Anorak Nation: Discussion: XoffM

        So many things to be said about this with regard to auto
        broadcasting, apart from it being for robots, which is what
        government and advertisers want us all to become anyway.
        I have heard Erics arguments in the past with regard to
        the comparison between broadcasting from a rust bucket in the north, or a land based comfortable air conditioned state of the art studio. The preference is obvious, so apart from the occasional commemorative RSL the former is never going to happen again.
        I mention this because, I see pleas for something new to prevent
        this pointless form of broadcasting, well what about something old, that something being to broadcast in the style and with the
        passion and attitude of most of the 60's pirate DJ's.
        What we have today is either the personality presenter who we
        have come to loath or love over a great many years, and who is
        grossly overpaid for what they do. Or the media studies graduate trained to toe the management line, who all sound the same, play
        of the same playlist, and read liner cards, in short robots broadcasting to robots neither of whom know any better because
        they don't know the history.
        If we could get back to the situation of these happy times, where we had D.J's with personality, who were trusted by management to build an audience, treat it with respect, and give
        it what it wanted, the way they wanted it. The advertisers came in behind that. These were the professionals who had the happy
        knack of making each person they broadcast to, feel that, even although they knew another 5 Million people were listening, felt that the DJ was doing it just for them.
        Now the advertisers and the agencies have control of the output
        down to what is said, or what is played and when, so they can place their product the way they want to, and sod the audience.
        In those halcyon days, the audience was the client, this is what
        we need to return to now, with the advertisers as the secondary
        client fitting round that. The advertisers may take the view that they pay the money so they call the tune, but they fail to
        realise where that money comes from, namely the listener to whom they sell their overpriced product to be able to afford the advertising in the first place.
        The other choices are listener subscription, advert free, or
        licensed beeb style broadcasting.
        One thing that I see is that advertisers will have to spread their budgets further over many more stations on different platforms, with much smaller audiences. Are their advertisers
        enlightened enough to take this on board the benefits to them
        of giving the listener back the control they always should have
        had are manifold, but I doubt they can take their blinkers off now
--
        Arthur G. R. Sutherland