{"id":46353,"date":"2020-11-08T12:04:40","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T16:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=46353"},"modified":"2020-11-08T12:04:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T16:04:40","slug":"radio-waves-united-biscuits-radio-station-wmal-towers-demolished-canadas-first-off-grid-station-and-st-helena-gets-fiber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/radio-waves-united-biscuits-radio-station-wmal-towers-demolished-canadas-first-off-grid-station-and-st-helena-gets-fiber\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Waves: United Biscuit’s Radio Station, WMAL Towers Demolished, Canada’s First Off-Grid Station, and St. Helena Gets Fiber"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio<\/h2>\n

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s<\/em> Radio Waves<\/em>, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0<\/strong>Enjoy!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em> contributors Todd R, Skip Arey and Tracy Wood\u00a0 for the following tips:<\/p>\n

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Cracker factory records: the surprising story of United Biscuits’ radio station (The Guardian)<\/a><\/h3>\n

Playing Bollywood soundtracks and songs about safety shoes, this shopfloor station made stars out of Dale Winton and Nicky Horne, and paved the way for UK commercial radio<\/p>\n

nless you spent your summers packing Jaffa Cakes into boxes in the 70s, you are unlikely to have heard of the United Biscuits Network (UBN). It was a radio station for biscuit-makers, broadcasting around the clock to factories in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. One part industrial psychology, another part community radio, UBN was intended to make factory life more bearable, but over its nine-year lifespan, it emerged as one of the most daring, anarchic and pioneering stations to hit the UK airwaves.<\/p>\n

Music has long been a point of contention in the workplace. Prof Marek Korczynski, who co-authored Rhythms of Labour (2013), describes the history of British working life as \u201ca battle over soundscapes\u201d. Bosses first wanted silent factories, but during the second world war, Korczynski says, \u201cindustrial psychologists \u2013 the forerunners to HR departments \u2013 started looking at playing cheerful music in factories, at the times of day when productivity would dip\u201d. After the war, as Britain rebuilt itself, this strategy was maintained with muzak: inoffensive background tunes, played to lighten the monotony of factory work.<\/p>\n

There was one issue, according to Korczynski: \u201cWorkers grew to hate muzak.\u201d As jobs on the production line were deskilled and made ever more monotonous, muzak\u2019s effectiveness weakened and staff turnover soared. For Sir Hector Laing, the chairman of United Biscuits in the 1960s, stemming the flow \u2013 and its cost \u2013 was desperately necessary. Drawing on the success of commercial pirate stations such as Radio Caroline, Laing put adverts in Melody Maker, bought state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment and set up his very own station from UB\u2019s headquarters in Osterley, west London (where Sky\u2019s HQ sits today).[…<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Demolition of Bethesda radio towers takes a piece of history, rare open space (Washington Post)<\/a><\/h3>\n

When the four orange and white steel towers first soared over Bethesda in 1941, they stood in a field surrounded by sparse suburbs emerging just north of where the Capital Beltway didn\u2019t yet exist. Reaching 400 feet, they beamed the voices of WMAL 630 AM talk radio across the nation\u2019s capital for 77 years.[…<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n