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BBC radio chief defends populist approach, outlines interactive future

By | Published on Tuesday 15 March 2016

BBC

The boss of BBC Radio, Helen Boaden, has echoed comments made by new Radio 1 music chief Chris Price with regards recent remarks from the UK government to the effect that the Corporation’s two big pop stations – so Radios 1 and 2 – should stop being so “populist”. Because then they wouldn’t compete so head-on with commercial radio.

As previously reported, Price told The Guardian: “Breaking new music is enshrined in Radio 1’s service licence, it’s what we’re here to do. But what’s unique about us is that we play brand new music in the mix with more established names, that’s what gives us our size and our strength. So if Radio 1 were to play only music that was ignored by other broadcasters, it would quickly turn into a niche station. We would lose our ability to make the hits, which means commercial radio wouldn’t have any hits to play”.

Concurring with that viewpoint while speaking at the Radiodays Europe conference in Paris, according to The Guardian, Boaden criticised the logic that a less populist Radio 1 and 2 would result in new listeners over at the commercial pop stations.

“The latest debate has been fuelled by a focus only on how to limit the market impact of the BBC”, she said. “At the expense of what our audiences actually want. I think this is a ‘cycloptic’ – one eyed – approach and some of the claims made as a result require a robust response. The argument is that if we made BBC Radio less appealing to 25 to 44 year olds, those listeners would flock to commercial radio. Real life suggests otherwise”.

Commercial radio stations do face a challenge, Boaden conceded, with younger consumers less likely to tune in, and listening hours often down across the board, but, she said, these were challenges everyone in traditional broadcasting faces. Commercial broadcasters need to evolve their business models, she argued, rather than just doing some customary BBC bashing. To be fair, most commercial radio firms are doing a bit of both.

Boaden then outlined how the Beeb is evolving its radio proposition for the digital age, basically bigging up the recently unveiled BBC Music app and ongoing plans to provide a “more tailored radio experience”.

She also confirmed that the BBC has more ambitions in that regard, partly reliant on ongoing talks with the music industry about how much interactivity the Corporation can offer users under its current or amended licences. The desired outcome? “A personalised radio station, for every listener, based on what they like listening to combining live and on-demand audio with music playlists and regular updates”.

Which could be exciting. Though, one would assume, beyond any licensing issues with labels and music publishers, the BBC might face other challenges in its bid to go further down the personalised radio route, as it starts to arguably compete with the on-demand streaming services that are currently partners on the BBC Music app.

If and when that happens, the standalone streaming firms will probably join the commercial radio groups in the next round of BBC bashing. So expect Price and Boaden to be defending Radios 1 and 2 for being flexible as well as populist in the future.



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