Radio Success Stories
The latest Rajar listening figures were published this morning and they reveal that audiences for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland are on the up. This, naturally, prompted one newspaper reporter to ask me if I thought we were a "failing station". That, it seems, is 'the story'.
Welcome to my world.
Admittedly, our audience rise was fairly modest and nothing like the surge that has been reported for Galaxy Radio, our next door neighbours at Pacific Quay. Over there my pal Stuart Barrie seems to be doing wonders and luring young music fans away from other commercial stations.
Perhaps, to avoid accusations of failure, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland ought to muscle in on Galaxy's turf.
I'm sure our news presenters could be persuaded to get down with the kids. We could just abandon our commitment to jazz, classical and traditional music and fill the airwaves with Biffy Clyro and Rihanna.
Our political Editor Brian Taylor could get some funky tattoos.
Robbie Shepherd could be photographed falling out of posh London night-clubs.
Now, before you get too excited by these ideas, I should say I'm only joking.
Sorry Brian. Sorry Robbie.
But it does prompt some thoughts about the nature of success.
To be fair to that newspaper reporter ( in the Scotsman) he did accept that our most recent figures were on the increase, but he was contrasting our audience now with the peaks we've had in the past. Even in my few years at the helm, we've had audience numbers edging beyond a million listeners a week and then sinking lower than 900,000. It's a roller-coaster - always has been - but I'd much prefer to be running a national radio station than editing a national newspaper. I mean, those editors get paid a lot more, but must make you feel like you're on a helter skelter.
Oh what am I saying? Of course I'd take the money.
Our strategy at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland has been to commission the kind of content that makes us very different from commercial radio. That includes drama, new comedy, live music, arts programming, investigative documentaries, new conversation formats and big online initiatives like our Complete Burns project, our 11 weekly podcasts and our themed Zones.
In sport we've invested beyond our natural territory of football to include coverage of Scottish rugby, golf, tennis and cricket.
Not one of those decisions guarantee big audiences, but they do offer additional choice for radio listeners in Scotland. We think that's the role of a licence-fee funded broadcaster, but it hasn't deterred one or two well-known politicians from sticking the boot it. The same politicians who appear on our news programmes and then, without any sense of irony or self-awareness, claim there's nothing worth listening to on the station.
Speaking to Stephen last night I also mentioned projects like Under the Influence, our alcohol awareness season. I told him about the listeners who had contacted us and told how that month of programmes had made them question their drinking habits.
"Even I decided to quit drinking for life," I told Stephen.
Well, this brought the conversation to a temporary halt.
"You've given up alcohol for life?" he asked. He seemed incredulous.
"Yes, " I confirmed, "and not even a bad set of listening figures would tempt me back to the bottle."
That was my feeble attempt at humour. He wasn't impressed. I don't even think he'll quote me on that.
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