Autumn 2015 Issue 149
Published: October 2015 www.hbauk.com
2B2D9? ,&OW 3B?2542CD 7?B F2D7?B5 9?C@ D2 B25 ? Watford Hospital Radio celebrate 60 years serving the patients of the Watford General Hospital with special 60 hour marathon broadcast.
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3W NOY Y I YOL 9 VPYHR 3W H JH YPTN 2 JPHYP T The Journal of the Hospital Broadcasting Association LOGO
T YOP P L Chairman's Welcome Page 3 Watford's 60hour Broadcast Page 4 9LRR FLRJ SL Bay Trust Scores Football Goals Page 5 I'm Ian Pinnell, your new editor of MP raises money for Medway Page 7 OnAir, and I'm looking forward to Health Bosses launch new station Page 7 bringing you the best of Hospital Radio Horton Co-Founder Dies Page 7 Radio in this, redesigned magazine. Richard Smith's Big Broadcast 2015 Page 8 NottsNHR Robin Hood Bed Push Page 9 You can find out more about me HRB Open Day Page 10 under 'Get to know your Editor' on Health Today Radio Page 11 page 15. June's Travels Page 13 Get to know your Editor Page 15 If you have any questions or Long Service Certificates Page 15 comments relating to the new look HBA Awards 2016 Page 16 OnAir, please let me know via email - Radio Academy Festival 2015 Page 17 [email protected]. Use that same Rhodders at the Radio Festival Page 20 address if you've got a story to send Save Our Sounds, British Library Page 22 too.
Deadline for copy for issue 150 is Front cover image: December 1st 2015. Watford Hospital Radio celebrates 60 years on the air, with a mammoth 60hr broadcast. Release date for issue 150 is January 2016.
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7 W W PTM WSHYP T The Hospital Broadcasting Association(HBA) is the operating name of the National Association of Hospital Broadcast- ing Organisations, Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (No. 2750147) and a charity (No. 1015501). Registered office: Avebury House, St Peter Street, Winchester, SO23 8BN
All material ©2015 HBA and may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. Views expressed in this magazine are the personal opinion of the contributor, and not necessarily those of the HBA or the editors. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, all advertisements and articles are included in good faith and HBA accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions. 2 SL HNL MW S YOL 932 4OHPWSHT 8WHTY J H NOY T
You may be aware that the Trustees and Executives of the Association are progressing some dynamic restructuring of the organisation to allow us to deliver our services to our members and promote hospital broadcasting across the UK. This is no mean task and I am delighted on the progress that we are making. We’ve already published our initial plans and timetable as well as a short video showing exactly what we wish and need to deliver. This is available to view on the HBA Website.
As you can appreciate there is a lot of work still to do to allow as smooth an implementation of change as possible. HBA, like many other associations and organisations, are streamlining with an eye on limited resources yet delivering the services expected. I believe that HBA will be, once again, in an excellent position to represent hospital broadcasting.
Our Regional Representatives have delivered several meetings this year and I am pleased that the association’s members acknowledge the need and desire to restructure and aim to deliver what our aim and objectives are.
The Trustees are engaged with the challenges ahead and are working as a collective team to ensure that we rekindle relationships with key stakeholders, supporters and members alike. This takes time but I’m delighted to report that great progress is being made. For example, we received the opportunity for some of our Award winners to attend the Radio Academy’s Radio Festival in September. This demonstrates that hospital broadcasting continues to be recognised across the radio industry. More details on this event is included from page 17 onwards.
Our annual HBA Conference and National Hospital Radio Awards will be held in London Watford in March 2016 and great progress is being made on delivering an enjoyable weekend for all. More details are contained with this edition, but our website and newsletter will continually be updated as we progress and finalise our plans.
If you have any comment or suggestion you would like to share with the Trustees, then please do not hesitate to email [email protected].
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At 19:00 on Friday 25th September, Watford Hospital Radio began to undertake a whopping 60 hour broadcast, to celebrate their 60th birthday celebrations.
Starting off on Friday, the lovely Linda from The Kitchen in Croxley Green donated some gorgeous cupcakes to keep the team going throughout the weekend and then continued to support the event with coffee and pastries. Linda even came up to visit the team and had a go on the radio! We were also joined by Darcy, Eve and Mitch from the lovely Woodoaks team who are always incredibly supportive and fun to have along.
The whole weekend was full of 60 second challenges for presenters and guests, which included the Maltesers challenge, stacking apples, cookies, and cake decorating, which was judged by Linda and the team at The Kitchen. Justin was over the moon at was crowned the cake decorating champion.
On Sunday, Watford's Mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, popped by and in an interview, told us how important she felt hospital radio was. She was kind enough to record a get well message for our patients too. CYHYP T TM WSHYP T Later that afternoon, June Snowden, President of the Hospital Charity Number: Broadcasting Association, attended and presented the station 258851 with their long service certificates. Hospital's Served: Watford General Hospital Chloe, Head of Events, Fundraising and Publicity said 'I am so proud of the way the team all pulled together to pull this event of Telephone: – I couldn’t have done it without them. The spirit within the 01923 217261 studios was absolutely amazing and the way everyone took on the 60 second challenges was brilliant. I am grateful to all the Website: guests who visited us so they could be a part of this special event www.westhertsradio.com and make it so memorable. The public have once again surprised More Info: us all with the generosity and support they have shown the www.hbauk.com team."
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Patients at the Westmorland General Hospital and The Royal Lancaster Infirmary won't miss out on finding out the local football scores this year, thanks to new deals being signed by Bay Trust Hospital Radio. CYHYP T TM WSHYP T Earlier this year, the station announced they gained the rights to Charity Number: broadcast commentary for Kendal Town's home matches, but 506296 has now been granted permission to broadcast commentary for Hospital's Served: Lancaster City FC Home matches. Westmorland General Royal Lancaster Infirmary Lewis Nolan, the station Sports Editor, commented 'This is fantastic news for the station to bring not one, but two live Email: football commentaries to our listeners..., we look forward to [email protected] working with Lancaster this coming season.' Website: www.baytrustradio.co.uk The station's President, John Williamson, said 'It proves that as a hospital radio station that we offer the best in sport within More Info: Morecambe Bay Hospital's Trust. We can cover sport in North www.hbauk.com Lancashire, and South Cumbria, and bring enjoyment to the patients of the hospital'.
Full match commentary will be provided, as well as interviews from both clubs, meaning all patients can be kept up-to-date with team news.
The programmes will also be broadcast via the stations website, and via their free iOS and Android app.
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DW Y R Q Y RH TJO TL WH P YHYP T Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are looking to set up a new hospital radio station for their hospital, and are working with broadcasting professionals to get the new service up and running.
Each one of the volunteers will be trained in broadcasting, after the Trust has drawn up a package of training sessions, which includes presenting and how to use the studio equipment.
The Trusts Head of Communications, Derek Quinn, said 'We are looking to relaunch our hospital radio station, and are looking for volunteers to help provide the best possible service for patients and visitors'
He continued, 'Hospital radio has been the training ground for a lot of well known radio presenters, both locally and nationally'.
The Trust held an open event earlier this year, and plans for the new station are still taking shape. To express an interest, please call Derek on 01253 956941.
@ WHP L S TL M W L H BH P 9 WY T J M T LW PL Gillingham and Rainham Conservative MP The co-founder of north Oxfordshire's Rehman Chishit has raised almost £300 for hospital radio station, Radio Horton, sadly Medway Hospital Radio. passed away on Tuesday 5th May 2015.
The MP completed the Fosters Law Kent Ted Hanson (MBE), had been suffering from Coastal Half Marathon in just one hour and a long term illness, and had recently been thirty four minutes. This marathon was his relocated from The Ridings Care Home in 11th. Banbury to the Green Pastures Care home.
He will handover the money raised at the His passing comes just one month after he stations forthcoming quiz night, which is won the prestigious John Whitney Award at being held in October. this year's Hospital Radio Awards, for fifty years of service to hospital radio 'Thank you to everyone that's generously broadcasting. donated funds for Medway Hospital Radio, a charity which offers round the clock Bob Dainty, Committee member and friend programming, helping to support patients of Ted, said 'This is a huge loss for the at our local hospital during their stay' he station, we will miss him terribly, but his said in a statement. legacy will always live on at the station'
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From midday on December 31st, Richard Smith, from The A To Z of Pop, will be back simulcasting across hospital stations in the UK with his 2015 New Years Eve Big Broadcast.
The show, which is sponsored by Oscar Pet Food, is now in it's fourth year, and promises 24 hours of fun and frivolity, with features, interviews, live studio performances, quizzes, requests, dedications and of course, music.
Richard told OnAir 'Technically, all that stations need to do is to A PJQ 8 P L be able to connect their desk to the stream for whatever portion Website: of the show they wish to take. There are also people on hand to www.thebigbroadcast.co.uk help out with any technical issues that may arise, including those surrounding the NHS Intranet, so most problems can be Host: overcome easily.' Richard Smith & Guests
The programme is broadcast from Richard's home studio in Email: [email protected] Lancashire, fronted by Richard with a team of volunteers, who will be with him during the 24hr period. The stream is supplied Length: by Auckland Hospital Radio, who will also be taking the 24 hours (Opt In/Out) programme. Start Date: Richard continued 'The stream over the past four years has been 31/12/2015 at 12:00pm extremely stable and reliable. There will be an opportunity for stations to test the feed beforehand, so they can judge the quality of the feed in advance of the broadcast'.
If you're interested in running the programme on your station, you can find out more by visiting www.thebigbroadcast.co.uk, which also includes contact information for Richard, and updates on what you can expect from this years extravaganza.
The New Year's Eve BIG Broadcast is available to ANY hospital radio station in the UK. Already, 20 stations* have signed up to take the programme.
Richard is also looking for presenters to get in touch to provide him some pre-recorded shows which will broadcast before, and after the live programme. If you're interested in helping, email: [email protected]
*Correct at time of going to press.
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Nottingham Hospital's Radio (NHR), are in their 41st year, and like many years before, have recently taken part in the Robin Hood half Marathon to raise funds for their charity. NHR provides entertainment and company for many patients at both the Queens Medical Centre and City Hospital through frequent CYHYP T TM WSHYP T ward visits and daily live shows. Charity Number: 503781 The 'BedPush' as it has become known, sees NHR volunteers push a hospital bed around the 13 mile course along with a Hospital's Served: 'patient' in the bed. Unfortunately for the runners this is a Nottingham City Hospital dummy, so no room to have a rest! The BedPush gets lots of Queen's Medical Centre attention, especially this year where NHR had some 'rockstars' Email: joining the team in an effort to get noticed in the crowd. 'Elvis' [email protected] had a busk with an NHR volunteer on the course and the big rockstar hair definitely turned some heads! Website: www.nhradio.org.uk The Half Marathon is usually the largest fundraising event on the NHR calendar and the goal this year is to raise at least More Info: £2,000 towards running costs of the station, with anything www.hbauk.com leftover to be put towards some new equipment. Already £220 has been counted from the collections on the day from generous spectators on route, and hopefully much more will follow from the sponsorship of the runners.
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Hospital Radio Basingstoke had an Open Day on the 20th of September. The annual Open Day is an opportunity for patients, staff and members of the community to visit the studio and watch presenters as they broadcast live music on demand shows.
Donna Green, the Head Nurse and Chief Operating Officer of the Hampshire Hospitals, attended the event. She showed her support for the radio station on Twitter. She said Hospital Radio Basingstoke members were "a team of committed volunteers who provide a great service to our patients."
During the ten hour live broadcast 76 songs requested by patients were played. Anne Court, the Mayor of Basingstoke, revealed 91,000th song request in the history of the station which was played during the event.
Hospital Radio Basingstoke broadcasts 24/7 to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.
For more information about the station or to listen live go to http://www.hrbasingstoke.co.uk . Follow them on Twitter @hrbasingstoke and Like their Facebook page "Hospital Radio Basingstoke.
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Dominic Arkwright
Promotion of good health and flying the flag of the NHS – these could easily be said to be two aspects of hospital radio, and they are certainly two of the aims of Health Today Radio, an initiative run by NHS Choices.
Health Today is a unique health and lifestyle programme produced by Sound Doctor for NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk) and is now available to broadcast by HBA member stations. In each programme, Dominic Arkwright chats to expert health professionals about managing health conditions, improving lifestyles and how to make the most of the NHS. Packed with practical advice and tips, Health Today should help listeners get well, stay well and get the most out of life.
As well as experts, Dominic meets celebrities and guests from all walks of life who share their personal stories about a condition they, or a family member, are dealing with. Also featured are interviews with the unsung heroes of the NHS as well as many practical lifestyle tips and advice.
Programme 25, which was released at the end of September for example, looks at the pressures on A & E departments, obesity, and age-related cataracts as well as an item on anaesthesia and how anaesthetics work.
The programmes are presented by Dominic Arkwright , who is also known for his 20 years of radio experience working as a BBC reporter, mostly with the Today programme on Radio 4. Most recently, he presented the quirky discussion programme Off the Page and The Call, both on Radio 4.
HBA member stations are able to broadcast the series and have access to the newest and previous editions of the programme. In addition each programme can be heard via the website http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/health-today-radio/Pages/welcome.aspx.
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This year is disappearing so quickly it seems impossible, as I write this, that in only 12 weeks it will be Boxing Day. There is so much to prepare for the festive season – sorry to remind you!
I have also welcomed 5 lots of visitors to my home this year including some friends from New Zealand who it was wonderful to see.
Earlier this year I was very pleased to be able to attend Radio Wey for their 50th celebrations and a few days later I went to Radio Redhill. My own station had celebrations for one of our th members – Keith Lea – who celebrated his 50 anniversary at York Hospital Radio.
Pilgrim Hospital Radio in Boston was another station I visited and was delighted to present Des Portas with his 40 year long service certificate.
I have been meeting on a regular basis with the Talking Newspaper Federation as one of the organisations we feel is important to engage with. I therefore attended their annual conference recently, which was a most interesting opportunity and even bumped into some members of hospital radio stations who are involved in both organisations.
Once again this year I was able to visit Radio Cherwell for their AGM – to you all at Cherwell, I hope your plans for the move of studio come to a successful conclusion soon, I wish you well.
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Above: June presenting Long service certificates at Radio Redhill, Radio Wey, and Bath Hospital Radio
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A couple of weeks ago it was a most enjoyable opportunity to be th able to join in with Watford’s celebrations for their 60 anniversary and present them with their 60 year station certificate on the air along with presenting other members with their certificates. Watford’s studio is up on the 7th floor and from there it is possible to see the Watford Football Club ground (well part of it) and hear the crowds at the match too as it is almost next door to the hospital. The Football club were playing while I was there and that made for an interesting time in getting to the hospital. The station had lots of visitors over the 60 hours of broadcasting and some competitions too. Well done to Watford.
When you come to the next HBA conference in March 2016 Watford the hotel is situated in the town so look out for the opportunity to visit the station; the members there are looking forward to welcoming delegates.
A train journey to Bath was my next visit to attend their AGM and to enable me to present them with their station 50th anniversary certificate, albeit towards the end of their celebrations, but the most important thing is that we say a big thank you to all of you involved in hospital broadcasting for all you do for your communities.
It does not get any easier to fund raise or find new members but Above: June presenting Long service it is amazing what everyone is able to achieve. certificates at Radio Cherwell, Oxford.
I still have a few visits planned in the diary for the remainder of the year including; Radio Hillingdon, Milton Keynes for their 30th anniversary, Conquest Hospital Radio in Hastings for their 40th celebrations and Basingstoke although if there are any more requests I will certainly do my best to fit them in.
However most stations have the most dedicated and committed members – this year to date I have already produced 154 certificates totalling well over 3300 years’ service to their communities.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone who has received a certificate so far this year.
Best wishes, June.
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Hello, I thought I would spend some time writing a blurb about myself, as your new editor of OnAir.
I have been volunteering for Radio Cherwell in Oxford since 2006, and that's where my love of radio came from. I've presented a variety of programmes including Record Requests, quiz programmes, and the station's flagship children's show. I'm now a Trustee and Programme Controller of the station. I've interviewed many patients and members of staff over the years, and the feedback has always been how important Hospital Radio is to them. I've also spent time working as an administrator in the NHS, and can safely say that the work you all do when volunteering at your stations, doesn't go unnoticed by patients and staff; it's very much appreciated by everyone.
Outside of the HBA and my role as editor, I do a bit of freelancing, making radio ads, working on audio post-production projects and media training amongst other things. I can also play a good game of pool and snooker too, so if there's a table at the 2016 awards in Watford, I'll play you!
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The HBA produces, and presents where possible to members, Long Service Certificates. Each year we send out hundreds of certificates – last year 317 certificates were issued totalling almost 7000 years’ service which is amazing. We feel it is important to acknowledge the wonderful work that everyone does in their hospital and community and it is an opportunity to say thank you to members for all their hard work and commitment.
Certificates are available for 10, 15, 20, 25 years continued service and every 5 years after that. Recently certificates have been issued for 50 and 55 years!
The HBA also presents stations with long service certificates to offer congratulations and say thank you to all they do in the community.
These certificates are available for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years plus 25 years.
Applications can be made online via the HBA website, and should be submitted by a Trustee or an authorised member of your station. Please provide as much detail as possible. To submit your application, visit www.hbauk.com/long-service.
If you would like someone from the HBA to present these certificates to your members on your behalf, please contact us to discuss arrangements.
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The 2016 National Hospital Radio Awards will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Watford, just outside London.
The annual awards, organised by the Hospital Broadcasting Association, celebrates the excellent standards found in hospital radio across the country.
Divided into different categories, awards are offered to individuals and stations alike, and most are recognised with Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, whilst some categories are only awarded one winner, with no runners up.
The awards are only one part of a wider conference weekend, where you get the chance to take part in seminars and training sessions, visit the trade show where you can find businesses who offer services and equipment to help you run your station, as well as generally socalise with other members and stations across the weekend.
Also as part of the Conference weekend, the HBA are working to organise trips to local hospital and commercial stations, which run across the weekend. And this year, you will have an opportunity to book online.
The awards evening its self, not only consists of announcing the winners in each of the categories, but a three course gala dinner, which is included in the price of your stay, as well as a late night disco.
To keep up-to-date with the awards and conference weekend, be sure to subscribe to the HBA Newsletter via the HBA Website. Likewise, to find out more about how to enter the awards, and what qualifies for each category, visit the awards pages of the website.
Follow the HBA on Facebook for ENTRIES CLOSE MIDNIGHT on NOVEMBER 15th. For more more photos and awards news. information, email [email protected]
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Chris Evans speaking to Paddy O’Connell - “Good radio is like having a great long bath.” Just one of many highlights I witnessed whilst at the 2015 Radio Academy Festival at the British Library in London at the end of September.
Taking a step back, it all started with a phone call on a Monday morning from HBA Chairman Grant McNaughton. Telling me that I, along with other Gold award winners had been selected by the generous HBA committee to attend the festival. Very grateful, I booked my train tickets to London for the newly developed, two day Radio Academy Festival. Run and organised by Roger Cutsforth (Managing Director of the Radio Academy) and Chris Burns (Chairman) and sponsored by PPL & PRS.
Day 1 and Each session was full of information, examples & insight into where radio has come from, in the form of clips from the British Library, to the future of local DAB licences and how visualisation and branding makes all the difference now, where the joke of ‘Now you literally do need to have a face for radio’ was made on several occasions.
Onto day 2, where the day started with a one to one open conversation between Radio 2 breakfast presenter Chris Evans & Radfest host Paddy O’Connell Above: Paddy O'Connell & Dave Warren in conversation in front of 300 intently listening radio folk. Paddy on great form asking the brilliant question of… ‘When you increased ratings on Radio 2, you got a congratulatory call from Terry Wogan, do you expect the same from Jeremy Clarkson if the same happens on Top Gear?’
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This insightful but playful manner was the theme of the morning, as Absolute Radio Breakfast host Christian O’Connell spoke of his fondness and dislike of the social media opinions he receives on his radio show. The audience were in fits of laughter as clips of his breakfast show were played of David Cameron swearing on air and Christian having to deal with the repercussions. Of course, all in tongue and cheek.
The next talk was the one all the media moguls had been waiting for, in conversation with previous Radio 1 now turned Beats 1 presenter/director Zane Lowe, with former boss and current programme controller of Radio 1, Ben Cooper. For Zane, it’s all about increasing the noise of Beats 1, and letting the music speak for itself. As he relished in the fact that he had no ratings targets, and no pressure to increase the listenership of the station. He said…
‘Beats 1 is making the most noise it can right now’
This was just a few of many highlights of day two, and as the agenda was drawn to a close, a thirsty group of Radio enthusiasts headed to a drinks reception at the British Library for the announcement of the 30 under 30 in Radio, the induction of members of the Radio Academy Fellowship and an eagerly awaited performance by Jack Savoretti.
Above: Beat's 1 Presenter/Director Zane Lowe I cannot thank the HBA & The Radio Academy enough for (Left), in conversation with Ben Cooper, this opportunity, it was a fantastic two days of talks, Programme Controller BBC Radio One (Right) interviews and networking. And as someone who wants to get into radio as a career, it has opened so many more doors for me, which wouldn’t have been possible without the privilege of attendance by the HBA. Thank you HBA!
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Back in March, I had the honour of winning the gold in the HBA Male Presenter of the Year category. As a result HBA, very kindly gave me a bursary for me to attend this year’s Radio Festival.
Monday was Tech Con, a change to satisfy your inner anorak with all the talk of DAB and multiplexes one could ask for. This first session was a talk given by two radio engineers from South Sudan. They explained the challenges they face running a radio station in a conflict zone. There was also a masterclass on how radio stations have let in the cameras and embraced “visualised radio”.
Tuesday’s program read like a who’s who list of radio. Chris Evans was their bouncing off the walls, ready to take on Top Gear alongside his breakfast radio show. Zane Lowe flew in from LA to be interviewed by, his former Radio1 boss, Ben Cooper. In contrast, Paul Gambaccini delivered a sobering and thought-provoking talk titled “In the Shadow of Yewtree”, describing the ordeal he faced when wrongly accused of sex offences. Changing the tone again, Christian O’Connell, breakfast presenter on Absolute Radio, gave a hilarious talk in which he shared with us some of his most ridiculous listener complaints. Who would have thought a few innocuous remarks could lead to abuse from both cat lovers and clowns! Stranger still his show incurred a complaint for bad language. The source of the swearing was the Prime Minister, David Cameron!
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Personally the most useful presentation was from Helen Boaden, the Director of BBC Radio on the topic of how to network. What struck me about this talk is that Helen was able to put the human touch back into networking, which can often be seen as a very mercenary and soulless activity. Her key points of advice were simply to aim at having interesting conversation with someone and not constantly thinking, “what can they do for me”. This way, you are more likely to build a genuine rapport with someone who might be able to help you. She also reminded us that conversations are not just about utility, a good conversation has a value all of its own. I am currently working as a freelance producer and presenter so networking for me is crucial.
I was very proud to be able to represent Hospital Radio at the conference. It reminded me how much I’ve gained from my involvement in hospital radio, both at my station, Hospital Radio Reading and through HBR events, like the annual conferences. Without it, I very much doubt I would be pursuing a career in radio. It has taught me everything, from how to drive a desk to valuable people skills. Without the confidence that ward visiting gave me as a 16-year-old I very much doubt I would be able to approach and chat to high-profile industry figures at a conference.
The Radio Festival was an invaluable experience. Getting to meet and talk informally with a range of presenters and producers was inspiring. I left the conference feeling energised and I couldn’t wait to be back at work on Monday and at Hospital Radio Reading at the weekend to try out all my new ideas.
HBA volunteers were among the delegates attending the Radio Festival this week, thanks to bursaries from the Radio Academy. Having strong links with other organisations within the industry enables us to provide opportunities like this for hospital radio volunteers across the country.
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Save our Sounds is the British Library’s programme to preserve the nation’s sound heritage. The nation’s sound collections are under threat, both from physical degradation and the means of playing them disappear from production. Experts believe we have approximately 15 years in which to save our sound collections by digitising them before they become unreadable and are effectively lost. This will be a major challenge.
The British Library is home to the nation’s Sound Archive, an extraordinary collection of over 6.5 million recordings of speech, music, wildlife and the environment, from the 1880s to the present day. They need both to ensure that the existing archive is properly preserved, and that there are adequate systems in place for the acquisition of future sound production in the UK. The Save our Sounds programme has been created to answer this imperative need with three major aims:
To preserve as much as possible of the nation's rare and unique sound recordings, not just those in our collections but also key items from partner collections across the UK.
To establish a national radio archive that will collect, protect and share a substantial part of the UK’s vibrant radio output, working with the radio industry and other partners.
To invest in new technology to enable us to receive music in digital formats, working with music labels and industry partners to ensure their long-term preservation.
In May 2015, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that the British Library will receive funding of £9.5 million̴to help save the nation’s sounds and open them up online for everyone to hear. This will enable them to digitise and make available online 500,000 rare, unique and at-risk sound recordings from their Sound Archive and other key collections around the country.
In the near future, The British Library will work with partner institutions across the UK to develop a national preservation network via ten regional centres. To digitise, preserve and share our unique audio heritage. They will also run a major outreach programme to schools and local communities to celebrate and raise awareness of UK sounds.
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OUTSIDE (and Inside) BROADCAST - CallMeTM from Vortex
CallMeTM is a cost-effective Subscription Codec service for Radio and TV Stations to let them provide contributors broadcast links using the internet. It delivers high-quality audio from just about anywhere and from almost any device back to the studio codec, with low delay and with the minimum of setup. CallMe lets guests and journalists file live reports without the need for dedicated hardware codecs or codec apps.
To “Go Live”, the user clicks on a webpage link which takes them to the Station’s dedicated CallMe page on the CALLME.FM server. Clicking on the Call Button connects with low-latency high-quality audio, to the codec at the studio, already set up as part of the licencing process. Ideally, when working with a computer or tablet, the guest would use a separate headset rather than the built-in audio devices but with mobile phones especially, the microphone and earpiece are generally good enough for high quality broadcast sound – though for reporter use, Vortex has a comprehensive range of Mic and Headset smartphone interfaces for professional connectivity.
Until the end of 2015, Vortex has two Special HBA offers that include either a BRIC- Link or AutoHybrid-IP2 Studio Codec, V-MiKi professional interface to a Smartphone – and CallMe with unlimited use for a year. 8 Y H Y W M W YOL TL Y L PYP T0 6SHPR THPW1OIH Q J S
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