halifax Parish Church being granted Minster status, the 'Neighbours Day' and Christmas events at the Piece Hall and a full afternoon from Halifax charity gala.
To this day I still scurry away in the background I co-host one of the rock shows 'Bar Grooves' kindly pushes.
Please elaborate & justify your following comments -
1) 'blatant & repetitive breaches of licence'
2) 'most of the music is ripped off YouTube'
3) 'requests and listeners are made up'
4) 'the majority of it is pre recorded repeats'
The news isn't ripped off - IRN are paid for their services. The news is downloaded & put into Myriad because the satellite dish is so difficult to access, being on the roof 8 floors above the offices which gives the health & safety folk a field day, it was decided not to have it realigned after the storms of (?) years ago.
I hope I haven't come across as being 'arsey' - it's the last thing impression I would want to give, but when Youv'e been involved with something for 8 years plus & given it a lot of time & effort, off the cuff comments do grate a bit.
The same poster took a swipe at me, I just laughed it off.
I think not. I try not to make ad hominem attacks on opponents in a debate. Notwithstanding the fact that I find it tedious in the the extreme when someone does it to me, nothing is more effective at undermining an argument - it makes the culprit look childish and petty.
I suspect I simply disagreed with a belief of yours along the lines that everything is hunky dory in the world of Community Radio, or that I argued against one of the sacred cows of the CR purists on here - i.e that the sector is poised to sock it to the big boys if only the dastardly funding restrictions could be removed, or that the likes of Amber Sound are evil personified. If however I'm mistaken and did indeed "take a swipe" at you please post a link to the offending comment and I'll apologise without reservation.
When you are commenting in the public domain, the smallest view can disagree with others.
The syntax of this comment seems a bit awry, but I assume you're complaining about the fact that the smallest comment on a messageboard can attract disagreement. Ironically I guess I'd have to agree, given that disagreement is kind of integral to most debates on a public forum. If you simply want people to agree with you the whole time then perhaps you might be more comfortable starting your own messageboard where you can ban dissidents. To be honest I sometimes get the impression that some CR purists would love to do exactly that, so hypersensitive do they seem to any criticism.
Everyone is entitled to a viewpoint.
Except those who get tired of the perpetual boasting and spamming by some of the posters involved in CR it seems.
Personally I found nothing wrong with the post you made in the country music thread.
Well I do. Among other things, I find it vainglorious in the extreme - at least when you consider it as part of a torrent of comments by a poster constantly praising himself and his own station.
This thread has taken a turn which actually highlights one of the reasons why there is so much sneering at Community Radio outside the confines of the threads on the topic on DS. Not only do such threads tend to be self-referential to say the least (notice how few of the professionals, or the radio enthusiasts not personally involved in CR ever take the slightest interest in these threads) they often descend into a mutual admiration society that seems to lack even the slightest attempt at critical analysis.
I've already praised Cambridge 105 on this thread, However their predecessors, 209 radio, were the archetype of the sort of slapdash "no-rules-rebel-radio" conceit that so undermines the efforts of the good and conscientiously run stations who understand that being amateur does not preclude a professional approach. I took a bit of an interest during its decline and fall and in the course of researching events came across a general forum that exists for the citizens of Cambridge.
There was a discussion on this forum about the crisis at 209 radio and the campaign to save it by its volunteers, the tone of which was disparaging to say the least. One post that struck me included a comment about how the station was a shambles putting out drivel which deserved to die and that the poster found it incredibly tedious to continually hear presenters behind duff shows involved in on-air conversations of the type "Oh, your show is so AWESOME"..."Oh you're too kind - you're show is so AWESOME too!" I have to say that it seems to me that DS often gets like this a little bit.
Of course if the shows really are that awesome then no harm done I suppose. However the problem seems to me to be that too often shows and the stations that carry them are very far from awesome indeed. IMO the ease with which slapdash output gets on the airwaves is indicative of some pretty major flaws in the current system. I'm beginning to doubt these flaws will ever get addressed - not least becasue of this atmosphere of self-congratulation. After all if you refuse to even acknowledge that there is a problem you have no hope of fixing it. While this situation continues I'm afraid the sector is going to continue to have underlying issues of credibilty and recognition among the general public.
I can honestly say that of all the people I know in the two different cities that I spend large amounts of time in I can think of only one measly individual who listens and who has neither been involved in Community Radio in some way or knows someone that is - and even then they listen only fleetingly. In fact in one of those cities virtually everyone I speak to largely abandoned the local CR station in the first few months or so of its existence and doesn't have a good word to say about it - the critics even include current and former presenters. This is hardly unsual in the sector if the anecdotal evidence is anything to go by. That is a crying shame for the many talented people who produce the sort of good shows and run the sort of good stations the OP is interested in.
Unfortunately these good people are being undermined by the ease with which some other stations are allowed to get away with lackadaisical and scandalously substandard output day after day, month after month, year after year with absolutely no apparent comeback. Nobody is doing the sector any favours by pretending otherwise and swallowing the PR flannel put out by the purists - and even by OFCOM at times.
From the off, I declare more than a passing interest in your comments regarding Phoenix as someone who got involved behind the scenes prior to full time launch (sourcing several thousand pounds of funding, installing the STL antenna on the roof of the Dean Clough studios), then in the following years setting up & running many of the live OB's including full coverage of Halifax Parish Church being granted Minster status, the 'Neighbours Day' and Christmas events at the Piece Hall and a full afternoon from Halifax charity gala.
To this day I still scurry away in the background I co-host one of thoe rock shows 'Bar Grooves' kindly pushes.
Please elaborate & justify your following comments -
1) 'blatant & repetitive breaches of licence'
2) 'most of the music is ripped off YouTube'
3) 'requests and listeners are made up'
4) 'the majority of it is pre recorded repeats'
The news isn't ripped off - IRN are paid for their services. The news is downloaded & put into Myriad because the satellite dish is so difficult to access, being on the roof 8 floors above the offices which gives the health & safety folk a field day, it was decided not to have it realigned after the storms of (?) years ago.
I hope I haven't come across as being 'arsey' - it's the last thing impression I would want to give, but when Youv'e been involved with something for 8 years plus & given it a lot of time & effort, off the cuff comments do grate a bit.
Cheers
BH
First off...Gary?
Second
I can reel off the names of all the presenters who have sworn on air. I also remember a time one presenter sat and ripped songs off YouTube to the point half way through One song a big old jingle for Annie Mac played.(the song was duke dumont I got you). I also remember various presenyers playing songs with swearing in, despite me reporting the songs as having the lyrics in that they do. I know for a fact listeners are made up. The whole Friday second hour of drivetime is made up of "requests". As for IRN by ripped off I meant dropped into cool edit the. Chopped up. And then broadcast
When I got into my last month most of Saturday and Sunday was pre recorded or a repeat yet still asking for requests and stuff. I love Phoenix and will be massively grateful for my start in radio there, but after the amount of problems there, and the fact I needed a job that paid me (if I got paid for my hours there I would of been loaded) I had to go.
I'm sorry if you feel my comments are unfair and I'm happy to apologise and stand corrected if I'm shown things have improved. But after doing 9-6:30 there everyday for a week I know what I saw and how the place was being run.
If you want to PM me or drop me an email and we can discuss this in a more private area that's fine.
carnivalist - dear oh dear. Why are you so angry? I'm just wanting to let people know about some quality radio that is available. Why do you feel that it's spamming? Lots of people on this forum will mention shows and stations they are involved with and fair play to all of them! Others will then have a free choice to decide whether to check things out from there, or not....no-one forces anyone to anywhere.
And as I don't comment here that often, how come you are keeping tabs on what I am saying?!
carnivalist - dear oh dear. Why are you so angry? I'm just wanting to let people know about some quality radio that is available. Why do you feel that it's spamming? Lots of people on this forum will mention shows and stations they are involved with and fair play to all of them! Others will then have a free choice to decide whether to check things out from there, or not....no-one forces anyone to anywhere.
And as I don't comment here that often, how come you are keeping tabs on what I am saying?!
I'm with BluesTrainRadio on this, it's nice to hear all shades of opinion both from people in community radio and those on the outside who listen.
With respect to the thread title 'which community stations are at the top of their game?', if you measure this against the key commitments the stations have agreed with Ofcom, it's my view that many stations are wanting.....Google 'ofcom key commitments' then your local station name if you want to play along. Other search engines are of-course available....!
Comments
Phoenix has been going for almost seven years, I remember listening in on the first day of the full time broadcast. Its a shame that they are having to cutting corners going by what Alex has said.
It would be a great station if they increased the dance music on a Saturday night along with a local weekend warm up show on a Friday after drivetime which should replace the fornightly show called Cheese and Whine in the 6 - 8pm slot. A local dance show would be a better offering than the current two hour dronefest (and I do mean droning on about noting in particular) and if that's not possible then they could always get Jay Forster and Mike Swaine involved with their House Central and Bass & Breaks which I believe Tameside Radio (which I can pick up but not brilliantly) use to air.
What Phoenix really needs is new management, the current lot have either got bored with it or are seeing how long it is before Ofcom revokes the licence.
If I was you or anyone else on here I'd give the station a listen to see what you may think of it, as to some people they may like the offering to others they may only listen to a handful of shows.
1) If you've listened for a while you might remember me, I did Saturday Afternoons 2-4 for a year then moved to Drive with Rob Bray for a while.
2) Precisely.
http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/11/ofcom-to-investigate-over-50-community-radio-stations/?utm_campaign=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter
I do recall one drivetime where you had to stand in for Rob and the equiptment fail on air along with a oh bloody hell It may have been a Friday, as I heard it when I was on the A58 at King Cross coming back from a drop off in Burnley.
Seeing that list does suprise me as some of them on there do a good enough job, even with syndication or pre-records. No offence to those who do, as they are helping fill up the various stations otherwise bare schedule.
It's about time certain stations were asked to justify their position as a community station.
I'd also mention in dispatches Future Radio's "Hotrod Hector" show in Norwich - always turns something interesting up that I hadn't heard before.
And I'd like to thank the previous contributors for the kind words about Cambridge 105.
We are not perfect yet - but neither are a lot of ILRs and it is very hard work getting a Community Radio Station up to the standard that we think the people of Cambridge deserve....
Presenters are volunteers, money is tight and competition (certainly in Cambridge) is tough, so getting to the position of broadcasting over 110 hours of quality original programmes a week on a shoestring isn't easy - But we feel we are getting there and are proud of what we achieve with the scarce resources we have!
Sounds like me. Iv never been too PC on air!
I'm sure your opinion is heartfelt, but you're hardly likely to be a dispassionate observer are you? I get the impression the OP was seeking relatively unbiased opinions, not seeking yet another plug for their own station by a CR presenter or director.
Another show, more Folk and Acoustic based, has regular live guests including the likes of Cara Dillon and Ange Hardy. He also had an interview with Sir Peter Blake recently too.
As Kipper The Cat agreed about my show, that at least is independent! Not many CR Blues shows get the likes of Robert Cray live on the phone!
There is a list of all programmes on the Catch Up anytime section. Click on the right of the website and choose a programme which are available for up to 30 days after original broadcast.
Station has been on the go in RSL form since 2006 and then full time in January 2008 on 1530AM and then switchover to 95.0 FM in July 2014.
Yes - you obeyed the letter but probably not the spirit of the question. I doubt the OP was asking for a thread full of spam - I took it as though he genuinely wanted some genuine recommendations as to what he should listen to in the CR sector. CR people praising their own station yet again (something all too common on DS in my opinion) is hardly an impartial or credible source of such information.
It would have been something if you had even attempted to recommend ONE station that was not your own, but rather than do that you simply gave another rundown of Frome FMs achievements and its cast of famous guests. (Famous guests do not in themselves indicate that a station is worth listening to anyway - I know one or two truly abysmal ones that have famous guests fairly regularly).
"I recognise several (Frome FM shows) that are as good as any other CR station would offer. One recently had Huey Morgan as a guest, alongside other guests from Goldfrapp and Elbow. Not a bad effort I think you might agree.
Another show, more Folk and Acoustic based, has regular live guests including the likes of Cara Dillon and Ange Hardy. He also had an interview with Sir Peter Blake recently too.
As Kipper The Cat agreed about my show, that at least is independent! Not many CR Blues shows get the likes of Robert Cray live on the phone!
Does Frome FM have to be wedged in with a crowbar to EVERY thread? You even manage to get a plug in when threads aren't even about Community Radio, such as in the Country Music on radio thread among others, where yet again you blew Frome FM's trumpet without recommending any other stations as far as I'm aware. Ironically, even in your retort to me above you seized the opportunity to heap even more praise on your own station.
There's nothing wrong with giving yourself a pat on the back occasionally but there is a limit. If you go overboard there's a danger of sounding like the hubristic, overbearing parent who tells you how clever, beautiful and talented little Camilla and Hugo are every single time you see them.
Check out their website for the programming mix, especially their AM/FM splits for longer news/magazine shows during peak times, specialist shows in the evenings and at weekends.
Including a seven hour rock show, 'Saturday Night Live', 6pm - 1am.
Apart from sponsor credits it's commercial free!
I don't listen to enough of the other community stations to give them a glowing report but I do know the likes of 10 Radio in Somerset, Somer Valley, Air in Weymouth, and Radio Cardiff all have several good shows and a professional looking outlook.
As for the Country music thread, could you please tell me what is wrong about recommending a show that I know to be of good quality, to people that enjoy Country music??
Seriously.....all the things going wrong in the world and you get your knickers in a twist about this.
Bluestrainradio.... Dont let it get to you
The same poster took a swipe at me, I just laughed it off.
When you are commenting in the public domain, the smallest view can disagree with others.
Everyone is entitled to a viewpoint.
Personally I found nothing wrong with the post you made in the country music thread.
And you need to cut out the ad hominems. Resorting to the personal stuff tends to discredit your argument before you've even begun.
How you read my post as "taking offence" is beyond me. I was simply objecting to the habit of CR people on DS constantly spamming and boasting about their own stations to an extent that is beyond labouring the point - in my experience you happen to be the paradigm of that behaviour. It adds little to the debate most of the time for the simple reason that constant self-praise is not remotely impartial and therefore by definition lacks credibility. The professionals on this forum rarely, if ever, behave like this, which should perhaps give you pause for thought.
It would be something if this borderline hubris was generally accurate but 90% of the time when I read some CR bod or other heap effusive praise on their own station and then listen I am totally baffled by the disconnect between the spam and the reality.
Because in my experience you do it more often and with far greater intensity than anyone else.
Then why, to my knowledge, have you never mentioned them before and only mention them now after I called you out on your constant plugging of your own station to the exclusion of all else? In fact I genuinely struggle to recall you making a post on a community radio thread that doesn't mention Frome FM - not to mention all the occasions when you manage to wedge in a mention of your own station on threads which are totally unrelated to the sector.
It's about a pattern of behaviour, not single instances. As I say, you rarely seem to miss an opportunity to engineer a plug for your own station almost regardless of the topic. I merely used the Country music thread as a case in point
Well if we were discussing world peace or the Ebola virus then I'd refute the attitudes, contentions and arguments of those taking part in the discussion whose views I objected to on those subjects. As we're talking about community radio I'm refuting your attitude, contentions and arguments on the subject of community radio. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
I"m not "getting my knickers in a twist" - that's simply yet another childish ad hominem. If you cant defend your position without resorting to that sort of thing it can't be much of a position, can it?
Alex
From the off, I declare more than a passing interest in your comments regarding Phoenix as someone who got involved behind the scenes prior to full time launch (sourcing several thousand pounds of funding, installing the STL antenna on the roof of the Dean Clough studios), then in the following years setting up & running many of the live OB's including full coverage of Halifax Parish Church being granted Minster status, the 'Neighbours Day' and Christmas events at the Piece Hall and a full afternoon from Halifax charity gala.
To this day I still scurry away in the background I co-host one of the rock shows 'Bar Grooves' kindly pushes.
Please elaborate & justify your following comments -
1) 'blatant & repetitive breaches of licence'
2) 'most of the music is ripped off YouTube'
3) 'requests and listeners are made up'
4) 'the majority of it is pre recorded repeats'
The news isn't ripped off - IRN are paid for their services. The news is downloaded & put into Myriad because the satellite dish is so difficult to access, being on the roof 8 floors above the offices which gives the health & safety folk a field day, it was decided not to have it realigned after the storms of (?) years ago.
I hope I haven't come across as being 'arsey' - it's the last thing impression I would want to give, but when Youv'e been involved with something for 8 years plus & given it a lot of time & effort, off the cuff comments do grate a bit.
Cheers
BH
I think not. I try not to make ad hominem attacks on opponents in a debate. Notwithstanding the fact that I find it tedious in the the extreme when someone does it to me, nothing is more effective at undermining an argument - it makes the culprit look childish and petty.
I suspect I simply disagreed with a belief of yours along the lines that everything is hunky dory in the world of Community Radio, or that I argued against one of the sacred cows of the CR purists on here - i.e that the sector is poised to sock it to the big boys if only the dastardly funding restrictions could be removed, or that the likes of Amber Sound are evil personified. If however I'm mistaken and did indeed "take a swipe" at you please post a link to the offending comment and I'll apologise without reservation.
The syntax of this comment seems a bit awry, but I assume you're complaining about the fact that the smallest comment on a messageboard can attract disagreement. Ironically I guess I'd have to agree, given that disagreement is kind of integral to most debates on a public forum. If you simply want people to agree with you the whole time then perhaps you might be more comfortable starting your own messageboard where you can ban dissidents. To be honest I sometimes get the impression that some CR purists would love to do exactly that, so hypersensitive do they seem to any criticism.
Except those who get tired of the perpetual boasting and spamming by some of the posters involved in CR it seems.
Well I do. Among other things, I find it vainglorious in the extreme - at least when you consider it as part of a torrent of comments by a poster constantly praising himself and his own station.
This thread has taken a turn which actually highlights one of the reasons why there is so much sneering at Community Radio outside the confines of the threads on the topic on DS. Not only do such threads tend to be self-referential to say the least (notice how few of the professionals, or the radio enthusiasts not personally involved in CR ever take the slightest interest in these threads) they often descend into a mutual admiration society that seems to lack even the slightest attempt at critical analysis.
I've already praised Cambridge 105 on this thread, However their predecessors, 209 radio, were the archetype of the sort of slapdash "no-rules-rebel-radio" conceit that so undermines the efforts of the good and conscientiously run stations who understand that being amateur does not preclude a professional approach. I took a bit of an interest during its decline and fall and in the course of researching events came across a general forum that exists for the citizens of Cambridge.
There was a discussion on this forum about the crisis at 209 radio and the campaign to save it by its volunteers, the tone of which was disparaging to say the least. One post that struck me included a comment about how the station was a shambles putting out drivel which deserved to die and that the poster found it incredibly tedious to continually hear presenters behind duff shows involved in on-air conversations of the type "Oh, your show is so AWESOME"..."Oh you're too kind - you're show is so AWESOME too!" I have to say that it seems to me that DS often gets like this a little bit.
Of course if the shows really are that awesome then no harm done I suppose. However the problem seems to me to be that too often shows and the stations that carry them are very far from awesome indeed. IMO the ease with which slapdash output gets on the airwaves is indicative of some pretty major flaws in the current system. I'm beginning to doubt these flaws will ever get addressed - not least becasue of this atmosphere of self-congratulation. After all if you refuse to even acknowledge that there is a problem you have no hope of fixing it. While this situation continues I'm afraid the sector is going to continue to have underlying issues of credibilty and recognition among the general public.
I can honestly say that of all the people I know in the two different cities that I spend large amounts of time in I can think of only one measly individual who listens and who has neither been involved in Community Radio in some way or knows someone that is - and even then they listen only fleetingly. In fact in one of those cities virtually everyone I speak to largely abandoned the local CR station in the first few months or so of its existence and doesn't have a good word to say about it - the critics even include current and former presenters. This is hardly unsual in the sector if the anecdotal evidence is anything to go by. That is a crying shame for the many talented people who produce the sort of good shows and run the sort of good stations the OP is interested in.
Unfortunately these good people are being undermined by the ease with which some other stations are allowed to get away with lackadaisical and scandalously substandard output day after day, month after month, year after year with absolutely no apparent comeback. Nobody is doing the sector any favours by pretending otherwise and swallowing the PR flannel put out by the purists - and even by OFCOM at times.
First off...Gary?
Second
I can reel off the names of all the presenters who have sworn on air. I also remember a time one presenter sat and ripped songs off YouTube to the point half way through One song a big old jingle for Annie Mac played.(the song was duke dumont I got you). I also remember various presenyers playing songs with swearing in, despite me reporting the songs as having the lyrics in that they do. I know for a fact listeners are made up. The whole Friday second hour of drivetime is made up of "requests". As for IRN by ripped off I meant dropped into cool edit the. Chopped up. And then broadcast
When I got into my last month most of Saturday and Sunday was pre recorded or a repeat yet still asking for requests and stuff. I love Phoenix and will be massively grateful for my start in radio there, but after the amount of problems there, and the fact I needed a job that paid me (if I got paid for my hours there I would of been loaded) I had to go.
I'm sorry if you feel my comments are unfair and I'm happy to apologise and stand corrected if I'm shown things have improved. But after doing 9-6:30 there everyday for a week I know what I saw and how the place was being run.
If you want to PM me or drop me an email and we can discuss this in a more private area that's fine.
Thanks
Alex
And as I don't comment here that often, how come you are keeping tabs on what I am saying?!
I'm with BluesTrainRadio on this, it's nice to hear all shades of opinion both from people in community radio and those on the outside who listen.
With respect to the thread title 'which community stations are at the top of their game?', if you measure this against the key commitments the stations have agreed with Ofcom, it's my view that many stations are wanting.....Google 'ofcom key commitments' then your local station name if you want to play along. Other search engines are of-course available....!
A community of interest station offering a platform to up coming performers