Back To School...

September always feels like the 'back to school' month after the long, hot, balmy summer that we had here in the UK. Well... not really, but anyway...

And with that comes a glut of conferences to attend, clients to see and projects to develop.

At the tail end of August, it was great to hook up with all the guys from P5 in Norway at their summer conference. It was an opportunity for all the team to be updated on the current state of the market, new initiatives moving forward and what lies ahead for 2012. But even more than that, it was a great ‘team’ event. It’s easy to be cynical about these kind of get togethers, but I witnessed first-hand the great effect that making members of your station ‘walk the plank’ can have!! If your station doesn’t do events like this every now again, start doing them!!

There’s a good buzz about the nextradio.io conference in London in a couple of weeks time. There’s a fantastic line-up of speakers and I also have my allotted ‘9 minutes’ to deliver some sage words to the assembled crowd. I hope this event proves to be an annual get together, offering a forum for new, fresh and innovative ideas in radio.

Cyprus is a country I’ve not been to before, and I’m really looking forward to speaking at the ‘Radio Breakfast’ at the end of September organised by Dias Media, who are one of the big media players on the island. Any opportunity to drive home the benefits of using radio as a great medium for advertising is one that I can’t resist, and they tell me the sun always shines in Nicosia this time of year!!

Denmark’s annual get together of the good, bad, and erm... ‘damn good looking’ of Danish radio takes place at the start of October. Radiodays Denmark (from which Radiodays Europe sprung from) is always a great day, and the fact it’s combined with the Danish Radio Awards on the same night ensures it’s a hell of a party. I’m doing a session with the PD of London’s Number 1 Commercial station – Magic 105.4, Pete Simmons. We’re looking at “The Magic Behind Magic” (the title was too easy I know) and we’ll be dissecting the factors that have made that station consistently perform well in a tough market.

So, in between all that, I think some visits to client stations in Austria and Slovakia are in order, as everyone is now ‘back to school’. Plus **plug alert** my Saturday morning show on Absolute 80s (‘Cafe 80s’) which I present along with Dan McGrath, is going great guns and keeping us busy... so I guess that it’ll be a pretty busy month ahead.

Plus there’s another very exciting project in development... but more about that when the time is right!

Welcome ‘Back to School’ everyone!!

Sony Radio Academy Awards - 2011

Every year, I’m amazed at the quality and range of programmes in UK radio, celebrated and rewarded at the ‘Sony Radio Academy Awards’... the UK’s “Radio Oscars”.

The news from the night has already been pretty well covered. You can see the full list of winners here, and read some good reviews online.

The one thing I always leave the Sony’s with (apart from a large dent in my wallet. 'How much for a round of drinks?!!') is a renewed sense of optimism that in the UK, we have a radio industry that thrives on creativity and innovation, and is home to so many passionate industry professionals that want to keep creating brilliant programmes and formats.

From Ronnie Wood through to BBC 5 Live Breakfast, the range is just superb. So, if you don’t live in the UK, and want to experience the 'Best of British Radio'... take a look down the winners list, and track down some of their shows. You can hear a lot of live and previously broadcast shows here on the Radioplayer.

So... as Dan McGrath and I (pictured) prepare for our new radio show ‘Cafe 80s’ on Absolute 80s, which starts this Saturday at 9am... we have something to aim for next year!

New Weekend Show for Absolute 80s - Cafe 80s

They say that the ‘radio presenting bug’ never quite leaves you, and dwells deep within your bloodstream, before eventually breaking out years later, in a virulent case of ‘on-air activity’.

Well, I can confirm... that is very true!

This morning, Absolute Radio issued the following press release:

New Weekend Show for Absolute 80s – Cafe 80s
Absolute 80s is launching a brand new weekend morning show, presented by Dan McGrath and Nik Goodman – Cafe 80s.

Cafe 80s will air Saturdays from 9am – 12pm and will be an entertaining and light-hearted show with fun features and the best music that made Absolute 80s famous – this is the land of Human League, U2, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Prince, ABC, Depeche Mode, Blondie and Bon Jovi, with a sprinkle of timeless tunes from artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson and Culture Club.

The show will also feature guests from all walks of life who found fame in the 80s – be they from the world of music, film, TV or sport all with a 2011 take on the 80s. Dan and Nik have over 40 years of radio experience between them – they grew up in the halcyon days of the 1980s and share the same memories, experiences and growing pains, as the station’s audience of reluctant adults.

Cafe 80s is Absolute 80s first regular commission and will launch on Saturday 14th May. The commission demonstrates Absolute Radio’s commitment to personality and entertaining, unique content on its family of decade brands.

Dan McGrath was part of Chris Evans’ on air team throughout The Big Breakfast, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, TFI Friday, Radio 1 and Virgin Radio days. In 2001 he set up his own company (Cannon Studios) to supply music, audio production and presentation for all aspects of media, which (among other things) lead to him writing the theme tunes to a raft of high profile TV shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the ‘Lloyd Webber, BBC Star Search’ series.

Nik Goodman started his career in radio working alongside the legendary record producer, Pete Waterman, at Radio City in his native Liverpool during the late 1980’s. He has had a successful career in radio which has included drivetime show on Power FM, programme director at Virgin Radio (where he first met Dan), Kiss FM and Capital Radio. In 2006, he founded a creative media consultancy focusing on music, programming, and content development for radio stations and now has clients in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and India.

Cafe 80s set to be a show our Absolute 80s nostalgic audience will love!

So, the headphones are being dusted off as we speak and I'm really looking forward to presenting this new show. Dan and I will get to play some fantastic 80s music on a Saturday morning, speak to some fun people from that era, and have a bit of a laugh on the radio. What could be better?

I'm already getting through lots of song suggestions and ideas for the show from my 30-50 year old friends! And the more people I introduce the station to, the more people tell me they love it.

I'd like to say "Saturday mornings will never be the same again"... but that's not true. They will be. They'll just have 2 guys who love playing songs from the 80s on the radio.

So stop by and have a coffee! Cafe 80s starts on Saturday 14th May at 09:00.