Wednesday 24 April 2013, 09:59
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Today is an exciting day for me and my team as we are launching the BBC iPlayer Radio app for Android devices. It will bring all the same great features that are in the iOS version together with some further enhancements which utilise the specific navigational paradigms of the Android platform. Features include:
The app is available now in the Google Play store and via the Amazon app store. This app is also available on Android tablets (not just smartphones), including the very popular Amazon Kindle Fire HD. We are using the HLS audio format which is supported by Android version 3.0 and above. For a more detailed explanation of what devices will support the BBC...
Read more about Launching the BBC iPlayer Radio mobile app on Android
Friday 12 April 2013, 18:18
All next week, with the return of The Voice UK on BBC One, Radio 2 will be celebrating and exploring the most magical, incredible, beautiful instrument ever created: the human voice.
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The Voice on Radio 2 will showcase the full sweep of issues relating to human speech and song. The Jeremy Vine Show will look at losing one's voice and selective mutism, as well as exploring freedom of speech and the origin of British accents.
At the end of the week, Jeremy will be inviting the UK’s best-loved and best-known voices to take part in an extraordinary broadcast. Imagine sharing a drink with The London Underground, Tony the Tiger, Postman Pat, Siri, Big brother, the National Lottery and Mr X Factor all in one studio at the same time. The Radio 2 Voice Party will be at 1pm on Friday 19 April.
...Tuesday 26 March 2013, 13:27
Roy Whittaker (on the left) and David Henderson
When Radio 4’s Broadcasting House launched an appeal for lost recordings of Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America, last October, no one could have imagined that it would lead to over 620 missing programmes being restored to the BBC’s archive.
Fortunately two listeners - Roy Whittaker, from Cornwall, and David Henderson, from Warwickshire, heard the programme and contacted Broadcasting House. They both loved listening to Alistair Cooke and recorded Letter from America every Friday night for years.
But unlike other people who got it touch, they had also labelled the tapes with dates, and stored them safely in boxes - one in his attic, the other in his cellar.
Mr Whittaker and Mr Henderson entrusted their collections to the BBC and as a result helped complete the Letter From America archive between the years 1974 to 2004. The BBC’s Information and Archive Team recently finished digitising over 600 of their recordings.
To celebrate, we invited them for a special lunch and a tour of Broadcasting House with presenter Paddy O’Connell to say thank you. Paddy sneakily managed to type a brief thank you note to them on Alistair Cooke...
Monday 25 February 2013, 15:22
Sculpture in the entrance to the Hotel Royal Christiana
What is By:Larm?
By:Larm is a 4 day music event held in Oslo annually. According to an online translation service, the name translates as ‘Urban Noise’.
What you will find there are lots of panels, seminars and training sessions through the day, and live performances from a diverse range of Nordic and Scandinavian artists performing at a selection of venues around the city by night.
By:Larm is abundant with networking opportunities for those working both in, and around music, including digital service providers, students, labels, artist...
Monday 18 February 2013, 16:34
So far this month we've seen the editor of Newsbeat dance like a loon to the Harlem Shake, the controller of Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra being forced to choose which female DJ he'd like to kiss and Sara Cox wrestle her producer to the ground.
This isn't exactly what we envisaged when we proposed that February should be Access All Areas month on Radio 1.
The month had 2 clear objectives:
We know how much our listeners like to see behind the scenes and get exclusive backstage access...
Monday 18 February 2013, 11:56
Ed's note: On Saturday afternoon this new version of The Wind in the Willows was broadcast on Radio 4. You can hear it on Radio iPlayer for the next five days. Here the project's production coordinator Selina Ream describes the process once they got into the BBC studios at Maida Vale a few days before Christmas.
Toad stared fixedly in the direction of the disappearing motor-car...
When I asked to work on the new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows just over a year ago, little did I know how different the production process would turn out, but also how moving and unforgettable our time...
Read more about The making of a new version of The Wind in the Willows with a full orchestra
Thursday 14 February 2013, 16:41
Recent listening figures from RAJAR suggest around 20% of the UK has listened to radio via a mobile phone. This figure nearly doubles to 37.6% for 15-24 year olds. It's not surprising then that the mobile apps that the BBC and Radioplayer both launched in late 2012 have proved very successful.
The BBC iPlayer Radio app on iOS (iPhone and iPod Touch) has been downloaded more than 1.4 million times since launch and, along with the Radioplayer app, it is being regularly used and driving up overall radio listening. The UK radio industry is all working hard to increase digital listening and mobile...
Read more about BBC iPlayer Radio app now links through to Radioplayer
Wednesday 13 February 2013, 16:08
The control room BBC Daventry Empire Short Wave Station, 1938.
"13 February is World Radio Day — a day to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression over the airwaves." from The UNESCO website
Read more about Is that Kraftwerk in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern? No, it's World Radio Day
Tuesday 12 February 2013, 14:53
Last week, we re-launched Radio 1's Live Lounge website. It contains an archive of 426 Live Lounge sessions dating back to 2007, showing who played when, where and what they played. Each entry has photographs, and some of the more recent ones have audio and video.
The new site looks great on mobile, and from now on all Live Lounge videos will play on your mobile too.
The Live Lounge is the biggest launch so far on our new events platform, which we lovingly call Eavis (in honour of the man who runs the best festival in the world, Glastonbury's Michael Eavis).
The platform has so far hosted...
Read more about Radio 1's Live Lounge website and the Semantic Web
Monday 28 January 2013, 12:18
The two Doctors: Sylvester McCoy and David Tennant
The winners of this year’s BBC Audio Drama Awards were announced last night at a ceremony in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House.
The awards celebrate audio drama, on air and online, and recognise the actors, writers, producers, sound designers, and others whose work makes it all possible.
David Tennant hosted the event with the participation of luminaries like Stephen Tompkinson, Maxine Peake, Stephen Mangan and Lenny Henry.
Find details of all the winners in the BBC press release.
You'll be able to hear some of the BBC winning audio...
Read more about Doctor Who times two at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2013
