Networking Can Work:

Lee MorrisLee Morris Posts: 2,824
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Hi! All
Here in the North East we are lucky to have the excellent national Smooth Radio, but I have noticed that when it comes to travel they go I think to travel centres I am not sure which ones but there is dedicated travel for the North East.

Also I have heard Carlos read out the weather for the North East, so if Smooth can do it well then why not Global?.

Hopefully the people concerned at Global will listen to Smooth and take note, so that if and when Gold hopfully come back onto DAB here in the North East/North we will have a gold station with local travel which would then compete with other stations.

So well done Smooth and I look forward to your views.

Comments

  • wrexham103.4wrexham103.4 Posts: 3,334
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    Well heart in wrexham is poor for travel, it covers the A55 and thats it, only one word mention about anything in Wrexham ' busy on Grosvenor rd thats it seriously!

    They forget about all the other parts of Wrexham with heavy traffic, accidents in the borough, its pathetic , i dont even know why they even insult us with it.

    And before any heart lovers start, im entitled to my opinion , this is OUR so called local station, yes MFM/Marcher was not great but hell they were dedicated to wrexham and chester and local. Its sad that our local station is nothing than a music machine churning out the same songs every hour. where is our local information about OUR town? ive got nothing against networking in areas with other local alternatives exisit but to take our station away and replace it with something that is no use to us is wrong. Good luck to Global and i admit their product is successful - nationally, but locally we need more
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 789
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    GMG are very good with this kind of thing.

    I was listening to the Evening Show on Real a couple of nights ago and noticed a lot of "local" links, which will be pre-rec'd, but only by minutes, maybe even seconds.
    This included seperate weather, travel and some station related promo's featuring the names of the local daytime jocks.

    Clever stuff when they have a several other stations to fit links into. The vocal work from the presenter of any network show like this must be full on throughout the show and harder work for that individual than any average listener would give credit for.
  • TVCymruTVCymru Posts: 279
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    Well heart in wrexham is poor for travel, it covers the A55 and thats it, only one word mention about anything in Wrexham ' busy on Grosvenor rd thats it seriously!

    Your lucky on Heart Cymru we get, A55 Brittrania Bridge, A487 at Bontnewydd every morning, and sometimes roadworks at Porthmadog, thats not traffic and travel, its common knowladge for the listeners
  • david1956david1956 Posts: 2,389
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    Lee Morris wrote: »
    Hi! All
    Here in the North East we are lucky to have the excellent national Smooth Radio, but I have noticed that when it comes to travel they go I think to travel centres I am not sure which ones but there is dedicated travel for the North East.

    Also I have heard Carlos read out the weather for the North East, so if Smooth can do it well then why not Global?.

    Hopefully the people concerned at Global will listen to Smooth and take note, so that if and when Gold hopfully come back onto DAB here in the North East/North we will have a gold station with local travel which would then compete with other stations.

    So well done Smooth and I look forward to your views.


    If you think Smooth is 'excellent' you need to buy a dictionary. Are we really that lucky? The licence was awarded to Saga to deliver a radio station for the north east - not a quasi national station that is trying and will fail to emulate Radio 2. Other excellent LOCAL bids were rejected. NO WAY SHOULD LOCAL LICENCES BE FOR SALE TO NATIONAL STATIONS.
  • PowerplayPowerplay Posts: 4,690
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    Networking isn't local radio, simple! It's only what groups do to shave a few quid and save on overheads! It started with greed from a control freak back in the 90's who wanted everything centralised. Since then, it's been to reduce running costs because the listeners won't notice, will they? ;)
  • wavejockglwwavejockglw Posts: 10,596
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    Not a case of 'can work', it is working on the most successful British commercial radio stations and has been for some time.

    Silly thread!!
  • dvboydvboy Posts: 3,983
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    Orion seem to do it pretty well. You'd be fooled to think Dan Morrissey wasn't on more than one station if it wasn't for the travel news covering such a large area from Hereford to Coventry. That said, Robin Banks and Caroline Martin make no secret of the fact that they are networked across four stations, but sometimes a bit of Birmingham bias is evident.

    Listening to Galaxy, however, it can be obvious that the start of a link is pre-recorded for local output. The link doesn't flow naturally.

    The rare times I have listened to Heart, I don't think they bother, but then it's more difficult with so many stations.
  • chocolate_boychocolate_boy Posts: 2,236
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    david1956 wrote: »
    If you think Smooth is 'excellent' you need to buy a dictionary. Are we really that lucky? The licence was awarded to Saga to deliver a radio station for the north east - not a quasi national station that is trying and will fail to emulate Radio 2. Other excellent LOCAL bids were rejected. NO WAY SHOULD LOCAL LICENCES BE FOR SALE TO NATIONAL STATIONS.

    +1

    Well said
  • bluesdiamondbluesdiamond Posts: 11,358
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    david1956 wrote: »
    If you think Smooth is 'excellent' you need to buy a dictionary. Are we really that lucky? The licence was awarded to Saga to deliver a radio station for the north east - not a quasi national station that is trying and will fail to emulate Radio 2. Other excellent LOCAL bids were rejected. NO WAY SHOULD LOCAL LICENCES BE FOR SALE TO NATIONAL STATIONS.

    But Compared to Heart, the poster was suggesting that Smooth/GMG do try to put an effort in local news.

    Unless they do news for all four dsitricts, on Thursday Heart Home Counties had a headline about Dale Roberts the Rushden Goalkeeper who died. The story was headlined, how girlfriend of footballler speaks out about her feelings.
    Yet the previous day it was not mentioned, maybe because it was a 'sport's' story then. But because his girlfriend spoke, it became 'human' interest, and Hearts i guess felt the Sharon and Tracey types might want to hear about the girlfriend. Yet unless they did separate headlines for Northants that was the first mention on Heart Home Counties I had heard, maybe even the first mention.

    Sure Smooth may not be perfect, but Global I feel see news as a hinderance, not a service.
  • Mapperley RidgeMapperley Ridge Posts: 9,922
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    But Compared to Heart, the poster was suggesting that Smooth/GMG do try to put an effort in local news.

    Unless they do news for all four dsitricts, on Thursday Heart Home Counties had a headline about Dale Roberts the Rushden Goalkeeper who died. The story was headlined, how girlfriend of footballler speaks out about her feelings.
    Yet the previous day it was not mentioned, maybe because it was a 'sport's' story then. But because his girlfriend spoke, it became 'human' interest, and Hearts i guess felt the Sharon and Tracey types might want to hear about the girlfriend. Yet unless they did separate headlines for Northants that was the first mention on Heart Home Counties I had heard, maybe even the first mention.

    Sure Smooth may not be perfect, but Global I feel see news as a hinderance, not a service.

    Or maybe they did it because it was the lead story in the local paper.
  • Martin PhillpMartin Phillp Posts: 34,583
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    The OP is lucky that Smooth continues to provide a regional travel service for the NE as they decided that London FM listeners will get national travel instead after it went national.
  • PowerplayPowerplay Posts: 4,690
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    So, what about in this weather, how efficient is the networking on your 'local' station? My local Heart are not bothering to mention anything about the roads, cheer laziness. So long as club classics goes out later! :rolleyes: :D
  • omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,785
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    Whitey_GRN wrote: »
    GMG are very good with this kind of thing.

    I was listening to the Evening Show on Real a couple of nights ago and noticed a lot of "local" links, which will be pre-rec'd, but only by minutes, maybe even seconds.
    This included seperate weather, travel and some station related promo's featuring the names of the local daytime jocks.

    Clever stuff when they have a several other stations to fit links into. The vocal work from the presenter of any network show like this must be full on throughout the show and harder work for that individual than any average listener would give credit for.

    Yes, Real's networking is very good and is full of local inserts. It shows how you can network off-peak but still maintain a very local sound, from breakfast show promotions to important traffic news in the middle of the night.
  • bluesdiamondbluesdiamond Posts: 11,358
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    Or maybe they did it because it was the lead story in the local paper.

    Thought that the BBC was the only one guilty of that according to BBC bashers...
  • PowerplayPowerplay Posts: 4,690
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    Thought that the BBC was the only one guilty of that according to BBC bashers...

    Usually they are the most reliable source of local road/school closures, as most BBC local radio stations are local; during the daytime, telling you all you need to know.
  • BundymanBundyman Posts: 7,199
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    david1956 wrote: »
    If you think Smooth is 'excellent' you need to buy a dictionary. Are we really that lucky? The licence was awarded to Saga to deliver a radio station for the north east - not a quasi national station that is trying and will fail to emulate Radio 2. Other excellent LOCAL bids were rejected. NO WAY SHOULD LOCAL LICENCES BE FOR SALE TO NATIONAL STATIONS.

    Totally agree

    Blame Ofcom
  • BundymanBundyman Posts: 7,199
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    But Compared to Heart, the poster was suggesting that Smooth/GMG do try to put an effort in local news.

    Unless they do news for all four dsitricts, on Thursday Heart Home Counties had a headline about Dale Roberts the Rushden Goalkeeper who died. The story was headlined, how girlfriend of footballler speaks out about her feelings.
    Yet the previous day it was not mentioned, maybe because it was a 'sport's' story then. But because his girlfriend spoke, it became 'human' interest, and Hearts i guess felt the Sharon and Tracey types might want to hear about the girlfriend. Yet unless they did separate headlines for Northants that was the first mention on Heart Home Counties I had heard, maybe even the first mention.

    Sure Smooth may not be perfect, but Global I feel see news as a hinderance, not a service.

    I'm not sure that comparing Smooth to Heart proves anything really. Neither really care about local & Smooth will quietly drop anything extra over time anyway

    All should still be local as per the licences they bought.
  • bluesdiamondbluesdiamond Posts: 11,358
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    Powerplay wrote: »
    So, what about in this weather, how efficient is the networking on your 'local' station? My local Heart are not bothering to mention anything about the roads, cheer laziness. So long as club classics goes out later! :rolleyes: :D

    Can't drop club classics, even on Christmas Day if the on-line schedules are correct. Why make an effort to have any Christmas specials on the radio, if you are say a security guard working on Christmas Day, Heart won't alter things for those sort of potential listeners.
  • kevkev Posts: 21,070
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    I've noticed on Smooth East Midlands the local news and travel sound "wrong" - it's as if someone has speeded up a tape, compressed it far too much, sent it to the East Midlands, uncompressed it slowed it down again and then keeps adjusting the speed to fill the gap - it's really really odd!
  • omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,785
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    Bundyman wrote: »
    I'm not sure that comparing Smooth to Heart proves anything really. Neither really care about local & Smooth will quietly drop anything extra over time anyway

    All should still be local as per the licences they bought.

    You still get local news, weather, travel (and advertising) on Smooth, yet they could have dropped it as soon as it went national if they wanted to further cut costs. Does it matter that the person chatting inbetween the tracks is sat in Manchester? You're still getting lots of local information each hour.

    Real's networking is also full of local inserts, making it hard to tell that it's networked. If there's a big local story/traffic incident, even at 3am, they can mention it on the station concerned. GMG care a lot more about local than some other groups.
  • Allerton ParkAllerton Park Posts: 321
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    I'm not sure it is just about the provision of local news, weather, travel etc. There is something special about listening to someone who knows the area, and is broadcasting from the area. And something, I don't know, blander maybe, about a networked programme. There's an obvious qualitative shift in tone and relevance at 7pm when our local station starts networking.
  • Phil HenryPhil Henry Posts: 189
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    kev wrote: »
    I've noticed on Smooth East Midlands the local news and travel sound "wrong" - it's as if someone has speeded up a tape, compressed it far too much, sent it to the East Midlands, uncompressed it slowed it down again and then keeps adjusting the speed to fill the gap - it's really really odd!

    Interesting, as the complete Smooth East Midlands (and West Midlands for that matter) audio comes out of the Manchester building as one audio feed... There's nothing added at the E/M and W/M sites anymore and the studios there aren't even on-air... :confused:
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