Times Radio

[cmr_for3]

Anybody listening?

I am and am very impressed a good alternative to R4 for news without the phone ins or ads of Talkradio/LBC.

[Dave2002]

How is this being financed? So far I haven't heard any adverts, though there are station announcements. I fear ads will come - this is hardly likely to be a charitable exercise - or will there be subscriptions?

[Cockney Sparrow]

James Murdoch called for the downsizing of the BBC, Edinburgh speech, years ago. I'm sure the intention of the Murdoch media has not gone away, and they now have their chance. I see it as just another front in their war on the BBC and generally, to dominate the media in the UK - with which comes influence and access to power.
I presume advertising will come in, but maybe not until the BBC is a mere shadow of its former self....

Johnson spent years tossing off wordery for the Telegraph as little as possible to be handsomely paid for it (per Private Eye). That is now a mere vestige of a once respectable paper (don't expect to read anything against the views or business interests of the Barclay brothers - and the paper runs on little more than a skeleton staff (again - P Eye)).
I see now, in the position of "leader" Johnson is writing for the Times, accessible behind a paywall - and (per the Guardian website) has blessed Times radio with an interview. (Never "available " for the BBC though...). There really appears to be no decency now on the part of Johnson and those he appoints. Over the course of the next four years so many of the voters (potential and others) will be inured to it and I fear it will be the new normal.

I'm sure Johnson will be rewarded in 4 years time from the Murdoch media with their support. Just a thought - perhaps they should go into property development - I'm sure their path can be smoothed.

[gurnemanz]

Following the above nudge I duly retuned my DAB to find it, thereby losing all my pre-sets, so I quickly put them back in. I didn't listen for long so can't really make a fair assessment but it seemed to be doing what it did quite adequately in a similar vein to Five Live, which I do sometimes listen to but mainly for sport and Friday film reviews. Listening blind, I would have assumed it actually was Five Live with its presenter-based chat slots. It will probably be useful to have it as an occasional alternative but doesn't appear to offering anything much more than what you can't already get from Five Live, World Service, LBC etc. It's not really like Radio Four which has a much broader palette of programmes. I gave it a pre-set but can't see it becoming staple listening.

[Globaltruth]

My personal rule of thumb is to avoid anything that is connected to Murdoch(s)*.

I strongly recommend this tactic.

Stig Abell repaying the (BBC) hand that fed him by poaching their staff - suspect he will do well in the evil empire.

By the way, surely the Radio Times magazine have a case for IP theft here?


* other than Stinker Murdoch of course

[kernelbogey]

The Guardian writes
The new station, which is heavily staffed by former BBC presenters and producers, is being run without adverts as a promotion for the Times’s digital subscriptions, in the knowledge it will make a hefty loss for the first few years.