Broadcasting

I think you can safely say that I have broadcasting running through my veins. Although, judging by my upbringing, I think I should really have taken the technical route as opposed to the creative road.

If anyone is to blame for my career, passion and sometimes love of the industry then perhaps it’s my father. Although my life in the business was not exactly ‘like father, like son’. My Dad joined the BBC as a radio transmitter engineer during World War Two. When I was young he would tell me the most incredible stories of life as a wartime engineer – many of his tales have remained with me all my life. He came from the ‘valve’ generation. I remember he actually built our first television set – it was made from hardboard and provided us with 1950’s BBC television for quite a few years.

We’d often spend hours in his makeshift workshop in the garage where he was often found building things from valves, condensers and transformers based on complicated circuit diagrams. Then, after much nagging from yours truly, he’d occasionally take me to his place of work at the massive regional VHF 405 line television transmitter at North Hessary Tor on Dartmoor. This was a serious treat for me and something I desperately relished.

‘Hessary’ had been built by the BBC in the mid 1950’s to serve Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset. It was this transmitter which brought television to the South West of England. It had an enormous mast held into position massive stay wires which stretched outwards over the moors. The actual transmitter building was made of solid granite and housed not only the extremely large television transmitter (and later VHF radio transmitters), the ‘mess hall’ but also a huge emergency back-up power generator which, if my memory serves me right, came from an equally large ship.

My father was part of a small team of transmitter engineers who fulfilled the vital role of maintaining the BBC television service to the region. Later they also acted as a regional master control centre when they used to control the ‘opt-outs’ from network (which was fed to ‘Hessary’ from ‘Wenvoe’ in South Wales) to switch to the primitive tiny television studio at Seymour Road in Plymouth for a daily regional news programme ‘South West at 6’ (later ‘Spotlight South West’).

On extra special occasions my father would take me on rare visits to the small television studio in Plymouth. This was built into a Victorian house. I remember the studio had only two black & white cameras. The newsreaders position was stuffed to back corner of the room and inches away was another position for the presenter. The camaraderie in that building was quite extraordinary – here were all these fairly flamboyant people with a strange determination that ‘the show must go on’ broadcasting 25 minutes each weekday evening to massive South West audiences from these truly archaic and greatly inadequate facilities … but I loved it!

From these very early days there was one thing I understood more than anything – the role of engineering in broadcasting is infinitely more important than just about anything. Throughout my career on the creative side I have always tried to understand and work as closely as possible with engineers. In fact a basic understanding and genuine interest of broadcast engineering has greatly assisted me over the years.

When I reached my spotty mid teens I started pestering every single Head of Presentation on the ITV network with requests for work! Looking back I was determined even though I must have been mad! I wanted a career in broadcasting even if it meant I was to work for the enemy – the dreaded and much sniffed at commercial broadcasting.

My early spotty attempt to become the next David Hamilton wasn’t to be. However, despite my extreme young age I did have one fairly reasonable asset – my voice. I had managed to remove most trace of my Devon accent at a fairly early age. I also had quite a resonant voice if not the artistic range of an experienced stage actor. This was the one tool that was to help me for many years.

So I started out as a ‘voice’. In fact I discovered after my first ‘voice-overs’ for the newly introduced Bush colour television set and the recently imported Lada cars (!) that agents wanted more of my asset. This opened all sorts of doors which meant that my ‘voice’ was heard all over country. It also meant on some occasions I had the chance to visit studios and meet the people working in the business.

Eventually commercial radio started in Britain and, quite naturally, I wanted to play a part. I spent a brief time travelling the UK for auditions.

I was accepted for the station in Manchester for weekend shifts but turned it down.

I went to an audition in Cardiff. When the train arrived into the city there was huge graffiti saying ‘go home you English ba****rds’. Then the Head of Programmes turned up for the appointment two hours late and had the air of an unprofessional, amateur pseudo Lew Grade.

I was too ‘posh’ for the new station in Plymouth according to the then flamboyant Controller.

I went for an audition in Exeter and was asked to interview the Controller about a film he had made for Granada’s ‘World in Action’ about Russian Dissidents.

Strangely, just as I was beginning to kind of forgive the guy in Cardiff (I was that desperate!), I rang the Controller in Exeter who had given me this terrifying audition. My pitch to this guy was that I wanted only one programme – the late evening show. So when I spoke to him from a telephone box in Saltash, he told me I had got the job, I was to present the show I wanted, the audition was a disaster, he was taking a risk (!) but he loved my voice. So for £70 a week for six shows a week I was to join DevonAir Radio at the launch of their new station serving Exeter and Torbay.

This was my start in commercial broadcasting. It was my vocal ability that got me the job, I never forgot the importance of technical perfection, I stayed with the station for about 7 years and rose to become a Head of Presentation in my own right!

By 1987 I had changed my career path and directed my energies towards consultancy, training, development and the creation of new broadcast opportunities.

Zimbabwe:

I was appointed radio adviser to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. This was in happier times for country when there was a genuine drive for improvement along with a positive vision for the future. With the willingness and sheer determination of the broadcasters we managed to turn a flagging Radio 3 into an immensely popular station – so popular in fact that world class advertisers were actually contacting us direct for air-time and sponsorship.

From my point of view all it took was quite a lot programme ‘re-tuning’, some quite serious presentation training and the importance of technical control. In many ways this assignment was one of my most exciting ventures – not only had we redeveloped the station, the presenters had become household names overnight, we were bringing in much needed revenue and there was a real feeling of achievement, to say nothing of the incredible camaraderie we built.

You can image how I feel today when I see the truly appalling situation in Zimbabwe. I have lost contact with all of the friends I made and from what I gather all the hard work and happiness that was injected has now evaporated. To be honest, I have to say, a day never passes when I don’t stop and think about the dreadful loss, sadness, starvation and brutality that has swept through that beautiful country – as for friends, the smiles, the laughter, the professional achievement … what can I say? I simply do not what has become of my colleagues and the friends I made. If you worked with me at the ZBC - please drop me a line and say hello. The recent events in Zimbabwe have caused appalling pain to the Zimbabweans and have broken my heart.

Malta:

Malta is a small collection of rocky islands set in the Mediterranean. Once under British rule, now an independent republic. In 1988 I was invited to go to this country to act as radio broadcast adviser to Xandir Malta, the national broadcaster (now called PBS). It was Rediffusion that started radio broadcasting in Malta in 1935 in competition with the Italian stations that can still be heard in Malta today. Rediffusion had overseen the cabling of the islands and during the war it was Rediffusion who broadcast the air-raid sirens over the cable system to warn the Maltese of impending bombing raids. ‘Cable’ was very much part of the way of life in Malta, but by late 1980’s (with Rediffusion consigned to Maltese history) the system was literally falling apart. Indeed by the time I arrived in Malta the Maltese were still referring to radio as ‘the box’ because many listeners were still listening to Radio Malta using the old Rediffusion loudspeaker box.

I advised on the phasing out of the old cable system and also started a major presentation training for the two Maltese radio stations which had been transmitting on MF and FM for many years. Stepping into Broadcasting House was rather like going back to 1950’s Home Service. Despite the obvious need for serious investment in the infrastructure I was truly amazed at the quality and standards of the broadcasters. Many of them had been trained by Rediffusion. Quite a few had experienced the BBC method. Although some were in need of technical and broadcast technique training, I was amazed how many took their jobs as ‘broadcasters’ so very professionally. For me this was an excellent starting point and I have to say it was a genuine pleasure to work amongst many of the broadcast ‘icons’ that inhabited the corridors of Broadcasting House.

Malta made such an impression on me that it became my home for a number of years. I still have friends and acquaintances on the islands. Broadcasting is now deregulated and there are vast numbers of radio stations that swamp the country. Sadly with the proliferation of so many broadcast outlets the overall presentation and production quality is a mere shadow of its former professional glory. I am glad to say that I haven’t completely lost contact with a few of my former Xandir colleagues and it is always a great pleasure to renew friendships and discuss ‘real broadcasting’! I still have professional links with Malta as you will see later.

Namibia:

Namibia is another beautiful country and one that, thank goodness, has not gone down the same route as its neighbour Zimbabwe. I took an assignment with the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation to redevelop radio broadcasting skills and advise on new plans for black presentation for their television service. I have to say that the Namibian broadcasters were extremely hungry for positive direction and it was my pleasure to help reshape their national English service by turning the channel into a popular service where use of the language helped increase listenership. Here the facilities were quite up-to-date and there was a awareness of what popular and high audience radio was like. My job was to swing audiences away from neighbouring stations to those of the NBC. To a large degree this was achieved mainly due to the willingness of the broadcasters to take positive direction.

Malta again …

Meanwhile back in Malta there was the smell of deregulation in the air. The monopoly of Xandir Malta was about to be shattered with the onslaught ‘private stations’. I was being invited, suddenly, to a few clandestine meetings with certain decision makers – had this have been Italy, Spain or Greece I think I would have felt the great hand of power on my shoulder … but this was Malta – population under half a million, just 100,000 households. But the powers that be (mainly politicians) had truly enormous plans for such a tiny potential audience. My advice (ignored quicker than you can say ‘pluralism’) was to go ahead with new broadcast legislation but have another one or two new competitive, television and radio stations appointed by the Malta Broadcasting Authority.

With my plans, these new, politically unbiased, editorially diverse, stations would compete directly with the national broadcaster, would not totally dilute the commercial potential and encourage highly professional competition. The people I spoke to (they know who they are!) shook their heads in a kind of proper approval and then, as I closed the door behind me, swiftly went on what can only be described as an orgy, a binge of complete madness.

The decision makers in Malta decided that each of the political parties, the church and countless business magnates were to be allowed to have their own television and radio stations. There was also to be an immeasurable number of ‘localised’ FM stations. Indeed they decided to open the broadcasting door so wide that the broadcasting market was to be flooded for ever! It was boom time in the madhouse.

I was approached by one enthusiastic businessman who had plans to apply for a national English language radio station. This guy, along with so many who jumped on the fated broadcasting ‘escalation’ bandwagon, had a naïve enthusiasm for the ‘glory’ of owning such a business that was quite unbelievable.

I spent about two years working for and advising one consortium of wannabe radio station hopefuls. In the end this particular group were successful with their pitch to the regulator, went on to operate a national station, ignored early warnings about the dilution of the market, had quite shocking audience figures and from all accounts sold out.

I left Malta and all this madness just as this amazing law became The Broadcasting Act 1991 and the companies were ‘appointed’. Today tiny, beautiful Malta has dozens of radio stations and an unusual number of television services all scratching around for any available income to sustain their survival.

There’s no business like the franchise business:

During the mid-1990’s the UK commercial radio scene was again beginning to shift. The terrifying franchise system which had been a hallmark of the regulators ITA, IBA and The Radio Authority (and later OFCOM) was about to pinpoint DevonAir Radio, the company I started my commercial radio career with back in 1980. So far DevonAir had successfully been re-awarded their contract. On the surface there was no real reason why they simply shouldn’t continue along the road of survival.

In 1992 I had noticed that the station was beginning to falter slightly. Other stations were developing along certain routes where DevonAir wasn’t. I began to put together a few ideas of my own and started discussion with other established broadcast companies with a view to putting together an application to oppose my former employer. Much to my shock there turned out to be quite a lot underlying interest in this contract and whilst I was the first to go public I was also the first to be swept away with the corporate violence and, quite honestly, the serious nastiness of other contenders. DevonAir Radio lost its franchise in the unseemly, tacky scramble. For me it was a quite a learning curve and history has shown that the result of the contest was not the run away success that many had dreamed of.

Towards tomorrow:

For me the future of broadcasting is most definitely in the hands of the consumer. The days of broadcast barons dictating like Moses from the mountain dictating what we should be allowed to expose our ears and eyes to are well and truly over. As the listener or viewer demands more specialisation and higher quality the success of the broadcaster depends on the ability to actually listen to the consumer and deliver the goods.

Broadcasting is driven by content. If I want to listen to Lounge Jazz then I should have it readily available. I don’t care where it comes from, who broadcasts it and what ‘system’ it is transmitted on. If I am in a Punk mood or fancy some Italian classical - the same should apply. If I want to know the current travel conditions in Liechtenstein then I should not care who or what is giving me this information just so long as I know, understand and trust the content.

This is what I have been working on for the last few years. We are now entering the most interesting phase of our history. The convergence of transparent technologies into one single device – where the only thing that matters is the content. Broadcasters today have to realise that what they produce has to have an excellence and attraction beyond their former wildest dreams. With this programming supremacy comes a new loyal, content savvy listener and viewer who will hold you dear as a close friend and drop you like a brick if you let them down.

You can see details of my current work at: Prime ABC – click here.