Radio futurologist
United Kingdom
- Current
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- Trustee at Radio Academy
- Director and Founder at MediaUK.com
- Past
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- Executive Product Manager, A/V Products, BBC Radio at BBC
- Head of Future Media & Technology, Audio & Music at BBC
- Director, Digital Media at Virgin Radio
- Head of Strategic Development, New Media at Virgin Radio
- Editor at oodlebee.com
- Central Services at Emap Radio
- Head of Creative at Hallam FM, Emap Radio
- Presenter at The Pulse, Metro Radio Group
- Various roles at Pennine FM, Viking FM, The Pulse: Emap Radio
- Recommended
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1 person has recommended James - Connections
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442
connections
- Industry
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- Websites
James Cridland’s Summary
Hands-on new media and radio experience - from programmer to platform strategist, radio presenter to conference presenter.
James Cridland’s Specialties:
radio, multi-platform radio broadcasting, new media, DAB Digital Radio, new media trends, drinking beer, PHP
James Cridland’s Experience
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Trustee
Radio Academy
(Broadcast Media industry)
2007 — Present (2 years )
I am a Trustee of the pan-industry body The Radio Academy, and am Chairman of its Radio At The Edge conference.
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Director and Founder
MediaUK.com
(Online Media industry)
October 1994 — Present (15 years 2 months)
I've owned and run Media UK from 1994 to present. I designed and coded virtually all of this collaborative media resource. This website is the UK's best-known media resource, and operates at a profit. Media UK is wholly-owned by Not At All Bad Ltd.
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Executive Product Manager, A/V Products, BBC Radio
BBC
(Public Company; BBC; Broadcast Media industry)
March 2009 — September 2009 (7 months)
I contributed to the development of pan-BBC non-linear and new media strategy within BBC Audio & Music. I worked on the BBC iPlayer for Radio, with a remit of improving both the audio experience and technical workflow. Additionally, I helped define the product and technology behind pan-industry radio partnerships work.
During this period, I successfully delivered the BBC's Coyopa encoding system. I moved internet playback for BBC Radio services into modern Flash-based technology, significantly increased the audio quality of BBC Radio internet streams to be the best quality digital audio broadcasts on any platform, and clarified the BBC's international radio streaming policy across all internet platforms. -
Head of Future Media & Technology, Audio & Music
BBC
(Broadcast Media industry)
July 2007 — March 2009 (1 year 9 months)
I led the team that delivered technical solutions for BBC Audio & Music Interactive. During my leadership, the team successfully launched a BBC-wide programme information service (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes), which was the BBC's first dynamically-generated website. The team significantly revamped the websites for BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7; and I was instrumental in fixing the technology behind the BBC Radio Player and then incorporating the BBC Radio Player's technology into the BBC iPlayer.
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Director, Digital Media
Virgin Radio
(Public Company; Broadcast Media industry)
December 2005 — June 2007 (1 year 7 months)
I was responsible for the digital platforms of the Virgin Radio Network, including the internet, DAB Digital Radio, cable and satellite television, and 3G mobile phones. I delivered a string of firsts for the station (including the first radio station to stream on 3G mobile phones and games consoles and the first radio station to produce daily podcasts), and founded the highly regarded 'Virgin VIP' social media network. Under my direction, the website became responsible for over 20% of total station revenue. I organised the world's biggest giveaway of DAB Digital Radio receivers, and was responsible for raising Virgin Radio's total listening on new platforms to over twice the industry average. Additionally, as part of my work at Virgin Radio I spoke at many international conferences, and represented the UK radio industry in government trade missions throughout the world.
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Head of Strategic Development, New Media
Virgin Radio
(Public Company; Broadcast Media industry)
May 2001 — December 2005 (4 years 8 months)
I was responsible for the strategy and editorial direction behind Virgin Radio's award-winning online, SMS and multimedia content. My role included some coding and writing, as well as managing the rest of the team. In 2005, I delivered to the station two Webby Awards for 'best online radio station website' - both the judge's award and the people's voice award. The station won many other awards during my tenure.
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Editor
oodlebee.com
(Retail industry)
January 2000 — March 2000 (3 months)
Ill-fated consumer 'clicks and mortar' attempt at cashing into the dot-com boom. Would possibly have been quite good, but never launched. I was due to have been the site's editor, responsible for its content.
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Central Services
Emap Radio
(Public Company; EMA; Publishing industry)
October 1999 — January 2000 (4 months)
I worked on IT training for presenters and producers to use a new version of the company-wide playout system Dalet; as well as Y2K compliance testing. I was also responsible for some internal communications on behalf of the IT team.
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Head of Creative
Hallam FM, Emap Radio
(Broadcast Media industry)
March 1995 — October 1999 (4 years 8 months)
I was a copywriter, then Head of Creative, for this award-winning commercial radio production department. I managed the team, and delivered increased revenue for the unit. As a writer, I won a number of international advertising awards for my work, and worked on national clients such as JJB Sports and the AA. I trained and developed other team members. Additionally, I was a radio presenter for the station, and was responsible for the station's website, one of the first ever websites for a local radio station.
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Presenter
The Pulse, Metro Radio Group
(Broadcast Media industry)
March 1993 — March 1995 (2 years 1 month)
I presented the drivetime show (warming up for Chris Moyles who was on evenings), then the evening show itself when Chris was rather unfairly sacked. I enjoyed it, and only said the word "bollocks" once on-air. A programme that I co-presented, The Pulse Snow Special, won a New York Award. I was also responsible for the station's early takeup of email, registering the station's pulse.co.uk domain. I was the first local radio presenter in the UK to read out an email address.
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Various roles
Pennine FM, Viking FM, The Pulse: Emap Radio
(Public Company; 11-50 employees; LON:EMA; Broadcast Media industry)
June 1989 — March 1993 (3 years 10 months)
Was a technical operator for Pennine FM's Classic Gold service in 1989, and produced the award-winning station charity for Pennine FM during that year. Became a commercial copywriter for the station in 1990. In 1992, went to work at Viking FM in Hull as senior copywriter, but continued tech-op work at Pennine FM, which re-branded during this time as The Pulse. Am I boring you?
