Menu
Mark Borkowski.
Mark My Words
  • Blog
  • About
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Books
  • Social
  • Archive
  • Contact
Close Menu
July 14, 2004

COME IN, BIRMINGHAM: ARE YOU RECEIVING ME?

Chrysalis Radio’s chief exec Phil Riley had me in the hot seat on stage at The Radio Academy’s annual festival yesterday, in front of radio’s great & gross. On the topic “Improperganda – Wild, Wicked and Worth it?” we cheered everyone up with tales of great radio publicity stunts and included a rare appearance by veteren American producer Sam Fields, whom they flew in from NY at my suggestion. Sam worked with Orson Welles on the infamous radio production of H.G.Wells’ “War of the Worlds” which had half 1930s America leaping in their cars and heading for the hills to avoid invading Martians. On reflection, this could have been due to the fact that half 1930s America was remarkably poorly educated. Also, Orson hadn’t yet recorded his even more infamous series of frozen pea commercials, so nobody recognised his fabulous voice.

Our spot followed a serious heads-down discussion on whether British Radio is ‘the Last Stronghold of the Liberal Left?’ featuring Charles Moore, John Lloyd etc. Well the BBC maybe, but not commercial radio. Commercial radio in this country has taken a generation to evolve from a tiny, inconsequential flea bite, hell bent on making absolute maximum profits for its investors, into a quite nasty rash, hell bent on making absolute maximum profits for its investors. You can’t hear much wealth on-air, that’s for sure.

When Classic FM opened in 1992 it planned to function at a profit on 4 minutes of ads an hour. Listen to it now and weep for lost innocence.

Related Posts

Mark Comments, Uncategorized

Circus showman Gerry Cottle dies with coronavirus aged 75

Mark Comments, Uncategorized

STRIKE A POSE Catwalk Queen Kate Moss has £12m in bank after being top of her game for years

Mark My Words

Depp in deep

Recent Posts

  • Circus showman Gerry Cottle dies with coronavirus aged 75
  • The winners and losers of Megxit: One year on from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell announcement, how the Duke’s old school pals and the Queen have lost out while Oprah and even Joe Biden have benefitted
  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry hired ex-Palace aids despite ‘vipers’ claim
  • ‘I am my mother’s son’: Harry uses a photo of Diana and vows to ‘unleash the power of compassion’ with Meghan on new website for foundation that reveals partnerships with Stanford ‘centre for altruism research’ and ‘humane technology’ charity
  • Archie’s first podcast: Meghan and Harry feature 19-month-old son in star-studded first Spotify episode and coax him into wishing listeners a Happy New Year in his American accent

Previous posts

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

Archives

Back To Top
Mark Borkowski.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Books
  • Social
  • Archive
  • Contact
© Mark Borkowski. 2021
Mark My Words
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram