Someone once asked a friend what I did, to which they replied, he’s a runner…
Their reply? ‘Oh, I didn’t know he was a professional athlete!’
There does seem to be a bit of mystery out there as to what a runner actually does and unless you’ve had any contact with the world of media there’s not [...]

Tuesday this week saw the release of the BBC’s Annual Report. Much of the press reporting has concentrated on the amounts various executives are being paid, and whether or not they’ve received a bonus. That’s all very well, but is probably missing the somewhat bigger picture. The report also gives a “state of the nation” [...]

This week in Glasgow is the annual Radio Festival. It’s where the BBC & Commercial Industry gather to discuss the ‘state of the radio nation’ (and drinks lots of beer).
For the 2008 event TIML was asked to contribute to the panel called ‘Future of Music Radio’.
For completion of the Golden Square project this week we [...]

I remember some eccentric American radio boss at a conference panel saying: “the more I tighten the music rotations- the more the listeners scream - and the higher the ratings go”. In her markets, it was certainly true. As we know, some of the UK’s most successful stations play very little variety. They might call [...]

When I get up and wave my arms around enthusing people about radio, I usually end up defaulting to my familiar theme of ‘if radio were invented today…’.   It works though.
All the familiar attributes of this great 100 year old medium would impress all the more if we had not begun to take them for [...]

You shouldn’t feel embarrassed about expressing an opinion, it’s what the new gaffers say they’ve set this ‘blog up for, and that (unless they’re hoodwinking us, and it’s really a giant Stasi trap to weed out dissenters) has to be a good thing.
It’s very common in commercial radio workplaces to feel like your opinion doesn’t [...]

I don’t think many would question the value of Radio Airplay when trying to sell music and influence consumers about new artists. In fact I think some of the more cynical people may wrongly believe that the Radio Industry is paid to pay certain songs at certain times again and again. Of course the opposite [...]

So, my highlights in radio…well, being a Director of the original winning XFM bid in London is well up there. In addition to that, being Chairman of Atlantic 252 in its heyday, when it was the largest commercial station in the UK broadcasting was also a very proud moment. Then roaming the world to find [...]

So what can I say about myself. As you tell from the name “Donnach” I’m Irish…or a Dubliner to be more precise. And don’t blame me for the name. There are in fact 86 different pronunciations of the name…so there will be a competition to choose the correct one! I’ve spent the past 20 years [...]