Midlands Local Radio - BRMB 96.4FM

*Last amended 28/02/06*

There have been changes to the DJ lineup over the last few months, and at the moment the schedule is a little unpredictable, so I can't really update info on individual shows too much!

I have been a regular listener to brmb since May 2002, and it was my favourite station for quite a while. My loyalties have split somewhat since then, but I still tune in to brmb on a regular basis.

...
...might find the necessary ad breaks annoying. However, I find some of the ads are actually rather entertaining in themselves!



MUSIC
The playlist is dominated by chart music, and at any one time there will be half a dozen or so songs that are, quite frankly, played to death. This has the effect of taking a song I quite like and making me hate it. That is the main downside to this station and many others that mostly ... more

*Last amended 28/02/06*

There have been changes to the DJ lineup over the last few months, and at the moment the schedule is a little unpredictable, so I can't really update info on individual shows too much!

I have been a regular listener to brmb since May 2002, and it was my favourite station for quite a while. My loyalties have split somewhat since then, but I still tune in to brmb on a regular basis.

Brmb is a commercial station, and some people might find the necessary ad breaks annoying. However, I find some of the ads are actually rather entertaining in themselves!

MUSIC
The playlist is dominated by chart music, and at any one time there will be half a dozen or so songs that are, quite frankly, played to death. This has the effect of taking a song I quite like and making me hate it. That is the main downside to this station and many others that mostly play current hits, IMHO. I enjoy pop music, including the latest hits…It's the same song every 90 minutes for weeks that gets on my nerves.

However apart from that complaint I like the music. There are several opportunities to hear different tunes too - such as workplace anthems during the day.

SHOWS
I do not listen often to the weekday breakfast show, but I understand Caroline Martin has now joined Elliott Webb presenting it - which can only be a good thing IMHO as I find her great fun whilst able to be serious when she needs to be.

The other day-time shows are enjoyable, with interesting and fun features and competitions:

The Interactive Lunch (during the morning/lunchtime show, obviously!) involves a topical discussion with lots of listener input.

The afternoon show includes the Two O'Clock Takeover where a few of a listener's favourite songs are played, this often involves one or two 'classic' tunes. The presenter also plays matchmaker on her Flirty At 2.30 feature; it has to be said she seems to have had a fair few successes so far!

Drivetime has regular travel updates, as you would expect, but also often has great competitions and giveaways.

I don't usually hear the evening shows, although I am not frantically reaching for the off switch any more since a previous presenter who was not to my taste, moved on!

Even overnights and early breakfast are not forgotten, with such features as the New Brmb Soundtrack where listeners suggest songs from the movies, and the Brainteaser where you can pit your wits against other night-workers and insomniacs and try to get your name on the 'Roll of Honour'!

Most shows are done live, even overnight. The only shows shared with the network on a regular basis, are a couple on the weekends. This includes the 'Hit 40 UK' chart, which goes out on numerous stations across the country. Apart from that, almost everything comes from the brmb studios in Birmingham.

EXTRAS
Every so often there will be special guests interviewed; often, but not always, from the world of pop music. This can happen on almost any of the shows, so I have not put it under a particular heading.

On occasion outside broadcasts take place, such as from the brmb Party In The Park, or from the annual big charity event, the Walkathon. These events can be huge fun to attend, and of course some parts are broadcast for those unable to be there. Brmb also do roadshows at various events during the year, these are not necessarily broadcast.

NEWS
The news coverage tends not to be in depth, but has a good mixture of national, international and local news, and on the breakfast and drivetime shows there are regular travel updates, including the "flying eye" in the morning.

SPORT
During the football season, brmb has in the past broadcast a football match on a Saturday afternoon. Last season, this was replaced by a show reporting on the relevant match stats of all games featuring local teams, and updates on scores throughout the matches. I think the live footie may now be back though - certainly the streaming seems to disappear when there's a match on, once more!

Short sports reports are included with news bulletins, especially when there is anything of local interest.

PRESENTERS
A major factor in my choice of radio station is the people presenting the shows. At brmb I have found some of the funniest and friendliest people one could wish to listen to.

Most people seem to be very competent and have pleasant yet easily identifiable voices. I find they sound full of interest or enthusiasm as appropriate, without taking it to the extreme and becoming irritating.

My two favourite presenters left during 2003, but a couple of my other favourites are still around and I am pleased to say one of them has emerged from the wilderness of 'early breakfast' to a daytime slot where I can listen whilst properly awake!

COMPETITIONS
These are many and varied - some for big cash prizes, others for concert tickets, or even just a CD. I am pleased to say they have not done any of their, IMHO, irresponsible publicity stunts (2 strangers marrying, people sitting on ice) during the time I have been listening! Most competitions involve phoning or texting in, but on occasion emails are also accepted. Sometimes there are also competitions on the website (see below).

*edit 28/02/06* I am very sorry to report that brmb have now repeated the ridiculous stunt of having 2 strangers marry one another. Whilst I know the people enter into this kind of thing voluntarily, I'm afraid my opinion of the station has really nosedived. I still listen to my favourite presenters, although much less often whilst that joke of a competition was running, but I no longer consider myself a fan of the station.

INTERACTION
Listeners are encouraged to get involved with the shows by telephone, text and email, which is of course fairly common nowadays. I find many of the presenters are happy to reply to emails when they have time and I have always found them to be friendly and often great fun as well. Likewise with phonecalls….if you can get through!

The text number now comes complete with the additional 'service' of a text back. However, this means an extra 25p per text (on top of the standard charge for texts depending on network), and the info one receives back is invariably stuff already known to regular listeners! Not what I would call value for money.

WEBSITE
The brmb website at www.brmb.co.uk has interesting features, and you can listen online from there…if only they kept it a bit more up to date, though! Even when updated there always seem to be errors or omissions. However, this is a complaint which can be levied against every radio station website I have ever seen, I assume as things change so often it's hard to keep up.

I am an online listener myself and find the streaming works well most of the time. A good tip is to find out the link to put into Windows Media Player, that way you can still listen most of the time even when the website is down for some reason, which does seem to happen a fair bit from time to time.

When it's up and running the website is generally easy to navigate, and an added bonus is the studio webcam, which gives an interesting insight into what it might be like to work in such an environment...and also gives the more mischievous DJs an outlet for their creativity from time to time!

The site carries a fair bit of info about the DJs and general entertainment news, as well as information on any charity events, concerts, etc brmb is involved with. There are also online competitions from time to time, plus updates on the progress of some of the on air comps.

There is also a messageboard connected with the Interactive Lunch - I think the idea is to have a topic of the day and people can post their views, for discussion on the show. This doesn't seem to have been updated since early February so it's possible the feature has been dropped.

RECEPTION
As an online listener, clearly I am not able to evaluate this fully. However, I often visit Birmingham and stay locally for a few days at a time and I have usually found the reception to be excellent. That said, on one trip I was staying in the city centre and reception was variable - sometimes it was faultless, at other times it was almost impossible to get a decent signal. Conversely, I found I had good reception in some parts of Telford when I've visited there.

I can also hear brmb on my car stereo if I am driving on the M42 or the Brum end of the M40 or M5, as well as some stretches of the M1, so I think it's fair to say reception is pretty good as a general rule. 

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