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I have noticed that the quality of the radio shows here are completely cr*p compared to the UK, it seems that the poor presesnters have a list of topics, events, people not to mention in the negative, but hey, I guess its a case of new country, new rules.

But, just to get it off my chest, 103.8's Brandi Scott has a great voice, the best radio voice ever.... she takes top spot from my favourite of last year in London on LBC 97.3, Caroline Feraday. And this morning, Jessica Swan sounded nice too, kinda cute sounding

................. so for the temporary moment, the voices make up for lack of content, but what we gonna do when that moment passes?

Its amazing how unqualified these DJs are. That pretty much goes for everything here in Dubai. I'm still trying to search for a Country Music Station in Dubai. I heard country music on a radio station but the follwing day it wasn't there. I don't remember what station it was now.

the sheer amount of tosh the poor presenters need to listen to & speak about makes me laugh.

Criteria for being a Radio Presenter in Dubai, must sound western, must not speak down to non-western callers (being cautious with that statement), & lives in Dubai Marina!

OK, and you guys are all qualified to comment because of what? Are you DJ's? Ever tried being a radio DJ?

There are some good ones here, but all the stations are controlled, censored and playlisted so not a lot of freedom going.

103.2 The Coast hosts 2 of the old favourites in the shape of Rick and Daniel in the morning, who get away with murder, comparatively. They have been here for years and appeared on almost every network going so know the ropes and how far they can push the envelope.

There is Emma B on 104.8 Channel 4...she's cool!

Siobhan Leyden on Dubai Eye does all the girly chat stuff in the daytime.

Listen a little more and, once you get through the crap playlisting, you can hear some very professional people doing a very hard job.

As for Country music? You can shove it up your Western!



Knight

You don't have to be a DJ to recognise crappy radio presenting, and Dubai has heaps of it. You can defend the reasons WHY they are crap but that doesn't change the fact that they are crappy.

Rick and Daniel seem to be the best though.

Thank God for BBC World Service, even if they only play half the day in English.

It's amazing how people who know nothing about radio b*tch about it!

Having done the breakfast show on Radio 1 here for three years, been head of music, head of station and worked for Channel 4, I am very qualified to talk about it!!!!

All music is playlisted, that's a given anywhere in the world unless it is a specialist show. Playlists are compiled by researching music charts, what the record companies give you and what the format of your station is, i.e. Radio 1 - mostly dance & RnB, Channel 4 - Top 40 CHR (rock and guitar driven tracks on heavy rotation), Virgin - Top 40 CHR - but dance & RnB, Dubai 92 - Rock, indie, guitar driven tracks. Coast & Radio 2 Classic Hits, Dubai Eye - talk radio etc etc.

In the UAE it's a unique territory as you'll take research from the UK and the rest of Europe, the USA and Australia as the main areas, with a sprinkling of Western style local artists and fusion tracks.

Unfortunately the radio stations here pay peanuts, so they are never going to attract big talent or names from elsewhere. Rick and Daniel should have hung up their headphones along time ago.

Yes we are given a whole list of what we can and cannot talk about, but people are pushing it big time. Five years ago, we couldn't play half the tracks you hear now, because of their content.

The other big problem is lazy programme controllers who don't enforce proper presenting styles, or presenters who refuse to adhere or listen, trust me I've tried.

Anything else you want to know?

Just you wait until Chocs gets to hear of this!

If I were you guys, I would find a very very deep hole and start hiding right now...



Knight

Damn she's quick!

I did warn you...



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:OK, and you guys are all qualified to comment because of what? Are you DJ's? Ever tried being a radio DJ?

There are some good ones here, but all the stations are controlled, censored and playlisted so not a lot of freedom going.

103.2 The Coast hosts 2 of the old favourites in the shape of Rick and Daniel in the morning, who get away with murder, comparatively. They have been here for years and appeared on almost every network going so know the ropes and how far they can push the envelope.

There is Emma B on 104.8 Channel 4...she's cool!
Siobhan Leyden on Dubai Eye does all the girly chat stuff in the daytime.

Listen a little more and, once you get through the crap playlisting, you can hear some very professional people doing a very hard job.

As for Country music? You can shove it up your Western!



Knight

you little scamp you

It's always the same DK, people who haven't got a clue moaning about it. I bet if you pyt half these people in front of a mic, they'd freeze up on the spot with nothing to say.

Yes half the guys here are doing there first radio gig, geez I gave half the jocks on Radio 1 their first jobs and trained them to the best of my ability, unfortunately I parted ways with 1&2 before I could finish what I'd started.

I don't work in radio anymore, because I got sick of the politics, unprofessionalism, crap pay and rubbish hours, although I miss it like hell, but what to do.

arniegang wrote:

Dubai Knight wrote:OK, and you guys are all qualified to comment because of what? Are you DJ's? Ever tried being a radio DJ?

There are some good ones here, but all the stations are controlled, censored and playlisted so not a lot of freedom going.

103.2 The Coast hosts 2 of the old favourites in the shape of Rick and Daniel in the morning, who get away with murder, comparatively. They have been here for years and appeared on almost every network going so know the ropes and how far they can push the envelope.

There is Emma B on 104.8 Channel 4...she's cool!
Siobhan Leyden on Dubai Eye does all the girly chat stuff in the daytime.

Listen a little more and, once you get through the crap playlisting, you can hear some very professional people doing a very hard job.

As for Country music? You can shove it up your Western!



Knight

you little scamp you

I had to really...otherwise she would bash me!



Knight

that nob DJ (guy) on Radio 4 in the daytime/early evening really gets up my nose.

He just talks for the sake of it - is he on commission for how many words he can put out on air in 2 hours.

Hey look I can take constructive criticism, in fact I always actively encouraged it. What isn't nice is people just slagging things off for the sake of it. That's just daft.

I mean I wouldn't walk into someone's office, sit at their desk and start saying how crap they were now would I? So same same.

Dubai Knight wrote:Damn she's quick!

I did warn you...



Knight

bugger she's monitoring us

hide DK

Chocoholic wrote:Hey look I can take constructive criticism, in fact I always actively encouraged it. What isn't nice is people just slagging things off for the sake of it. That's just daft.

I mean I wouldn't walk into someone's office, sit at their desk and start saying how crap they were now would I? So same same.

hey chocs

we think you are brill

Chocoholic wrote:It's amazing how people who know nothing about radio b*tch about it!

As I said, you don't have to be an expert to complain about a product or service. As a radio listener I think radio here is crappy. Do I have to know the ins and outs of integrated circuit boards and plastic injection molding to be able to say I think iPods rule and Zunes suck? Of course not.

But you can at least explain WHY you don't like it! As I said, constructive criticism is fine, slating for the sake of is just rubbish and unintelligent on your part.

Tell me what you do, so then I can come and whine about you and the way you do things - HA!

Arnie, are you talking about DJ Moe on Channel 4? FYI, Radio 4 is the Hindi station.

Moe is one of my best mates - watch it, watch it!

Chocoholic wrote:But you can at least explain WHY you don't like it! As I said, constructive criticism is fine, slating for the sake of is just rubbish and unintelligent on your part.

Tell me what you do, so then I can come and whine about you and the way you do things - HA!

Arnie, are you talking about DJ Moe on Channel 4? FYI, Radio 4 is the Hindi station.

Moe is one of my best mates - watch it, watch it!

yea sorry Chocs i mean Ch 4

your mate he maybe chocs - just tell him to cut all unessessary chat, i nearly fell asleep at the wheel last week when he was chatting to this guy.

Yes Moe does have a bit of the verbals sometimes, and brain farts as he likes to call them. Bless him. However statistically he is probably the most popular jock in Dubai! His show always comes out on top in the research.

Chocoholic wrote:But you can at least explain WHY you don't like it! As I said, constructive criticism is fine, slating for the sake of is just rubbish and unintelligent on your part.

That is a fair point. I dislike Dubai radio for the following reasons:

1) Lots of the DJs sound amateurish

2) The stations replay a small number of songs way too often.

3) There seems to be a disproportional number of RnB stations/shows. As opposed to both other styles of electronic music and other music genres.

4) The topics/banter/music is so tame compared to what I am used to. (censorship etc)

You have obviously explained a lot of the reasons for these shortcomings in your earlier points.

Chocoholic wrote:Yes Moe does have a bit of the verbals sometimes, and brain farts as he likes to call them. Bless him. However statistically he is probably the most popular jock in Dubai! His show always comes out on top in the research.

fair enuf

Okay let me address these one by one for you:

1) Lots of the DJs sound amateurish

Because unfortunately they lack proper training and even the seasoned presenters become slack and wrapped up in their own ego if not kept in check. I can't remember the last time anoyone told me they had an aircheck with their PD's, so it's a failign from management and lack of selfcontrol, prepping etc on the presenters side. Also low wages, very often means low talent.

2) The stations replay a small number of songs way too often.

Playlists are always very tight. Without going into graphic detail, a 3 hour show will rotate 4 A list songs an hour and they might have 8 - 10 A list songs in that group so they will come around very often, sometimes the same song twice in one show. It's the way it is the world over. The first thing a station does if it's figures are down is tighten up the playlist and reduce the chat. The average station will be running a playlist totalling a max of 250 songs at anyone time, before they get rotated. Trust me it takes years to learn to programme music, some have the talent for it, others don't. - I was damn good at it by the way, I'd take many stations to task here that's for sure.

3) There seems to be a disproportional number of RnB stations/shows. As opposed to both other styles of electronic music and other music genres.

Because sadly that's what the general populus likes to listen to, esp the locals. You go to any club/bar when it has an RnB night on and it's rammed. Don't forget that radio stations are a business, they have to attract listeners to attract advertisers, whch are dictated by agencies. Now bizarrely in this country the agencies dictate much of the direction of a station and they do they're own research and give it to their clients and push them to their favoured stations, this doesn't happen anywhere else, and it's damn frustrating.

4) The topics/banter/music is so tame compared to what I am used to. (censorship etc)

Of course, because there are many things that we cannot mention, don't forget you are living in an Islamic country. Every radio station is Governmentally owned, (Radio 1&2 Abu Dhabi / 92, Dubai Eye - Dubai / Channel 4 - Ajman etc etc) therefore they are pretty strict over content. As I said before 5 years ago we couldn't play many of the songs or talk about many of the topics that we do today. During Ramadan all the stations would switch to easy listening music even. As my Dad would say, 'Don't forget where you're living!'

Phew! Anything else?

Cheers for the info.

re: censorships etc, It is ironic that most of the clubs/stations are RnB. Perhaps I'm just not hearing the music objectively but most RnB songs seem to be talking about picking up chicks in bars/having sex with chicks in bars.

Perhaps it's just because I heard that song "Make love in the club" fifty thousand times on the radio here when I first arrived.

PS: Thought I made a typo but it must just be the word filter.

haha I know, ironic isn't it! Many tracks get burnt and used up very very quickly here. But then they'll be filed away in the on-hold category for a while, before being added back into the playlist on recurrents.

If I could start a station from scratch - and trust me I'd love to - I would do it very very differently.

Could you do one in Welsh? Or Gaelic? Or Cherokee Indian?

Then no-one would have any idea what you were talking about and you could say anything you like!

Mind you, the playlist would be a bit limited...



Knight

I hear you, but still.... radio here is complete and utter pants!

a caller into 103.8 a few days back, misunderstood the discussion, came up with arguments completely unrelated to the topic at hand... and the presenters were in agreement with him????????????????

how can for instance the caller talk about apples, when the discussion was about the worldwide economical crisis, and on top of that for the presenter to say, "yes, great point"????????

Dunno if anyone is familiar with Nick Ferrari of LBC in London, but he would have had that caller for brekkie.

at least you get a choice in Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi I can pick up Radio 1 and 2 anytime, if the weather conditions are right I can usually pick up Channel 4 on most of the drive to work and if I'm really lucky I can sometimes make out another english speaking radio station through the static.

It could of course just be a crappy Ford car radio that's the problem.

No it's not your radio. Radio 1&2 are the only stations with dual frequency, one for Dubai and one for AD. Everyone else is Dubai exclusive. I'm not even going to go into the politics surrounding who owns the frequencies.

Chocoholic wrote:No it's not your radio. Radio 1&2 are the only stations with dual frequency, one for Dubai and one for AD. Everyone else is Dubai exclusive. I'm not even going to go into the politics surrounding who owns the frequencies.

I think we can guess!



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:OK, and you guys are all qualified to comment because of what? Are you DJ's? Ever tried being a radio DJ?

There are some good ones here, but all the stations are controlled, censored and playlisted so not a lot of freedom going.

103.2 The Coast hosts 2 of the old favourites in the shape of Rick and Daniel in the morning, who get away with murder, comparatively. They have been here for years and appeared on almost every network going so know the ropes and how far they can push the envelope.

There is Emma B on 104.8 Channel 4...she's cool!

Siobhan Leyden on Dubai Eye does all the girly chat stuff in the daytime.

Listen a little more and, once you get through the crap playlisting, you can hear some very professional people doing a very hard job.

As for Country music? You can shove it up your Western!



Knight

hey I don't have a radio but I see the point, we all need to get a bit loosened up here, there's a diff culture here..
x londoner