For UK customers, Skype costs 9.2p per minute plus 5.6p connection fee to call 0844, so Skype also seems a way of avoiding the Access Charge.

https://secure.skype.com/en/calling-...&expo365=empty

The biggest scam about the 0844 number that I've noticed is that the other week I got home quite drunk and thought it would be fun to have a chat with him as I know how he can enjoy the 'well-refreshed' callers. After about 5 minutes of being on hold I hung up and then realised it was past 1am so there was no one there to take the call! It only cost a couple of quid but imagine if I'd fallen asleep still on hold with no chance of getting on, quite the scam!

It is the thing that bothers me about "Straight to Air", am I right in thinking they don't call you back ? or do they? if not you could run-up a bill waiting to do your bit

It's on my Android Phone

Yes, you are connected straight away and then stay on hold until Iain answers the phone so you pay for the time you are on hold as well as the call itself. Also, you get to listen to hold music rather than the station output.

He's being sarcastic. He is saying that mobile users shouldn't complain about the cost of calling because there is a cheaper way of doing it.

I honestly had hopes and feelings Talk Radio would have poor ratings with Iain's show being the best of the station. But the way he keeps going on about ratings seems to mean it may end up being the worst Worrying..

I know I shouldn't have but that made me lol.

Why did you hope that Talk Radio would have poor ratings?

I'm paraphrasing as I was working but at the end of his show George Galloway mentioned about telling friends to listen or that things may not continue.

How about marketing the station a bit? I wouldn't even know it existed if it wasn't for this forum or Iain's Twitter. How are 'normal' people supposed to find it?

Just show this to any flat earther: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZLI7WZZRJQ&t=4m9s

Argument over.

That was poorly worded on my part, I mean I hoped Iains show would be the best rated of the station.

I expect management are looking at Virgin. I would assume it costs much less to run and, with roughly the same amount of marketing, it now has double the audience.

After about 11.30 the show was dominated by geeky radio chat, which as Iain pointed out, would delight the forums. Roger phoned in saying he was about to start a radio consultancy specifically in order to help his local commercial station improve its listening figures.

(I suspect he was talking about Key 103 as he is in the Manchester area and that has famously fallen from grace in the ratings from being the most popular local station outside London in the early 90s to 342,000 in the latest RAJAR).

That struck a nerve with Iain has he had had bitter experience in the BBC with people trying to tell him how to do his job, especially given that Roger admitted that he had only done minor radio jobs and that was about 20 years ago. Unfortunately his phone calls kept cutting out. Iain (and myself) was dying to hear what he had to say so Iain got Ed to call him back. Eventually they managed to get hold of him at the end of the show and Iain essentially destroyed him and pleaded with him not to get into radio as people like him make life difficult. Kath mentioned that Digital Spy is full of people who think they can do radio better.

I was wondering whether Roger was Mr Brunel but Roger complained about the cost of the call.

If you watch the very end of the Periscope, Iain does a close up of the touchscreen to show Vinnie calling up (that is how it is spelt in the system) despite the show being over.

I've seen lots of advertising for Virgin, I work in London and there were posters all over the tube stations but I haven't seen a single thing for TalkRadio. Also Virgin as a brand is more prominent than TalkRadio people were always more likely to browse their DAB sets and then listen to it.

I'm not sure about costs either, surely playing licensed music 24x7 costs more than speech only? Virgin also have a studio and a room where they invite audiences in listen to music.

If it's true that Iain has the worst listening figures which I don't think is the case, Iain loves drama and puts himself down continuously but thats probably due to a lack of confidence and his mental health issues. Then maybe what Iain needs is some structure to the show, giving topics to discuss and causing debate this is something he disagrees with but is clearly working for other talk stations. Maybe it's time to get rid of the silliness with the regulars screaming/singing down the phone but have more light hearted structured chats.

There was obviously a good reason why LBC got rid of the 0845 number they used to use, they moved to 0345 which increased the calls massively and makes the station much more interesting with more variety of callers. For me what makes Talk stations interesting isn't the presenters unless you have the likes of James O'Brien it's the callers and thats the problem with Talk Radio they don't have any.

Talk Radio's main priority should be getting people to call in, changing the number is a must and this should have been done at the very beginning but also creating competitions for example a random caller to the station could win £100 etc. Increase in marketing is important but I would expect the budget for a DAB only station would be quite low.

More callers will in turn increase listeners. My family members love LBC it's on in the house near 24/7, they have given Talk Radio a try especially when the horrid James O'Brien is on air but they dislike the station due to a lack of callers ringing in. Listening to a presenter rabbit on for 45 minutes per hour, then having non-stop professionals calling in for interviews is tiring and utterly boring.

Neither have I and I know Jon Holmes and Iain Lee mention this quite often.

Surely, for a station that relies on callers, this is a truly baffling business decision. I am very keen that talkRADIO is a success as I cannot bear most of LBC's output these days, and really want an alternative. I wonder how long it will take the new bosses to make a decision to either invest in it properly a sit is, or make major changes, or can it altogether. I'm hoping they give it a proper chance as it is, personally, although they'll need to re-think the weekend schedule I reckon.

LBC's move to 0345 was due to new rules regarding the usage of 0845 and 0870 numbers. Many business had to do the same thing as well as other radio stations.

Getting a sponsor on board for call of the day maybe a good idea, TalkSPORT do it with Wickes.

LBC need some stiff competition but TalkRadio is a weak alternative with station management that don't seem ti have the energy, enthusiasm, understanding and ability to listen to feedback for the station to become a success.

Maybe the reason why James Whale isn't on TalkRadio right now is because there is no callers to speak to him. Many times I've heard a conversation say with JHB or Iain picked up my phone and thought....Nope I'm not going to pay for this call out of principle, neither would I ring any company these days that I would have to pay for.

He's done topics pretty much throughout his days doing phone-in radio and also at the start of the talkRADIO show. He discovered that people didn't respond to them and generally phoned about other stuff. We discussed that earlier in this thread, and I posted a clip of Clive Bull when he did his "First caller of the night" thing where he would play a bit of music while waiting for the first call, so deliberately avoiding giving out a topic.

5 Live is a more direct competitor to LBC and blows them out of the water in the listening figures outside London and within London they are roughly level, despite LBC being on FM and 5 Live not. IMO talkRADIO should be a distinct alternative to both.

The number of callers is not a major issue for Iain nowadays and Iain told Roger last night he had plenty of callers. There was a lot of fuss about the call cost before the station launched but I haven't heard people complaining about the number much on forums until yesterday. The cost isn't that much of an issue if you get called back. talkSPORT have an even more expensive phone number and they get plenty of calls.

If those interested in Sport are happy to pay £200+ for a football ticket or place a £500 bet on Arsenal or waste £150 on a football top they are more than happy to pay a few quid calling Talksport with there football addiction they've had since a kid.

Little dotty though who's sadly on a state pension of £75 per week or Mike on disability benefits who has an income of £84 per week and wants to ring to get his/her point across on government cuts cannot or will not pay phone charges with TalkRadio it's a totally different demographic.

In regards to call charges it's been a continuous issue since the station began and yes maybe TalkRadio need to do some market research on the effects of charging listeners premium rates when this is now several effecting both on air quality, presenters losing interest as they've got no one to speak to speak too, listeners getting bored as they're desperate to hear real people...Then you've got LBC that takes call after call with interesting people.

Iain is desperate for new callers he often pleads with listeners every 2-5 mins, even using the term 'we'll call you back', yes Iain gets more callers than anyone else but these are the same handful of fans that ring night in night out. How many new callers does Iain get on the average night..... Answer 0-2


For me the number 1 problem with TalkRadio is the call charges it's a problem which is effecting every part of the station from presenter motivation, to bored listeners, to those who feel they cannot contribute or have a say due to charges...

TalkRadio has a cig competitor it's called LBC yet they re refusing to compete with them by allowing listeners to use inclusive minutes.

I would hope talkRADIO is targeting listeners with average and higher than average incomes, not just people on low incomes or benefits. Most people in the UK are middle class so hopefully most listeners will be too. Middle class people can afford to use a telephone. Whilst I would personally prefer lower call charges, I really don't think call charges are that much of an issue. Why? Because they don't announce the call charges very much on air and they call you back anyway. People simply aren't calling most of the shows because there is so much emphasis on interviews and studio based chat.

When I used to listen to Nick Abbot in the dying days of LBC's old format there were many shows when he would do a monologue or talk to the producer for half an hour and then complain there were no calls. As soon as he changed to talking about the news like everyone else he suddenly got loads of calls. Ironically, they were all saying "oh yes it is, oh no it isn't", which for many years he had previously criticised phone-in radio for. His old mantra of "I don't do topics" went out of the window. So that is why I had to laugh when you said LBC takes calls from interesting people! So, yes, LBC get loads of calls, but not ones that I personally want to hear, and that is why I applaud talkRADIO for trying something different. It may be financial suicide meaning the station will close down in a year but if I want LBC I know where I can find it.

I don't mind the entertaining regulars like Alan, Nigel, Jonanathan and of course the legend Barry from Watford, it's some of the others that I have to fast forward as it gets very dull when all people have to say is I listen to all the albums and artists you like and agree with everything you say. I'm not saying I want silly arguments all the time but a bit of difference of opinion can make for some great listening.

Has Jonathan called in recently? I missed a few shows, but the last time I heard him was some weeks back when he talked about punching his mum in the face...