ipercast Announces Partnership with Absolute Radio

24Nov

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ipercast the leading European specialist in secure content management and delivery for the Web and mobile devices has announced a strategic partnership with Absolute Radio. ipercast will take over and manage Absolute’s Radio’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) and the two companies will continue to work closely together on the development of a range of innovative new services. In the UK ipercast will position itself as a technology partner for WebRadio and other broadcast, media and telecoms companies.

Absolute’s Radio’s IP network, the Golden Square Network (GSN) spans multiple countries with peering connectivity in London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, New York and Los Angeles. It has been at the heart of the company’s pioneering work to introduce new digital services which now sees them deliver content over mobile, online and DAB. The GSN currently serves on average around 150TB of streaming content per month for Absolute Radio stations alone. The network will add to ipercast’s already extensive international infrastructure which consists of a 6,000+ mile private fibre optic backbone and several thousand servers located throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia.

“Innovation and partnership are at the heart of the deal between ipercast and Absolute Radio. They are one of the true pioneers of digital radio not just in the UK, but internationally. This maps onto our own culture which has seen us introduce a constant flow of innovation since we were established in 2001 and is embodied in the phrase that we like to stay “one vision ahead”. We have developed a unique offering in multimedia content delivery, available for all types of networks from IP to DSL and mobile. We are conducting leading work on digital rights management; have launched the first European broadcasting platform based on Silverlight technology; and our Meta-CDN and Meta-Caching services are unique in the market. We look forward to working with Absolute Radio and many other future partners and customers in the UK to keep pushing forward. Said Jean Michel Laveissière, CEO, ipercast.

Absolute Radio is now one year old and the introduction of cross platform digital services has been so succesful for us that we see ourselves as a digitally minded music and entertainment brand with audio at its core. The partnership with ipercast enables us to put the network in the hands of a team of world leading specialists and leaving us free to concentrate on developing the best possible content and services for our community of listeners and users .We look forward to pushing the boundaries together. ” said Paul Brown, Head of Technology Services

“In the UK we wish to work in partnership with a wide range of players through both the direct and indirect channels. The “eco-system” we wish to build will encompass other technology and networking players; telecoms, ISPs and hosting companies; broadcasters; publishers; content owners; digital agencies and corporates. We believe we will bring a strong offering to the market here because we have a complete turn key solution. A particular focus is the creation of an eco system that will allow easy and transparent content monetisation and distribution for both video and audio. Another good option for the UK market, is our meta caching approach which allows customers to benefit from using multiple service providers and maintain low costs and high availability of the solution.” said Marina Sirotkin, Country Manager UK, ipercast.

Categories: Technology 0

Posted by adam on November 24, 2009

The Elbow Story by Geoff Lloyd

20Nov

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It’s an accepted fact that we love an underdog in this country. Overdogs don’t even get a look in. From “Eddie” The Eagle Edwards to his conjoined grandsons Jedward, we have a soft spot for the tryers, doomed to failure. We celebrate the unlikely hero, the well-intentioned but hapless. Given this predilection, it’s a wonder Gordon Brown isn’t doing better in the opinion polls.

Elbow are an altogether different kind of underdog, and our favourite kind: The kind who ploughed on, unloved and unnoticed, through rejection and calamity, before eventually coming good in the end. Elbow formed in 1990, they didn’t release their first EP until almost a decade later, and quickly became beloved by music aficionados since their first LP ‘Asleep in the Back’ in 2001. It wasn’t until winning the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ that they caught they mainstream public’s imagination, finally rewarded for almost twenty years of hard work, and accepting the prize with warmth, humility, gratitude and giddiness.

The Elbow Story (Sunday, 7pm) was recorded in the band’s working environment, Blue Room Studios in Salford. They talk at length and with candour about their career and relationship with each other. It’s one of rock and roll’s dirty secrets that almost any established group that you can think of is riddled with inter-band hatred, resentment and bitterness. Years of petty arguments, power struggles and attention-seeking fester in the petri dish of the tour bus, and very few bands emerged with their friendships intact.

Elbow are one such band, but they’re also honest enough to talk about the ups and downs, the tensions and insecurities which underpin the career or a band. They share personal memories from childhood to stadium tours, and demonstrate the creative processes, nuts and bolts of how they record music.

Many bands are obsessed with controlling their image and PR, only allowing a shiny, controlled and sanitised version of themselves to be shown in interviews. In The Elbow Story, we’re allowed an intimate look inside, anecdotes and insights more common to reminiscences amongst friends than a sterilised interview setting. And they’re really funny, too.

Straight after the documentary, we’re treated to Elbow’s homecoming gig at the MEN Arena in Manchester, and from next week, you’ll be able to hear more of Elbow talking about their career in a series of podcasts, full of bonus material not included in the radio programme due to time constraints.

Categories: Music 0

Posted by carrie on November 20, 2009

Playlist: 18th November

18Nov

The playlist is out now.

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The Temper Trap – Fader (4th January 2010)
The Temper Trap are a 4-piece from Melbourne, Australia. ‘Fader’ is from their debut album ‘Conditions’ and will be the follow-up to their big hit ‘Sweet Disposition’. The band tour the UK with Florence and The Machine in December and play their own headline show at London’s Koko on 21st December before they return to Australia to play the Big Day Out festival.

Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (7th December)
The title track from the band’s 8th studio album is released in December, following a run of sold-out UK shows. The trio have already announced stadium shows in 2010 and recently caught up with Absolute Radio’s Geoff Lloyd at Birmingham’s LG Arena.

Lily Allen – Who’d Have Known (30th November)
Latest single from Lily’s number 1 album ‘It’s Not Me Its You’, the biggest selling British album of the year. The song tips it’s hat to a catchy tune by Gary Barlow and Co.

Categories: Music playlist 0

Posted by carrie on November 18, 2009

TIML Financial Results by Adrian Robinson

17Nov

Absolute Radio has just filed its financial statements for 2008 (year ended 31 December to be precise). What do they show?

To give a bit of context, 2008 was the year which saw the station not only change ownership (on 30 June) but during which it successfully re-branded (from Virgin Radio to Absolute Radio) – something that had not been ever done in the national UK radio landscape before.

The main highlights are as follows:

  • Revenues for the year in total were £22m. The second half of the year is perhaps of most interest as it coincides with the period of TIML ownership and when the wider economy took a bit of a tumble. In this period, data from Radio Centre shows that the national market was down 9.5% versus the first half of the year. Our revenues were down just a tad over 3% so a great performance in a particularly challenging period. Well done 4th floor!
  • All very well you might say, but you probably want to know how that compares to others, say TalkSport, in that same period. Having dug through the Stock Exchange filings, we can see that although Talksport’s revenues were up 6% for the year as a whole (well done on that front, whatever floor you are!) they were down 12% in the second half of 2008 versus the first half.
  • Back to us….. In 2008 we also made a massive investment in re-branding the station, signing up talent, developing content and in our various digital initiatives. Some commentators will focus on the increase in ‘Operating costs’ in the numbers just filed, which are up 24.6% year on year at £24.7m. Yes it’s a big figure, and a big increase, but all that means is that we delivered on our commitments to invest in the station so as to build a top class company, fit for the digital age.
  • The net result from this is that we made a loss for the year as a whole (£1.9m after tax to be precise, with most of it in the second 6 months) but this is exactly as we planned. Didn’t your teacher always say that if you wanted to be a success you had to work hard and put in the effort up front? Well it’s the same here and we can all be proud of what we have achieved and the innovation that every day oozes from One Golden Square – most recently seen with the launches of DABBL.co.uk and comparemyradio.com.
  • We also have a strong balance sheet. As hard as you might look you won’t find any bank borrowings, liens, charges, covenants, constraints and the like meaning that, when it comes to finance, we answer to no-one but our supportive parent company.

Anyway there’s loads of interesting information in the statutory accounts (a real page turner really) and there’s only so much I can deal with in this short blog. So if you want to have a read, please click on this link and settle back…

Congratulations and thanks to all who made 2008 an interesting and successful year.

Finally, this is the quote we gave to Media Week. They seem to have missed off a bit of it in their article, so it is re-produced here:

Adrian Robinson, Absolute Radio Chief Financial Officer, “This is exactly where we thought we would be at the end of 2008. The strategy has been to invest heavily in the national launch of Absolute Radio and in the product. We have made new talent signings like Frank Skinner, made a substantial investment in launching and marketing the new brand and continued innovation in the digital space, such as the recently announced dabbl and comparemyradio.com initiatives. This up front investment means short-term losses. However, we are building a successful digital company for the long-term.”

Adrian

Categories: Absolute Radio 4

Posted by adam on November 17, 2009

Tim Shaw – By Paul Sylvester

13Nov

Sadly, we’re announcing today that Tim Shaw is leaving Absolute Radio’s Friday and Saturday night schedule.

Tim has decided to take time away from Absolute Radio to prepare for the biggest challenge of his life, an event which Absolute Radio will be involved in – with more details to follow soon.

Over the last year Tim and the Absolution team have created some groundbreaking, compelling and hilarious radio. From Georgina Baillie and her Satanic Sluts to ”Bird of Prey’ and ‘You’re banned’, the show has brought new personalities and a new audience to the station.

For me, Tim’s best work has been with some of the serious interviews which have taken place in the show. The recent series with D-Day veteran Norman Searle was some of the most powerful I’ve heard. They cut through amazingly well because they were such a contrast to the rest of the show, but demonstrated Tim’s versatility as a presenter and journalist.

Let us also not forget that during his first year with Absolute Radio, Tim won a well deserved Sony award to add to his already bulging awards cabinet. As well as saying great thanks to Tim, it is a great chance for us to congratulate other members of the team who’ve contributed so much – so thank you to Peta, Greg, Graeme and let us not forget the great foundations put in place by Roque and Eloise.

So for now Tim, thank you and good luck, we can’t wait to work with you again very soon.

Paul Sylvester

Categories: Uncategorized 3

Posted by paulsylvester on November 13, 2009