RAJAR have published the quarterly radio listening figures. LIstening via DAB is ever increasing, up again to 34.3% of all radio listening.

The annual radio 'oscars' - the Sony Awards took place in London last night. 

Audiobook production is a big part of Red Apple Creative's production. The world of audiobooks is very much about allowing people to enjoy literature in a different way. We're also big champions of children's audiobooks - especially on those long car journeys. So we read the news of a new app that allows children to be read a bedtime story from the pyjamas they are wearing with an open mind. 

As part of the RAB's push to improve the creativity of radio advertising in the UK the Aerial Awards have been refreshed and relaunched. 

Commercials approved by the advertiser and on air within the past calendar month are eligible for entry. Emer Stamp and Ben Tollett from Adam&Eve/DDB will be the first judges of the awards.

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld the UK ban on political advertising on broadcast media after an 8 year appeal. The appeal was made by the campaign group Animal Defenders International (ADI) following a 2005 ban on their TV commercial promoting ADI's concerns of the commercial use of primates on TV.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) have announced their latest council of experts to focus on the platform of online audio advertising. Red Apple Creative are delighted to be part of the council and looking forward to the development and forthcoming projects that the council will lead.

Figures out today show that advertising spend on mobile has increased by 148% year on year to £526 million.

Christmas 2012 promised to be the year of the tablet as the most commonly received/requested present and unsurprisingly the fastest rate of growth for mobile ad spend was in the latter half of the year.

Red Apple Creative are proud to have produced a series of three radio commercials for Liberon's first UK radio campaign. Talksport listeners will have heard this on air since the start of April.

Red Apple Creative are proud to have produced a series of three commercial for Liberon's first UK radio campaign. Listeners to Talksport will have heard this since the start of April. 

Red Apple Creative are proud to have created a series of three commercials for Liberon's first UK radio camapign. Listeners to Talksport will have heard these on air from the start of April. The lovely soundscape behind this one has us wishing hard for the start of Spring!

It was a thrill to hear Russell Brand return to radio last week as he took to XFM alongside some of his old team.

XFM have always enjoyed great relationships with comedians and edgy presenters and Brand fits both of these descriptions. After a long hiatus from UK radio following the Sachsgate 'scandal' it seemed a brave step for XFM to push ahead with this as a live show, but true radio and Brand's comic brilliance thrive in the adrenaline fuelled spontaneity that only exists within a live show.

I don’t know what the gentleman’s equivalent is. Our headline is of course metaphorical and not a direct request to some unidentified voyeur.

It is however, unidentified voyeurs of a sort that the sentiment is directed at.  Having spent the morning talking to companies across the marketing world and reading their insights into the ‘big thing’ for 2013 in our industry I have been left feeling a little unsettled. I don’t know what the gentleman’s equivalent is. Our headline is of course metaphorical and not a direct request to some unidentified voyeur.

Thanks social media. Thanks for reminding us at minute by minute intervals that Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day as it appears to be known now). Without the delights of Twitter and Facebook how would we know what our friends/colleagues/ex-neighbour’s pancake efforts look like. Or indeed their filling of choice. Or that they were thinking about said pancake at 3pm.

The way that radio is measured intrigues me. RAJAR is the official body for measuring both commercial and BBC radio in the UK. The current method involves residents from selected postcodes within licensed transmission areas being solicited to complete diaries that follow their radio listening over a set time period. This information is collated and upscaled to give the average of listeners and hours listened for each station within that area.

For such progressive times it seems an archaic system, but research into other methods has so far proved unreliable.

We're looking for a great Business Development Manager to join our team.

Every time a blanket of snow sweeps the country our inner child escapes. Reminders of a youthful era when you'd tune into local radio in the morning to hear your school's name called out as a closure for the day. I remember the privilege I felt in my early radio career when I was informed of the SNOWDAY password that schools had to provide when calling with their closure notice so that mischevious pupils didn't attempt sabotage!

Even in this digital age with Twitter being the fastest way to update people there really is nothing like radio to reflect the mood of the country at a time of collective disruption.

A retrospective glance at 2012 is all you need to be reminded of the corporate distrust, the media distrust and the governmental distrust the nation felt thanks to tax avoidance, tax loopholes and the ongoing saga of hacking.

So will this new year herald a fresh start for the companies who have been smeared with the Dick Turpin tag?

The New Year blasted off in traditional fashion - fireworks over Sydney Harbour, fireworks over the Pantheon, fireworks over Big Ben...etc. Nothing remarkably different from any other New Year's Eve. Socially the networks were busy with the usual blub of homogenised 'New Year' messages. In reality, the social scene was much quieter. In fact, I think this is the most subdued New Year's Eve I've ever known. Has the recession taken it's toll too heavily on the pockets of the nation? Or has the hype for what was once the most socially decadent and expensive night of the year finally had it's day?

Season's greetings! 

Here's one of our favourite alternative Christmas songs by Tim Minchin for you to enjoy. 

We’ve been asked a number of times for our opinion on the 2Day radio call.

No one could have predicted the terribly sad outcome for Jacintha Saldanha.

Especially the presenters at 2Day, who did not expect their call to be put through and initially became the source of envy amongst other presenters who wish they’d scored the scoop and then pity for the burden of their responsibility in this sad circumstance.

Whilst there has been widespread shock followed by condemnation for the presenters from 2Day it’s been somewhat overlooked that pranks are a very strong part of  ‘entertainment’ seen in broadcasting and many more grotesque pranks have continue to gain popularity this week.

The Autumn Statement this week saw George Osborne announce a 25% tax relief starting April 2013 for the game, animation and high-end TV industries.

It’s great news that these creative industries are being supported and given the chance to thrive in economically tough times.
To put the cherry on top, £6 million is being made available for training in these industries.

We have to mention the decision to suspend SodaStream's TV commercial from broadcast. With just hours to spare Clearcast withdrew it approval on the grounds that the commercial 'denigrates the bottled drink industry'. Cue much debate on either side and whilst we have our own opinion, the real winner seems to be SodaStream who have received a fair amount of coverage in the press and are signposting interested parties to YouTube where the commercial can be enjoyed without restraint.

Still, it's not as wild as the XXL TV commercial in Norway featuring zombies! The commercial is now banned from broadcast prior to 9pm for complaints that it was “provocative and stupid”...if that comment were carried forward to UK TV advertising that poor Go Compare chap and the semi-violent ads he currently appears in would be appearing before a committee of MPs to explain themselves!

To start the week off news that Churchill Insurance fell unexpectedly foul of that terrible curse of casting when their advertising frontman, Martin Clunes had his driving license suspended. We’ve blogged about the benefits and pitfalls of high profile casting, still at least their mascot nodding dog shouldn't cause them too much trouble. Unless it starts destroying sofas in a insurance scam?!

Audio advertising is our strong suit and we've been making audio commercials for.....oooh,many years! Over the course of time audio has made the move into the online world and we've been delighted to use this space to show how powerful the auditory sense is in terms of engagement. 

Last Wednesday the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) hosted the last of 3 seminars on Advertising in a Online Environment and we were delighted to share our thoughts on this aspect of the advertising world alongside representatives from LastFM, We7, Spotify, Absolute and the BPI.

Why did the Mexican push his wife off a cliff?