AM Radio on the way out in the UK?

A UK Government report indicate an intention to abandon AM broadcast radio for emergency communications and to phase-out AM broadcasting from 2016.
While a radio switchover will result in the closure of AM services, which had historically been important to the Government’s protocols in this area, the diminishing value of this platform means it is increasingly less relevant as a universal communication platform.

Communications Plan indicates that the radio switchover will commence in 2016 here.

New Stream

Just a quick note to say we we have a new stream - right. But you need to start the stream by clicking the arrow, if you find any broken players on the web please email studio_@_ rt i_ .fm (just remove the underscore sections)
Have a good one
Eric

Digital 2012 Olympics

The BBC has delivered its most successful online event ever, attracting a record-breaking 55m global browsers to BBC Sport online (cumulative reach) throughout the course of the Games, and marking London 2012 as the first truly digital Games. This has mirrored the BBC’s record Olympic TV reach, across both linear TV channels and Red Button, with over 51.9m viewers in the UK - the largest TV audience reach for a major event for at least 10 years.

• Record breaking browsers to BBC Sport online – with 55m (global) and 37m (UK) browsers to the BBC Sport site in total across the Games, and an average of 9.5m (global) and 7.1m (UK) browsers per day, easily breaking all previous records (previous record for a single day was 7.4m global and 5.7m UK)
• Video drives viewing across all online platforms – with 106m requests for BBC Olympic video content across all online platforms, more than double seen for any previous events
• First truly mobile games – with 9.2m UK mobile browsers to the BBC’s Olympics coverage, making up 34% of all daily browsers to BBC’s Olympic coverage, and 12m requests from mobiles for video throughout the Games
• Opening up the breadth of the Games via BBC Red Button – with 23.7m viewers to the 24 SD, HD and Freeview streams throughout the Games, and every single stream seeing at least 100,000 viewers
• Over a 24 hour period on the busiest Olympic days, total traffic to bbc.co.uk exceeded that for the entire BBC coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2010 (matches) – on the busiest day, the BBC delivered 2.8 petabytes, with the peak traffic moment occurring when Bradley Wiggins won Gold with over 700 Gb/s

BBC Sport online delivered comprehensive, quality coverage including a page for every athlete, country, sport and venue; 2,500 hours of coverage; and up to 24 HD live streams, ensuring audiences never missed a moment of the action. And, by making every sport available across PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV, viewers could keep up to date with the action, whenever and wherever they were.

Putting live and catch-up video at the heart of the BBC’s online coverage, BBC Sport launched its new live interactive video player. This enabled viewers to watch and switch between live HD video coverage, navigate to key moments within a session, and discover more with live data, statistics and information, while watching the action.

And video proved hugely popular, with 106m requests for video throughout the Games (62m for live streams, 8m for on-demand streams and 35m for clips), smashing the previous highs of 32m for the Beijing Games and 38m for the 2010 World Cup. New features such as chapter markings received an average 1.5 million clicks per day, with people using them to navigate instantly to key moments.

The top five most-requested events from Olympic live video streams on BBC Sport online included: Andy Murray and Serena Williams winning the Tennis Singles Finals, Bradley Wiggins winning the Men’s Cycling Time-Trial and Athletics Heats including Jessica Ennis in the Heptathlon. And the Opening Ceremony has continued to be one of the most popular programmes on BBC Online, with 3.9 million requests to view on either BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website to date.

Popular video clips included German diver, Steven Feck’s nightmare ‘zero point’ dive with over 830,000 requests, Cuban pole vaulter, Lazaro Borges’ pole snapping mid-vault with 420,000 requests, and Usain Bolt storming to victory in the 100m final with over 429,000 requests.

The London 2012 Olympics were the first truly mobile Games. Audiences accessed BBC’s content in ground-breaking numbers on mobile devices, continuing the trend to watch video on-the-go with:

• 1.9m download of BBC’s Olympics mobile app for iOS and Android smartphones
• 40% of browsers accessing BBC’s Olympics coverage were from a mobile at weekends (30% during the week) – averaging 34% per day
• 9.2m UK mobile browsers throughout the Games, with 2.8m UK mobile browsers on the peak day
• On TV, the BBC’s Red-Button service opened up the breadth of Olympic content to audiences with the simple press of a button.
• 23.7m people viewed the 24 live SD, HD & Freeview streams throughout the Games for at least 15 minutes
• Audiences viewed specialist sports such as Judo and Weightlifting in considerable numbers
• Every single Red Button stream received 100,000 viewers at some point during the Games

Phil Fearnley, General Manager - News and Knowledge, BBC Future Media, said: “Our aspiration was that just as the Coronation did for TV in 1953, the Olympics would do for digital in 2012. The demand and astonishing feedback we’ve seen from audiences accessing our Olympics content online, whenever they want, on the devices they choose, has exceeded our expectations and helped fulfil this aspiration. We promised audiences would never miss a moment of the Games. We delivered on our promise and will build on this to leave a lasting digital legacy for audiences in years to come.”

Ben Gallop, Head of Interactive for BBC Sport, said: “Our home Olympics was a special time for the whole UK and it’s been really pleasing for BBC Sport to have given our audience the chance to enjoy all that amazing action. There have been some great stories of people following Team GB’s rowing success at the shopping centre or watching Usain Bolt when they’re on the beach. We like to think it was the ultimate Olympic choice: on-demand and on-the-move.”

Traffic to bbc.co.uk rocketed throughout the Games, with the BBC delivering 2.8 petabytes on the busiest day. Streaming quality was the highest the BBC has ever delivered online, averaging over 1 megabit per second. The peak traffic moment was on 1 August 2012, at over 700 gigabits per second – the day Bradley Wiggins stormed to victory.

Please note: Stats are up to and including Saturday 11 August 2012

More information on the trends for BBC’s Olympic content across all online platforms, including daily peaks in video consumption around specific events can be found here.

The top ten most-requested events from Olympic live video streams on BBC Sport online:

Live stream day requests

1. Tennis Singles Finals - Serena Williams and Andy Murray golds, Sun 05 Aug - 820,000

2. Bradley Wiggins winning gold in the Men’s Cycling Road Time-Trial, Wed 01 Aug - 729,000

3. Tennis Singles Semi-Finals - Serena Williams and Andy Murray, Fri 03 Aug - 610,000

4. Mark Cavendish competing in the Men's Cycling Road Race, Sat 28 Jul - 531,000

5. Athletics Heats including Jessica Ennis in the Heptathlon, Fri 03 Aug - 468,000

6. Rowing gold for Glover and Stanning in Women’s Quadruple Sculls, Wed 01 Aug - 411,000

7. Team GB winning gold in the Men's Team Pursuit and Victoria Pendleton winning the Women's Keirin Cycling Final, Fri 03 Aug - 407,000

8. Cycling golds for Chris Hoy (Keirin) and Laura Trott (Onmium), Tue 07 Aug - 348,000

9. Athletics Heats including Usain Bolt winning the Men's 100m Final, Sun 05 Aug - 344,000

10. The Brownlee Brothers winning gold and bronze in the Men's Triathlon, Tue 07 Aug - 336,000

BBC Local Radio NEEDS YOU

BBC Local Radio will be decimated if the BBC gets away with it. For the most part BBC Locals will only be local for a few hours a day, the evenings will be a new national England program, hardly local. We know 6 Music was saved, in part, due to a Facebook page. Many also know that savings can be made without cutting local programming!!!!  HELP BBC Local stations remain local by joining

http://www.facebook.com/bbcwesayno

and after you have joined put the page on your time line.

THANK YOU

Eric

Google+, NOT NOW THANKS Look at the evidence!

In the past few days I have received so many Google+ announcements from, not people or user companies, people trying to sell services to create Google+ company pages. So before you panic why would you create a company page on Google+?

The companies sending out the emails would have you believe that G+ is the place to engage or sell to consumers. I question this and I’ll share the evidence from multi million pound companies.

If you watch the TV, apart from France which is being daft as usual, you will note blue chip companies ending adverts with the use of facebook.com and Twitter hash tags. These companies have massive research and PR budgets and I would venture to say they know what they are doing. The blue chips are not engaging or selling via Google+ and my view is it has yet to be proven as a consumer commercial tool. Therefore, should you be doing anything right now?

My advice is to create a company page in basic form, just to make sure others do not steal your brand name! Then post a message on that G+ page with links to FaceBook, your blog, twitter and your website. These can be just basic links. So how much will this cost?

If you have an IT person or group, they can retain a G+ page for you – to be honest a teenager could do it such is the simplicity of the exercise. DO NOT be tempted to spend even the most modest of resources, now, on creating a G+ page as the time it takes to make one is under five minutes. Are there any exceptions to this?

In certain circumstance there could be a need for a company page on G+. I am sure there a very niche groups which will migrate to G+. If your needs fall into such a category then yes you need a G+ page with all the bells and whistles possible –remember to measure the results!

I do not think G+ has a competitor online. However, if you force me I would say the closest in LinkedIn. Therefore, if you have good consumer reaction from a page on LinkedIn then maybe you may need a G+ page – if not just do brand protection.

If on the other hand you are getting good results from FaceBook then follow the big boys and use it – be sensible about this, why would people with a lot to lose by not reaching out to their customers/clients be using Facebook if G+ was a better option?

So Here are my tips
1, Register a G+ page – it only take a minute and protects your name
2. Link the G+ page back to Facebook, twitter, Blog, Website etc
3. Make sure you are using Twitter hash tags – watch the video

N.B If you are new to this the underlined areas above link to examples for you

This is the DO NOT area.

DO NOT get sucked into the hype people would have you believe G+ is

DO NOT get sucked into paying companies even modest budgets to create G+ pages

DO NOT forget those advertising on TV using FaceBook and Twitter know what they are doing!

I’ll keep an eye on G+ and if it does show real consumer merit – an article WILL appear here.

Revamped Blog

Dear All

At last I've got around to sorting this blog. So we have put the continuing RTI on the TOP RIGHT. Those MURDERERS that failed dismally on the left and Wiltsher's World in the middle. If you scroll down a bit there are a few NEW thank yous to the good guys.
I've also added an AudioBoo player so just like the BBC you get audio on demand :-)
Check out the links to High Tatras TV and don't laugh at some of the archive pictures, damn I know you will.
There's also a link to a radioships page and I'll do my best not to leave updates for so long.
Have a nice summer
Regards

Angela Levin of the Mail is the Newspaper Highlight of 2010

Newspaper Highlight of The Week

Sub heading; when writing tech articles it’s always better to get the technical experts to check your copy before publication. By the way, I’m rubbish at grammar and stuff – I’m a techy and hate journos publishing miss guided articles about tech which is why I do not write stupid luvy, dovy articles about someone plopping paint on canvass and calling it art.

Now, I wouldn’t normally bother if a newspaper gets it wrong, but sometimes it grabs me somewhere and I can’t resist. I suspect the somewhere in question this time was due to so many contacting me about the article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1337837/Google-Why-let-creepy-company-spy-emails.html

Angela Dear, we don’t. Many millions, ask a teenager, understand that when you go to a search engine or other free service it says in the terms and conditions we can do this, that or the other. It’s a bit like the terms and conditions of buying curling tongs, a hairdryer or the disclaimer alongside a makeup advert.

“The only mystery seemed to be how, exactly, it managed to achieve revenues of more than £15 billion last year.”, asks Angela. To which I shall reply, with adverts dear, adverts.

Angela continues, “Like 190 million others, I had signed up for Google’s free service Gmail to write and receive emails.”. Angela, pet, the key thing here is FREE. Now be honest did you really read the terms and conditions? No, I guessed you didn’t

Angela explained,” This was a new development for me, replacing Microsoft Office Outlook, which was largely trouble-free but which I found cumbersome to use away from my home internet connection.” Here Angela we may have some common ground; I’m not a fan of Outlook either. However, that is due to security issues nothing to do with connection issues. WAIT A MINUTE, you are using GMAIL via a web browser and assuming everyone else is doing the same – WRONG DEAR!

People use GMAIL with non Google products such as Outlook and Thunderbird – yes unlike you they make Outlook work anywhere in the world.

Also can I suggest that if anyone is really worried about a few ads on a FREE service they should subscribe to a PAID FOR service without ads – it’s rather like the choice of watching commercial TV or the BBC. One has ads the other doesn’t.

Now to my MAJOR concern, if the readers of The Mail were to believe this totally miss-guided article they could be forgiven for thinking that Google is spying on all e-mails. Angela, don’t be silly dear. The GOOD NEWS is that whilst few will defend Google, they will come to the assistance of such companies when completely inaccurate piece are published.

Angela Dear you are so wrong on so many counts that it is slightly embarrassing even for the Mail.

Angela concludes her piece, “As for me, I am switching back to the less sophisticated Microsoft Office Outlook. I’ve come to believe that free email is worth exactly what you pay for it.”

ABSOLUTELTY SIDE SPLITTING – YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. So when you opt for the Microsoft owned hotmail account that works with Outlook that is magically something different to Gmail?

Oh Angela Dear, please ask a passing teenager to show you how simply it is to receive your gmail e-mails with an offline reader – as I said I prefer Thunderbird. There won’t be any adverts down the side of the page.

And for any Mail readers that might pass by:
1. Outlook can be used almost anywhere and is less cumbersome to use than an oven

2. Gmail can be read on Outlook, much easier than operating a washing machine

Eric Wiltsher On Air

I am often asked about how I came to be here or how did I get to be there and to be honest it’s tough to remember each step of the way. That’s further complicated due to the fact I don’t keep recordings or shows for more than a few minutes. So with thanks to many kind people who have stored shows, news or simply information about my time in broadcasting so far – THANK YOU!

To those of you who have asked, this link may help answer some of your questions.

http://ericwiltsheronair.blogspot.com/

Eric Wiltsher on TV Markiza April 2010

For non Slovak readers/viewers - TV Markiza is a national TV station in Slovakia. There is a debate going on about what to call a place in Slovakia so that the international community can say the name easily. English speakers, for the Slovak readers there are no smilies in English, try these: Kosice. Nope you got it wrong, it's actually said as Kosheetsa. Now try, if your a non Slovak speaker, Vysny Klatov, send your suggestions by MP3 to studio@rti.fm . There might well be a prize for the best MP3 we get so include your name and address in the e-mail.
The funny thing was I now say Slovak place names as they are said in Slovak, reverting to English/English was quite hard - mind you English was never my strong point :-) . Till next time.

BBC 6Music must not die Mark Thompson you are WRONG

Now you wouldn't expect me to care about 6 Music but as some will know I care about governments interfereing in broadcasting. So as one who had a great service killed due to poloitcal pressures, I say LEAVE 6MUSIC alone Mr Thompson. You can read more here boys and girls:

NME reports
Facebook - Save 6 Music
BBC Have Your Say - they've taken the debate off the front page BUT POST
Sign A Petition
Mark Thompson is overpaid and out of touch, says Greg Dyke

Come on guys, if you really want to win - make it political!
WRITE, yes pen and paper, to your MP and ask he/she if they support the closure. Adding that you are looking for your next MP to stand in favour of 6 Music.They're all desperate for votes and if thousands write they'll need a change of underwear. And where possible find the opposition candidate and write to them with the same letter. On line petitions are great. However, if everyone on the FaceBook page wrote, to both, that would be 64,000 letters. Then post the results as well :-)

Januray 2010 Surprise visit from an MEP

If I've missed anyone, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So we're off with a BANG! A surprise visit from an MEP to Poprad and he agreed to an interview.
Dr, Charles Tannock MEP (picture here) was quite happy to explain the workings of the EU and confirm the staggering EU control over YOUR LAWS. Makes you wonder why more don't vote in EU elections.
There is a Podcast of the interview available and this can be found on www.rti.fm , have a listen it's very interesting.
All the Best
Eric

Eric Wiltsher and Leigh Banks in the Sentinel

Click on the image to see the article on line

Eric Wiltsher talks about Slovakia

Click on the image to find out about the PodCast with Francis Tapon
or
Click here to listen to the Podcast

Thank you Mr Airbag inventor - Dateline 06 July 2009

As promised, here are the pictures of the car as they were about to tow it away, 06 July.

If you look carefully you can see on the passenger side (left side as you're looking at the pictures) where the main impact was, that being the Skoda that pulled out in front of me.

The dent more towards the drivers side was when the concrete pole got in the way, mind you I'd have gone through more than one garden had it not been there. :-)

Irrespective of anything else the main thing is that nobody was seriously injured and cars can be repaired, people are less fortunate.

And finally, as they say. Apart from the Skoda being there, the most scary thing is the actual airbags. Due to the gas they use it looks as though the car is on fire - it took a few mins for me to remember the difference, hey I had an excuse. Also can we have double air bags please, ones that go off twice. The second impact, which was probably only 25kph, hurt the most as the airbags blew when the Skoda came across the front of the car. So at that point it was seat belts only. I prefer airbags.

BIG THANKS to the rescue services in Slovakia who were really helpful and the nice people at A&E in Levoca, especially Dr Holly and his team.

July 2009 Update

Hello Boys and Girls,
Am I getting old or is hidden culture coming out :-) I'm looking for to two church pipe organs being played near me and I get to go listen - how cool is that?
Must say TAR to Paul at www.replayradio.net for asking me to do new music shows for him, been a while since I've done those but hey share what you think. Paul also relays PostCard from Poprad as well :-)
If you have a look to the right I do try to do updates via Twitter as that's so easy and stops me going on for hours, so have a look over there for more updates. And if you have Twitter we could follow each other.
AND I leave you with a health warning :-) I don't know if you have come across all these so called personal development sites using Christian names, well a report has come out claiming they can damage you. Yes the report says they might not be JA JA JA, more like blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'll my bit, when you offer advice via those sites - who gets the money?
Have fun oh and yes - Hello Dano and Kamil

Eric

What a LEMON - iPhone 3.0 downgrade

The bad news is that the hyped download started at all. It would have been better had it not happened at all. Like so many, the useless voice memo app pushed all the other apps onto different pages. Equally, follow-on pages are full of blanks. Which bright spark decided to put the memo pad on page one?
3.0 is more like putting a child in a sweet shop and saying NO! So it has an updated Bluetooth, oh please! What's the point? More to the point what are Apple afraid of by not using defacto standard Bluetooth for mobiles. I guess the good news is the CABLE from the phone does work (please note I said CABLE a piece of wire to make a data transfer connection) which means when I take a photo at least I can grab it with my PC and use my PC to share it via Bluetooth. However, that doesn't generate revenue for Telcos does it - oh some good news is the Skype app still works.
I was really expecting something from 3.0, industry norms from Apple, but what I got was a messed up layout, the stupid assumption that I have Outlook (which should have been buried at birth) and more things that don't work. Oh well, at least AudioBoo ( cool app ) is still fine and can be connected to my PC, via the line in cable I made, to record audio blogs.I really wanted to be excited by 3.0, the only thing that made my blood boil was Apple continuing to think that they know best. Maybe someone should send me an MP3, oh sorry that should be Quicktime NOT, of the Apple brainwashing hymn, and then maybe I’ll start to understand why my partners Nokia can do more than my iPhone and be happy about that.

What is all the hype about with the iPhone 3.0 OS?

I tried singing the Apple song but it didn’t work, nor did it inspire me.
So we’re talking about what? A telephone, mini handheld device or something else?
Now I do use an iPhone and it does some really good stuff. Mostly I use it as a business tool. And that’s because I can’t use it for everything I should be able to use it for.
I got marginally excited when the word Bluetooth was mentioned, did I miss something? The big news was I can use a mobile headset, was that it? So I still can’t Bluetooth other phones or my PC? Are we supposed to be grateful that a mobile phone can now be used with a standard hands free Bluetooth headset - no WAIT, did they say stereo headphones or hands free? Guess we’ll have to wait.
WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!
So my really cool PC still can’t talk to the iPhone without using naughty software, which has to be a joke really. Having to load iTunes, which is totally confused as my phone is from one country and iTunes registered in another, as it won’t accept the country I set up the itunes account in, following this? Jeez this is Europe not the USA. AND WHO CARES ABOUT AN APPLE SPAT with AT&T, I couldn’t give a monkeys’ uncle about that. I’m in Europe and what’s more the easy way would be to have hardware not geo-locked at birth. Sure if the people making the apps available want to be miserable and lock them, then so be it. But the device should not be geo-locked. Hmmm raises eye-brows as he knows the reason why, it has damn all to do with some things but a lot more to do with other forms of controls.
NOW BE FAIR ERIC, there were other new things, oh yeah cut, copy and paste – well that’s novel in a mobile phone. There’s an audio sound recorder, with an anorak level meter, so I can record things – another novel addition.
Video, don’t start me. WOW HEAVENS it’s got………………not much really. My two-year-old Sony can boast a higher mega Pixel rating.
It’s got accelerators, and?
OK I’ll keep using the iPhone for the business monitor I use it for and Safari to make sure that those that go down an Apple route can still get to the content we make – well most of it as there are still some bits I haven’t seen being made available to iPhone owners. CAN YOU BELIEVE THE PRICES OF THOSE NEW NOTEBOOKs, I nearly fell over laughing.
Anyway, one nice app for the iPhone is AudioBoo and now I’ve MADE A CABLE, that cost less than a cup of coffee (unlike the iPhone version I’m sure, if there is one), we can take stuff from the studio and upload it. THANKS AUDIOBOO PEOPLE!
Honestly, I’m sure Apple fans are nice people, ALL OF THEM, but please share why they have this implanted need to bum-up Apple.
I’m a PC, I’m a PC, I’m a PC – not I’m NOT! I’m a guy that drives people nuts looking at tech developments, mainly (he says trying to justify things) as I advise on what’s new and more importantly what’s going to make a difference. And what’s more I enjoy that aspect of creativity.
So my message is this – expecting people to pay out more and more for geo-locked hardware will one day come back and bite people who pushed it. Expecting people to pay out more and more for subscriptions to watch TV on an iPhone will drive most to DVD, the PC or considerably worse.I recall an iPod owner saying to me once it was a shame that all the downloaded music could not be used or copied to CD, well I laughed. Nuff said?

Keeping in touch with the show

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls; now here's the secret. I have so many things to do I often forget to post stuff here. Now slowly move your eyes RIGHT and there you will see the latest mytherings of Wiltsher. Yes Twitter! Oh damn forgot to ask you to come back here, oh well LOL.

If you make it back, the player is now automatic on www.rti.fm as it is on www.mediazoo.co.uk and other places inc that of co-presenter Leigh and if you miss all those places you can find the show Sunday evenings on ReplayRadio.net at 8.00pm UK time.

Thanks for visiting and
Best Regards
Eric

PostCard from Poprad

Hi All, having configured a player for everyone else I thought it about time to load the finished product HERE!!!!!
Well, you are probably hearing it already LOL.
If you want to change the week you are listening to just use the scroll down feature and select the week you want, normally about six weeks available.
I won't rant on here as the 10April show is a must listen to - SO FUNNY!

Enjoy
Eric

Offshore Radio Page Updated

Now if I am given some new software to try, it just has to be tested - makes sense, right?
So having scratched my head, I thought - I KNOW - I'll see if it helps with an offshore radio blog I've had for ages and to cut a long story short IT WORKED and saved me hours :-)
Anyway, the how stuff is a tad business like so we'll move over to the results.
The Blog is called The Radio Ships is your browser is being silly you can cut and paste the full link into your address bar http://theradioships.blogspot.com

Have fun and DON'T FORGET we now update POSTCARD FROM POPRAD every Friday on RTI

There are some new videos on the TV CHANNEL - High Tatras TV - and thanks to our friends at the Good Ski Guide for being part of the channel!!

Till next time
Eric

OOoooo PS - you can now get show updated via Twitter:
www.twitter.com/ericwiltsher

Tech Savy Slovakia

I was asked by my old friend Martin to write an article about the Technology available in Slovakia. Eventually I got round to doing the piece for him and the results can be found via the link Tech Savy Slovakia .

I hope you enjoy the read.
Regards
Eric

RTI PHASE TWO goes LIVE

Hi Guys, let me know what you think?
Last week we tried RTI phase TWO using PodCasts. It seemed to work. Have a listen and e-mail your thoughts, new e-mail address info in the Podcast.
The new Postcard From Poprad is now on www.rti.fm . I chatted to Tom Shorrock about his UK theartre troop coming to Poprad, plus your e-mails, don't drive a posh car, the UK weather and the PC police are at it again!
Best Regards
Eric

That's it then - RTI has gone

Now there has been some confusion in Slovakia about RTI, so maybe I'll clear up issues here.
RTI, or to give it its full name Radio Tatras International, is owned and operated by a limited (Ltd) company in the UK. That Ltd granted a license to RadioTatry.sro (that's a Slovak limited company) to use the name, trademark, jingles, music etc etc.
As is the case with both the UK Ltd company and the Slovak sro there are often people who wish to buy aspects of a station that has closed or is closing.
At this moment, the Slovak version of RTI is in negotiations with people. Therefore, it continues to broadcast to comply with regulatory needs. When that opportunity came up the Ltd granted a temporary usage license to the sro to continue using the name whilst negotiations take place.
So that's where it is now. Equally, people are keen to buy other pieces of the Ltd company assets - if they do then that is there decision and if they do I'm sure they'll share.
So the truth is there have always been two companies working under the name owned by the UK Ltd.
So what next? Now if I had a crystal ball I could answer that.
I am sure the Directors of RTI Ltd will decide on an appropriate action as and when action is needed.

So moving on - many of the DJs are planning podcasts and that got me thinking, I might join in purely as a presenter on an English based service. I can do that :-)
If we all share a portal we could do rather well, I think.
I could call my show Postcard from Poprad
Now there's a thought. The actual broadcast would originate in the UK so be governed by UK broadcast rules - hmmmmmmmmmm

I'll think about it. If you like the idea e-mail

MUST READ ARTICLE - Propping up the dinosaurs is a gross waste of creative capital

To read the entire article, you need to click on the link to the FT.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c5d80624-e1da-11dd-afa0-0000779fd2ac.html

"We could easily have a vibrant, creative TV industry for no more than 20 per cent of the licence fee grant. Let us get back - honestly - to defining what we really need in PSB terms, and look among the hundreds of existing broadcasters for the most efficient means of providing it."

Yes I do know and have worked with Fred Perkins, Chief Executive of Information TV. However, that said, the piece is very accurate. How and why things have continued the way they have in broadcasting is something that beggar’s belief. I do have a view on why change has been stifled. However, that may influence your view of the piece. Therefore, for now, my views will remain with me.
Enjoy the read.

Who has the power?

An interesting question and naturally a double meaning as I live in Slovakia and there has been a huge fight over Gas supplies.
So what's my answer? YOU!
Gas won't last for ever and people who think that just because they can pump fuels from the ground gives them power are very silly.
The last few days have seen political people from various countries claiming they can fix things and the fact is they could have done so had they acted years ago.
The power is in renewable energy - solar panels, wind turbines. They could easily be added to so many countries, even wet and windy GB, and they could produce huge amounts of fuel.
Both Russia and the UK produce huge amounts of gas and oil, diverting profits from those resources, which they clearly will not do, would make the earth cool down (after a while), avoid the need to build even more pipes across countries.
However, one tiny problem. If you don't hold power by supplying people with power, then you need to hold power by earning respect - not something everyone can do!
As a collective, WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THE CHANGE. Use low-energy lamps! Look at investing in Solar! And as crazy as this sounds to some, if you can work from home for a day a week - DO IT! Just think how much energy would be saved if millions of people a week worked from home for one day and saved all the fuel they use travelling to work.

RTI Continues, but RTI is SK has gone

It's quite sad writing about the loss of something good. For over 40 years I have fought for radio. Thus I am reminded of the closure of Radio London, August 1967, when the station closed down the statement read out said that the station had done very little wrong, but an awful lot of good in its three years.
I feel that fits well for RTI in the Slovak Republic.
The official statement of closure can be found at:
http://rtislovakia.blogspot.com

Eric Off the Radio AGAIN, but Slovak companies may help get him back to even more people

Many have asked, so this is what happened. The option we had was to either dub or translate all non-musical content into Slovak or face HUGE sanctions, the legal people told me we could lose the Slovak license.
So let's think about this, there are LIVE shows and they want full translation - not a chance, sorry not going to work. Well not in the real world.
As it goes it will give me a bit of a break as I've been very busy recently and I am the only real casualty. All the English DJs can still be heard and the funny thing is the Net figures have gone up like crazy, me thinks those that can afford alternative ways of listening are voting via the PC.
The people I am most worried about, obviously some are not, are those that can least afford English language courses. Learning via listening is known to be one of the most beneficial ways to learn a language. And being able to learn via a low-cost FM radio was so logical. If any of those learning via FM manage to get to an Internet Cafe and read this - I am truly sorry you cannot listen and learn now and if we could bring back the English shows tomorrow I work ALL NIGHT to get them to you. However, I fear few on lower incomes will get to this page, as some cannot even afford the cost of an Internet Cafe.
What I have to remind people now is that getting a better job depends on people speaking both Slovak and English. The politicians have said that Slovakia won't suffer the same as other countries during the credit-crunch. Tell that to people when car sales REALLY slow and the need for steel declines, both things will have an impact on jobs.
I could give hundreds of examples of how RTI would help those that need the help most if people in certain places were interested, but I fear it may well fall on deaf ears. However, need the view of a listener - read the letters on www.rti.fm .
NOW DON'T LAUGH, the letter I would like you read is the one that says he couldn't understand me. After a while he could. He also states the English he was taught was nothing like spoken English - he also adds other comments which you should read for yourself.

RTI was started as a service connecting Slovakia and Great Britain. It still does that as Slovak listeners in the UK have not suffered and they shouldn’t. Why should those lose out because of a ruling in Slovakia.

In Slovakia RTI is still connecting the two countries via satellite and the Internet, we’ll aim to let more and more people know of that.

I would like to leave this topic with a reminder. Very soon the analogue broadcasting of FM will stop. Then digital will be the way forward.

Soon cars will be made with Internet radios built in. That means a person with an Internet car will be able to tune into RTI when driving in Bratislava or London.

The funny thing is SO MANY CARS are made in Slovakia. In advance of the new Internet radios being fitted, may I thank the Slovak car manufacturing companies who will make RTI available not only country wide in Slovakia, but also country wide in the UK. Very kind of you and once that happens RTI will have the opportunity to further increase it’s audience with those tuning in having both Slovak and English shows.

Be nice to each other

Eric

LEWIS HAMILTON, TRUE BRITISH GRIT AND DETERMINATION

Congrats to Lewis Hamilton, so they docked him points – hit him verbally and unacceptably – but he showed the grit a lad from the UK (Stevenage, Hertfordshire) has.

There is an old saying, you can push, push and push a Brit again – push him/her one inch further and they’ll push back harder than you would ever believe.

Lewis proved that and all I can say is WELL DONE LEWIS!

Whilst my racing driving was miniature in comparison, Lewis showed the composure needed to be a champion. He balanced that with his skill to make gaps where there are none, to those not having the skill he has.

And as to being mature, in Brazil he showed the maturity needed to be a world champion. My personal plea to Lewis is could you at least make your move a few yards sooner if it comes down to the wire again – I don’t think my nerves can take another race like Brazil 2008.

Queen Elizabeth II in Poprad

It was a great honour to be at the AquaCity Poprad Stadium when the Queen came to visit, some of my memories below.







I was clapping, not praying as some say


Freddie, yours truly and Fero commentating


Honest this was before the Queen Arrived


More pics and reports here.

Wednesday 10 September - Eric back on the radio

At 8.00pm CET Eric will re-start his radio show on RTI www.rti.fm
Sky Digital 019594.2FM in the Tatry region of Slovakia
94.8FM in Kosice.
Via Facebook Streema (app) - key word RTI
Wednesday 10 September at 8.00pmCET (7.00pm UK)
Madness/mayhem and LOADS of beautiful guests

Days For Heroes - 21 September - McFly Headlining

Help support our troops whilst enjoying a fabulous day out for all the family. Top of the bill are chart-busting McFly – with seven number 1s and two number 1 albums. Celebrities, artists and the military are joining forces to give families a day out to remember, whilst raising essential funds for Help for Heroes Charity.

14 August is here again and so we remember offshore radio

Yes it's that time of the year again and I couldn't resist my annual look back in time. I'm sure this years show will raise an eyebrow or two and probably create a few, less than positive, shouts.
The UK Offshore radio hey-days were a great inspiration to me and hopefully RTI goes some way to continue the spirit of those stations. However, in 2008 with young DJs and a mix of quality gold music and the best of the new music. I make no appologies for the fact that when I listened to the offshore stations they were an excellent combination of new and old - so 41 years on it makes sense to follow a tried and tested principle.
But for an hour, we'll go back to the music that radio made me go OH WOW! in those days 41 years back. I hope you enjoy the tracks I've chosen AND respect that for the spirit of those stations to continue - the future is digital.
You can hear my tribute show on the international service of RTI directly after Larry London - see www.rti.fm for times.
Regards, Eric

Here is the playlist for the hour.

We Love The Pirate Stations – Roaring Forties
Whiter Shade Of Pale – Procul Harum
San Franciso – Scott McKenzie
Glad All Over – Dave Clark Five
The Last Time – Rolling Stones
Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann
Have I The Right – Honeycombs
With A Girl Like You – Troggs
Excerpt From A Teenage Opera – Keith West
It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones
Goodbye Caroline – One Shots
See Emily Play – Pink Floyd
Sukiyaki – Kyu Sakamoto
Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
Kites – Simon Dupree
Keep On Running – Spencer Davies
Paint It Black – Rolling Stones
A Day In The Life - Beatles