Some Facts and Figures from the V Festival

  • 1 Video featured on the homepage of YouTube
  •  4 Current chart position of Absolute Radio’s V Festival podcasts in the iTunes music chart 
  • 8 Full live stage sets broadcast on Absolute Radio extra 
  • 8 Percent increase in new visitors to absoluteradio.co.uk over the weekend 
  • 10 Hours of live coverage played on Absolute Radio extra 
  • 16 Percent increase in unique users to absoluteradio.co.uk over the weekend 
  • 30 Live tracks played in the Sunday night highlights show 
  • 38 Different features made by the production team for on-air across 2 days 
  • 69 Tracks approved for broadcast re-play on Absolute Radio 
  • 120 Absolute Radio’s sales, PR and marketing guests hosted at the event 
  • 156 Absolute Radio listeners who won tickets to go 
  • 250 Pieces of press coverage identified so far  
  • 332 New photos added to absoluteradio.co.uk 
  • 3000 People who clicked through to absoluteradio.co.uk after visiting our facebook page on Saturday and Sunday 

Donnach Does Drinks – Who Will Win?

When it was announced that the staff at Absolute Radio were to be split into four house teams to take part in special tasks throughout the year with the chance to win a yet unbeknown prize, no one realised how competitive the staff would become. Resulting in such a high level of competiveness, house team email addresses were immediately created, allowing team members to plan and discuss the task in hand. Each team was split into roughly 25 people and given the name of an animal: We have the Badgers, Monkeys, Anteaters and the Chipmunks.

It was decided that each team would hold their own ‘Donnach Does Drinks’ (DOD), a monthly event in the name of our Chief Executive Donnach O’Driscoll. Staff battled it out to see which house team could organise the finest DOD, staging themed parties packed with food, house team competitions, plenty of drinks and a healthy supply of banter.  

First up were the Anteaters who went with a mexican theme. The team were lead by the infamous Chris Goldson, Absolute Radio’s Commercial Director, who treated staff at One Golden Square to a selection of tasty burritos supplied by our friends at Chilangos. The food was accompanied by plenty of Corona and a suspicious looking mexican Donnach with a dodgy spanish accent. Their chosen task  for the other teams was as follows: to down a shot of tequila, eat a dried cricket and a raw chilli, then read a poem in spanish as quickly as possible. The quickest team to win were the Badgers after controversially using 4 team members to complete the feat.

A month passed by and the Chipmunks were next in line to host ‘Donnach Does Drinks’. Their chosen theme – Bollywood. They brought home made Indian food to the table, Cobra beer and decked out the staff canteen with pashminas and joss sticks. The Indian vibe was complimented by Eric and Emily who wore traditional Indian attire. The Chipmunks challenged the other house teams to come up with the most creative dance to The Geoff Lloyd Hometime theme tune, Tip Tip Writer. With an X Factor style judging panel calling the shots, they deemed that it was the Anteaters that threw the best shapes taking 1st place in the dance-off.

Bitterness, jealousy and heated arguments ensued as house teams questioned the winners of individual tasks. Calls of ‘Fix!’ ‘Fix!’.. began to resonate through the halls at One Golden Square. The fights would have to wait… for now… because it  was the Badgers turn. They went for a barn dance extravaganza with hay bales, lot’s of  yehaaaing and country and western singing sensation John Mouse http://www.myspace.com/johnmousemusic supplying the music. They cleverly ordered in Badger beer with Badger branded pint glasses and staff enjoyed KFC buckets and Burger King meals. Dressed in check shirts, the Badgers crowned the Chipmunks winners of the day after they pinned the tail correctly on the Donkey!

Lastly the cheeky Monkeys put on the theme of a School Disco which saw the entire team kitted out in school uniform. COO Clive Dickens donned a cap and gown, playing the headmaster, as other staff members joined in to play members of the faculty. The gear was supplied by our lovely friends at Marston Robing www.marstonrobing.com. A full Disco with flashing lights and rocking tunes set the tone for the afternoon. The teams got stuck into bangers and mash which was washed down with a combination of cider and alcopops. Before long it was time for the big challenge: The Absolute Radio School Spelling B: Each house team provided a representative and after some tough competition, the glory went to the Chipmunks following a more than controversial spelling of the word Gonorrhea to conclude the ‘Donnach Does Drinks’ contest.

We now wait with baited breath to find out which team has won the ultimate prize. This afternoon we ask ourselves…Who’s ‘Donnach Does Drinks’ were the greatest??  Expect more tasks, laughs and a whole load of fun!

Playlist: 24th August

The playlist is out now.

New Manchester band Hurts – and Biffy Clyro - both move up to Absolute Radio B-list.

Feeder – Renegades (30th August)
The Welsh band, who formed in 1991, are back with a rockin’ track – the title track from their 7th album which was released in July. Check out an interview with Grant and Taka from the band, recorded at the V Festival at the weekend, along with all the rest of the V Festival action at www.absoluteradio.co.uk

Tired Pony – Get On The Road (27th September)
Gary Lightbody’s stunning duet with actress and musician Zooey Deschanel is the 2nd single to be released from the Lightbody/Peter Buck project and album ‘The Place We Ran From’.

Dabbl is going back into the lab for further experimentation.

Dabbl is Absolute Radio’s experimental radio station platform, dreamt up by the One Golden Square Labs team. Its aim is to enable a radio station’s audience to power its playlist.  Since December 2009 the dabbl technology has been powering a radio station of the same name 24 hours a day, allowing listeners to browse or search for songs, then vote for the tracks they love. The songs with the most votes are then played across the next hour. Across this year our most voted for songs have included a live version of Muse’s Uprising recorded in Madrid, Brandon flowers’ Crossfire, Gorillaz’s Oh Melancholy Hill and Marina And The Diamonds’ Oh No.

However as a platform, dabbl isn’t limited to a single musical genre. The dabbl technology can run radio stations of all musical tastes and styles.  The Labs team have a lot more ideas for dabbl, so for now the radio station bit is taking a break whilst we can experiment with how dabbl can continue to democratise the playlist.

Dabbl will return, long live the revolution!

Absolute Radio 90s UK – by Tony Moorey

The UK’s Only 90s Radio Station is just two months old, but in that time has already built up a loyal and often vocal fan-base. The two most frequently asked questions are:  

  • ‘Can more songs be added to the playlist?’
  • ‘Will I be able to listen on DAB where I live?’

The answer to question 1 is yes!  We are constantly evolving the sound of the station, the list of songs we play and when and where they are played.  The answer to question 2 for most areas of the country has unfortunately been ‘not at the moment’. But we are now delighted to announce that for a trial period of 5 weeks, Absolute Radio 90s will be on DAB right across Britain.

From 10am on Wednesday the whole country can join our 90s party, just look for “Abs Radio 90s UK” or “Abs90sUK” on your DAB digital radio. If you can’t find it, you may need to select the auto-tune, re-tune or re-scan function in your radio’s menu.  

We are celebrating with a 90s weekend on Absolute Radio this Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. We will be giving away DAB digital radios and every hour through the day will start off with 5 classic 90s tracks.

If you can’t wait for your 90s fix, you can tune in across the country now on Sky channel 0203 or online.

 - Tony Moorey