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Though that's not to say that DJs are less busy with everything on a computer. They still have a desk to operate and presumably still need to preview the next 'record' and deal with levels, and as I say dealing with outside sources like the news is now their job

But the biggest change is dealing with listener interaction. Whereas Ken Bruce for example would once have spent the time during each song cueing up the next one he's now sifting through texts, emails and tweets for content for the next link. In the days of that Gloria Hunniford clip the idea of being able to send her a message during a record which she'd read out in the next link was unthinkable... the listener reaction would be by post and included in a link 4 days later

I remember someone telling me that the thing that BBC local radio presenters were most excited about when they started using their virtual studios wasn't anything to do with the output but the social media interface they get. That's such a big part of their job nowadays

No, you don't have to preview the next record and levels are far less of an issue. In a properly setup playout system, everything about the track will be already set up. Levels, intro timing, fades or cuts. The DJ doesn't need to know as much about those things as it's already setup for them.

But I didn't say things were less busy, I did say they were very different, and social media is something that just wasn't a big part of radio in the 20th century, and has only really become big in the last 10 years or so.

Indeed, even at the community radio level, social media is as big a part of our output as radio is. We don't just think about listeners in terms of our audience, but also readers on Facebook and Twitter. How many see our posts, how many react to them, how many leave comments etc.

You don't have to, but a professional will because it's always a good idea to check the next item.


Er, that's essentially what I said


Community radio isn't unique in that respect, there's not many broadcasters not looking at those things these days. Even Radio 4 are looking at their Facebook and twitter figures


The big difference with community radio I suppose is that the audience interaction *during* shows is virtually non existent as the audience is so small. The thing about only 10% or whatever of your audience getting in touch with a station could boil down to 1 person who's probably not listening at that moment

The studio manager at the hospital radio station i volunteer at is always popping his head in the door and reminding us to check levels.

As I understand it, at the BBC, the continuity suites (which is what the Radio 1 and 2 self op studios were originally designed as) were set up so that the engineer (studio manager) could refine the balance through a set of group faders fed from the DJ desk, so one fader that had the output of all the DJ's mic faders, one with all of the DJ's grams faders, one with all of the DJ's cart machine faders etc. Through this they could tweak the final mix as well as add additional sources not available on the DJ desk. There was also a facility that could feed the DJ/announcer desk direct to LW (back when Radio 2 was on there) for the Shipping Forecast while the SM played something out from tape to FM.

A new version of these desks was introduced later called the Maxi-Con which could be used in different ways, either the DJ desk self-op with support from a studio manager, studio manager driving everything, or totally self-op. One of the big advantages of this was that a programme could stay in the same studio with a stand-in presenter who couldn't drive the desk rather than having to book a talks studio.

An ITN newsflash on the Challenger disaster followed by some inappropriately bombastic presentation by Central

"That bit" from the final Late Late Breakfast Show has been uploaded by Andy Pearman, it's right at the end of this massive compilation from the final series. Given what happened a few days later, so much of what Noel says on the phone to Michael Lush is quite difficult to watch now.

Enjoy Andy Pearman's channel while you can. He's had a complaint from the BBC, and will be shutting his channel down on Monday.

I can't say I'm surprised, clips and rare bits of TV and radio is one thing, but whole series in full is sailing a bit close to the wind. Top of The Pops clips in particular are likely to be clamped down on by the beeb due to performance rights payments, it can be fairly tricky and costly to reuse them in BBC programmes!

Also I imagine the uploaders ident before each clip isn't exactly a good way to ingraticiate yourself to a copyright owner

There's a a couple of other YouTube accounts doing similar mass uploads of programmes, I do wonder where some of them get them from. Does Andy Pearman really have every noel Edmonds show on VHS for example? I can't remember if any programmes I've seen on his channel have continuity on them

Surely the amount of views the channel got should be telling somebody at the Beeb that they ought to be doing something like this themselves, officially?

Unpopular opinion time no doubt, but I've personally always been a bit concerned with the increasing amount of full length uploads that go online from people in our circles. As people who put pres online, we've always known we were towing the line legally with what we put up, but it seemed there was a general understanding that we'd just upload shorter clips, and in return the broadcasters turned a blind eye to it as long as we weren't taking the proverbial. Indeed as I recall that one time a now sadly missed member of the community started uploading full copies of Grange Hill episodes, he came under quite heavy fire for it from members on here out of fear on how it would damage relationships with broadcasters. At some point are we likely to find this change in attitudes over time leads to an inevitable clampdown on everything video related, short and long, under a 'well when we give them an inch, they'll take a mile' logic?

I've added a number of items recently onto YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxelAYNZi5zdh5wvjbHjyPQ/videos which is mostly just short clips, idents, radio jingles etc, much of the stuff I used to have on TV & Radio Bits, though I have put two full-length editions of Liquid News (the Christopher Price tribute and the final edition). Following the last few comments, I wonder if I would be on safer ground removing those two items?