Read this: #ForgottenFreelancers at the BBC

The radiated a program with broadcast bionics discover the world leading brands at radio Harlow and Stuart Clarkson coming up this week will hear about the Forgotten freelancers and their campaign to get the BBC and the government to help those who fall in between the gaps of financial help plus in David Lloyd's a moment at the end of the podcast with a detailed look back at the history of radios big cash giveaways and some memorable competition clips from on the air down the years music composed by Martin how are you doing 86 week and there's been quite a few radio things to watch it online and on the tv, and stuff this week.

I watch the best of the Capital Summertime Ball on Saturday Teatime which I thought was very.

Reduced and available on my actual TV as well as good yeah, it was great so slick and obviously expect nothing less from from global this year and that football stadium in London and actually made plans to go but maybe next year work out yeah, and you were watching some over radiocentre tuning this week as well another well produced event house.

Have you got the professionals in to do it and that's the way to do things properly so well done to radiocentre and everybody Road in that conference today as we recorded to the knights of early this morning.

It was not the right length as well for a conference only about 3 hours long.

She's always good for a range of conference.

I find did you go and get some pastries in a cup of tea or something at certain points? I didn't build that in.

I avoided all the the coffees and teas and I went round the corner for a Diet Coke instead well produced stuff.

I watched on Monday the X Radio cannot launch event was sure whether it was kind of aimed at industry people or advertisers time subscribers of all sorts really but really good Q&A Tim levene program director was joined by asthma and Stig Abell from the Breakfast Show and John Pienaar at still no launch date was hoping to hear in a couple of weeks.

What their launch date.

Is there just saying summer at the moment and I think there's gonna be some more presenters and get it was a really well produce thing very slick as you expect from one of the biggest media companies in the country in News UK but really good quality video feed a nice colour interacted with all the questions coming in and stuff like that, so shall we quite learn very much about x radio other than perhaps that they're not going to do phoning so they basically said you're at the other places.

Phone in Selby of got that sign up so we're not going to be having punters on the phone telling us their views and their opinions we will be involving listeners in our programming at all the hearing more experts and commentators rather than ordinary man on the street or woman on the street and the other thing I think we learnt was that actually that have been in the planning for quite a while John Pienaar said he had a conversation a cup of coffee in Soho with Liam Fisher from wireless about a year ago.

So there's always been talking to people like that at for a little while now and hate to see their salary bill they've got all the big guns in we know they're paying a lot of money each so yeah that they must have a big marketing budget at the time.

That's all I can say and hopefully get some people from x radio on the launch date was a bit more detail out in a few weeks time.

That's why we've not had anything recently by the way in case you're wondering will we going to do that in a few weeks time on 7 hours that bit more information about it will hear from somebody here.

On This podcast podcast award nominations as well, they did that as an online event I think the Awards themselves will be handed out in July again.

It's going to be online at you'd see all the Chinese at radio today.co.uk was looking through the nominations list actually and I think I don't know this is embarrassing for me off for the kind of podcast I listen to a podcast listener.

I listen to all sorts of podcast.

I think there's only about 4 on the list of nominees that I actually have irregular listen to well.

That's for more than me.

I don't even listen to this.

I'm not a podcast list any stretch of the imagination, but yeah, I've heard of quite a few of them, but yeah, there's obviously so much bro.

It is when I went to the first British podcast Awards a few years and even then it was like he was like radio but in another country.

Just felt like it was totally removed from anything.

I know about because it is radiate audio but it.

The people I knew one there.

Sorry very strange and I think I will time that's gonna merged together even more there going to be more merging of radio and downloading and vodka in the future.

I think that's where we heading out the goods a good mixture on the podcast nominees list as well, so there's the radio programmes that go outdoors podcast there are independent Productions there are things from the beginning of the audio companies were making programs at one of podcasts and things from BBC and commercial radio and all sorts of stuff as well.

So nice to see the big and the small longer than the podcast.

What's a full list of radio stations UK where you will also find out an analysis of radar q1 2020 possibly the final four while I was another busy night of ratio analysis, it's been a long week as I think I need a week off a long week, but yeah.

Predictions that I did for this year in 2026 and apart from predicting world pandemic.

I predicted that the the radar results would be the figures would be very surprising in the autumn.

I didn't say why and everybody to eat in music what on earth.

Are you talking about? That's a load of rubbish, but you know what I think the figures are going to be a lot of different company awesome, so I'm going to have that one.

We won't have any or there will be showing the different things to what we've always seen happen.

Having will see Peaks at different times of the day because nobody's driving to or from work.

So that could change potentially we not really seen the impact of the lockdown on these q1 figures about a week or so at the at the end period that the data covers but in terms of national stories LBC did really really well, of course we have that kind of post-election Period into the new year and brexit happening and all that kind of stuff.

LBC up 23.6% year-on-year at half a million extra listeners 2.78 millionaire and LBC News had his first set of figures 657000 across the UK just give them other winners talk radio doing well actually 25% year-on-year another record for 6 Music Virgin 15% on the Year radio x did quite well actually this water up to 1.6 million feet might be a record good for classic FM as well in London LBC still number one on share on reach at capitol at down a bit from the 2 million Mark where it was a few quarters ago, but 1.6 million still makes it the biggest station in London fantastic.

Locally as well, because that's what I can straighten on this time round and headline was of course XS Manchester which was going to close if Ofcom gave him the green light to change it to capital Xtra

They said no to of course computer says no, what happens they've pretty much had an amazing round.

It's got 132000 which is back to where it was when it was a couple of years old rock radio if my memory serves me correctly from last year though, which was 94000 and the hours they've got 1.28 million hours which is over double what it had a year or so people tuning in finally not find me that's disrespectful people you are now turning in I loving it.

So that's good and also in the northwest Radio City talk, which now is closing at the end of this month.

I went down closing 32000 weekly listeners, which is down from 45000 a year ago elsewhere as well.

Play a cool FM in Northern Ireland they have a record 527000 weekly listeners, which they pointed out quite happily give them more than the arrival radio.

For the first time they have 512 so they're both over just over half a million and on the south coast more radio had 37000 weekly reach.

He has just reported over double by my calculations 71000 which is also up from last quarter by 9000 as well, so well done to everybody they're $7,000 would be more than that but there is nearly double.

It's nearly double is it really late in the morning Manchester market as well that hits radio is now 10th in its own TSA which is a Far Cry from when key 103 was Manchester the one hit music station.

I mean this is serious serious stuff going on here and I can't be happy with that.

What can I do? What can I do about that? They thrown everything at this the rebranded they've got the store.

Tighten it all up.

It sounds pretty good this should have been I may think that the format and the station that gets rolled out but bombing in Manchester that's what we're going to do.

They have more about recall people still think they're listening to key 103.

That's no problem with radio of course, but yeah if you confident and it sounds good in the running for The Long Game maybe this time next year it will go up and up and up and we'll just have to wait and see us as I'm saying but yeah interesting also the XS Manchester has more than one key 103 that was it reminds me of working at smooth when it went from Jazz FM to smooth FM and it was pretty much a story from worst to first because never in a million years did we expect little Jazz FM to have more than

Century as it was in the northwest at Ludlow now.

It's over double so it is absolutely killing in Manchester in the north west we mentioned a great figure talk radio and X radio coming to that building soon.

Talk radio has gone up in the world this week's new Studios three floors higher on the 17th floor total radios now upstairs with Talksport and Virgin and talkSPORT 2.

I think it's a studio that existed already by looks very 17c.

I think he looks from the pictures like it's in but there we are just getting very early now.

That's what we like to do and surprisingly x radio is going in that big studio on the 14th floor which is near the canteen and stuff will talk radio has been for the last few months we have to assume and then.

That makes the the wireless operation altogether on the 17th and times which isn't necessarily a wireless production.

Is it it's run by the by News UK so that's separate on 14th floor right next to the canteen which is obviously the most importantly to me.

He talks about big-name signings.

They don't come much bigger than the future king of England Prince Charles is doing his own radio show about classic FM of signed up Prince Charles that he'll do an interview on Monday night next week on bank holiday with Alan Titchmarsh and then it's presenting his own show on Tuesday so no doubt they had a bit of audio left on the Cutting Room Floor and but this one is not even talking about the ramps are the jingles classic FM has jingles with wraps jam-packed the future king of England very down so that's Tuesday night.

I think it's a bit of a radio first isn't I don't think we've had an heir to the throne presenting a showing.

Global got plenty of history and getting big name politicians and things on their own shares LBC and stuff, so great to do that as a one off next week classic FM in that phrase the future king of England second favourite DJ on the news that serve in quite popular over today this week was at the departure of Maya Jama from Radio 1 mid morning on the weekends for the last couple of that she's done it already, so don't get to say goodbye, because they're kind of alternating the weekend schedule at the moment.

So she was on at the beginning of May and now won't be coming back as she's got more things to do apparently later in the year.

I look forward to find out exactly what those are they probably going to be on TV or online or something right nice catch up with you stick around on the radio Today programme where to find out.

What's the BBC PAYE freelancers group in a minute? It's coming up and still on the way as well? Thank you very much.

Speak to you soon.

The radiated a program broadcast bionics creators of The Bionic studio listening watching reacting to and learning from every spoken word Kolo sweet and SMS for a mix and lock and understand your content the bionic studio transforms everything about radio except away you make it today programme next to the group of people working across the wider broadcasting sector was struggling financially at the moment freelancers cannot get help of course from the government self-employed income support scheme but only if more than 50% of their income is paid gross PAYE freelancers are simply not eligible and those and commercial radio can be followed the BBC says because it gets public money it doesn't think he can use the scheme well.

Williams one of the founders of the BBC PAYE freelancers group work for the BBC for a decade as a member of staff and as a freelancer across TV and radio hi welcome to the podcast hi Stuart thanks for inviting me on well.

I know a bit about this as I'm affected personally but essentially this issue.

Is that the BBC class is freelancers employees because of the way it taxes them on PAYE and as a result people of falling through the gaps of the help but stare at the moment.

I think the important thing to point out for anyone listening.

It doesn't really understand PAYE you use a employees but really employees with none of the rights of a normal employee who might work elsewhere, so that's really where the problem comes you fall between two stools your not self-employed, can you don't get any of the benefits of that but you also don't have any of the the rights that somebody might work for a bank would get as a full-time staff member so it's not a great way to.

I believe it's not always been the case it has been always the case since I'm at work for the BBC but I know at some point in the relatively recent past all of those freelancers who presumably used to be paid gross in one Way Or Another put onto this PAYE schemes are taxed at source by the BBC in the normal way that everyone else is so you paying your taxes you would do elsewhere normal rate of income tax normal rates and National in but yes, I miss you fall between the two stores in the government help the BBC says it can't follow us.

We're not really employees and the BBC says it has public sector money coming into that's why it use it I do work as a gross paid so freelancer Elsewhere and sadly that is less than 50% of my income so I can't claim on the chances of self-employed supports either so no support for many hundreds of freelancers working in the BBC yeah.

I know you've got more than 500 people in the PAYE freelancers group.

Just kind of exploded that was a bit of an accident really is a small group of Us in London who had a WhatsApp group going and I came into that relatively late actually.

I should have referred by someone else that I work with him one departments and I just thought it's quite difficult to spread the word via WhatsApp and I said you know what I'll set up a Facebook group for us and it kind of Reach the Tipping Point and there was a day in the past where I had to farm out the admin in terms of new members because they were just coming in one every minute or so so that gives you an idea of numbers.

Yeah, we're up to over 500 people now initially it was just a hard core of a handful of people who are interacting and now there's a really good mix of people who are coming in and just giving us their thoughts on on everything so we've use that as a good way to sort of campaign and lots of stories from people on there who saying I was doing pretty much full-time work.

DIY freelancer and I've got zero shift.

That's it like I said to you.

I work a bit outside the BBC as well and but I think there's a lot of PAYE freelance you only work for the BBC and may only have worked for the BBC Four decades.

There's a few people with comments.

I've seen on our Facebook page who sort of said in a 20 years I've given BBC or 10-years.

I've given to the BBC and I'm getting nothing back now.

There is quite a lot of anger out there from people who essentially I know I've said that they're not employed to all intents and purposes if you looked at their working life and their career.

They are an employee.

They just don't have those employment rights that other people would have elsewhere describe you put together a letter which he sent last week to the director general Lord Hall what were you asking him.

There was a gentleman Worksop Inn Salford Media City

And he approached me and one of the other admins and said look at my plan was to to write this letter.

Maybe you can help me and I said we absolutely why don't we making an open letter and we can put it out there to the wide world to see in anyone who has an interest in our situation would be able to look at that and why don't we try and get as many people as possible within the the the Facebook group to add a signature in as well, so we had a number of signatories and we got over 150 signatures to that letter in the end of people all PAYE freelance who work at the BBC so we were we sent that to the director-general lord Tony Hall we want to be careful really not to go around bashing the BBC in many ways in a people work for the BBC cos they love The Corporation and what it does and what it allows them to do back on the 3rd of April the BBC and other.

Broadcasters in the UK including sky and ITV amongst others Channel 4 as well, they wrote to the Chancellor and they said look weird situation developing PAYE freelancers.

We all have PAYE freelancers and we think that because of the way you've set up your support schemes are going to fall through the cracks.

We would urge you to address this simplest way for you to do this is to expand the self-employed income support scheme.

That's the one for self-employed people who weren't over 50% of their income to gross as a self-employed person whether they be a freelancer or doing something else that expand that scheme to include PAYE freelancers you have all the tax records i.e.

Only HMRC know how much people earn over the past few years go back look at your records include the minute and give them the support that way so that's what the broadcast has did right back at the beginning of April since.

We've pretty much zero in terms of how that story has developed.

We thought that was disappointing so we wrote to Lord hall, and we said look what was the response from the chance of that there were three things we mainly asked him in terms of questions.

What was the response from the chance of the to your open letter again? It was there for everyone to see but we had no response to it.

Is there anything that you think we could help obviously there's a large group of us here and we're ready to be mobilized.

What did it we could do and also what are you still doing? We know you wrote The long time has passed since then.

So what are you still doing to help freelancers because to be honest.

There's a lot of people out there.

Who don't think that the BBC are doing enough to help.

So, what are you doing? And we got a response back.

It's better to do speeding and say not too long.

We wonder whether you might have to wait a few weeks that we got a response back and a disappointing Beyonce

Questions about half an answer so we didn't find out what the chances response was so it's still none the wiser there we discovered that the BBC and other Australian talks with the chance of us.

That's really the only thing we got that you know those talk to still ongoing about how the situation might be resolved and I've say you know I feel a bit like home affairs correspondent running all of this stuff with the Facebook recently seen a lot of emails and corresponding steps.

I would normally of clapped eyes on not all of it out in the public and I've seen elsewhere that these talks to sort of all is well with with government and high-ranking people within government so we know that that is happening but we don't know exactly what the BBC is doing to push the case still having the talks and we weren't told really what we could do to help we were just spoonfed back the kind of the pr staff.

We've already seen about the measures to be this is put together there out there in the

Everyone to go and have a look at as well, but for a lot of people they support measures and not going to be suitable and there's a lot of people out there who have zero work at the moment.

I think their support by just download all mentioned in his letter back.

Are you know that we've created a webpage? Where will promote freelance opportunities bad things about three or 4 jobs on there that have been on there for a couple of hours nothing else and it's also talked about hardship fund which I think one colleague describe to me is at the BBC saying sorry we can't help you.

How about we interest you in some debt.

Yes at you can take out a loan can't you so some people perhaps they may be in in Dire Straits they make they will need that kind of support but for a lot of other people.

It's not quite the same as having 80% of your salary paid every month.

Is it which is what is a lot of other people millions of people out there in the country are getting at the moment but not PAYE

And this is remember as well.

It's not just at the BBC anyone listen to this we don't want to make it sound like it's just the BBC that's my personal circumstances your personal circumstances, Stewart is the circumstances of the hundred people who are on Facebook group, but we know that goes much much wider than that particularly within the TV and the creative Industries events think all those people put together normally the festivals you go and enjoy in the summer a lot of the people who work on those are PAYE freelance as they may be Staring Down the Barrel of knowing come until next summer when those big events.

Hopefully can get back up and running again.

So there are a lot of desperate people out there.

Yeah, and you've had some support in the last week or so from the politicians.

I know he's on on all side to trying to raise this issue and the shadow culture secretary got involved with wrote to the Chancellor this week from Jo Stevens labour as you say they

Shadow Secretary of State for dcms and she wrote directly to Richard Sunak and kind of like we did the Lord will ask him several straight.

I want answers to XYZ whether he'll come back with those or not.

We don't know because it seems quite difficult to get answers on this situation is almost like ignore it says putting his fingers in his ears and going Lara a little bit because people are asking these questions obviously, but nothing is coming back.

There are no answers on situation at all.

So whether Jo Stevens has a high-ranking labour frontbencher can get those answers and let us know we'll have to wait and see but it's great that is CBBC labour declared for us we know the Lib Dems they've been really really helpful as well.

This is what I say to you again.

I feel a bit like home affairs correspondent.

It's a really multiple conversations with a couple of Lib Dem Lords and including a form of dcms minister.

It's not that kind of thing I normally do is someone who works predominantly in sport so it's interesting that is for sure so there has been a lot of support out there.

There's a lot of people pushing our case and that includes conservative backbenchers as well.

We've had really good support from that when we started off the Facebook group the main we were doing was trying to get people into the group so we could spend them with messages and say that please write at least your MP write to your local MP make them aware of the situation and then writing a letter to the chance that as well and we send letters and emails as well to all of the blue sit on various relevant select committees.

There is a Select Committee for the BBC so we've certainly been sending them a lot of emails and select committees again.

You know the creative Industries that kind of thing and yeah, just different departments.

Trying to get as much correspondence out these people to make them aware of the situation and how many people are affected by it that's pushing the BBC case again because that's most relevant to us always saying as much as possible that is wider.

What can you do to help PAYE freelancers across the boy and it looks like as you said one of those MPs and have been listening because labour is sent you this week in the back for us at the Lib Dems doing it as well.

So we just wait to see really what impact it might have but it's it's 30 times.

Isn't it? Because of the chance that has increased the duration of his fellow scheme for employed people he's yet to make any sort of announcement about extending the self-employed scheme and we know that comes to an end to this and they are affected and they didn't know this group existed if you just search for BBC PAYE freelancers on Facebook and you'll find the group and you're on Twitter as well and Kian yes.

Yeah, the name of the Twitter that you'll see when it comes up officially is BBC PAYE freelance that was too long for the official handle so the official handle is at BBC freelancers to list of all the pages BBC PAYE freelance same as the Facebook group, but your Twitter handle with the at is at BBC freelancers broadcast bionics looking back at the history of radio competitions with David Lloyd in a moment first reminder about cleanfeed great for doing outside broadcast.

Oh hang on not too many votes at the moment, but it is doing at co-hosting of your show or your podcast from somewhere different to usual already getting a guest on to your show from home.

It's been designed for radio people and for podcast as it's really simple to connect live the audio.

Just using your browser can even record within the browser as well clean feed won't cost you anything to get started.

Just take 30 seconds to get signed up and we do in your first live interview or hosting your show from.

Within minutes to find out more about it at cleanfeed dotnet.

It's a couple of weeks.

I'm absolutely not a windup what kind of difference is going to make you Tommy celebrate this week the role of the contest on radio Chris Evans was the first to give away a million pounds to Claire Barwick from Worthing in 1999 that was on the old virgin 1215 is John level one of the things we were always keen to do at the station at Virgin Radio you know because it was always at Virgin Ethos of fun and excitement to down from Branson and there's no question about that.

Turn down and we were very much wanting to keep that spirit alive and moving and we did this week 45 years ago that metro was said to be the first station to run a big contest although prize values in those days were regulated the first metro 101 £88, but this is how I contest rounded shoulder blade and say hello to £100.

Don't say hello say don't say hello say hi to Metro Radio you now have possibly the chance to win yourself £49 if you can get 2 questions right for first question is for a record.

Len groat on metro this week in 75 is nothing new on the BBC Northern home service in 1946 he win between two shillings and 6 and 1 Guinea ladies and gentlemen we invite you to have a go and Wilfred Pickles have a go said to be the first cash contest although of course the real goal was getting stories from the people they spoke to on their travels around the country and on here that program said to attract an audience 15 million contestants of course sometimes struggle with the answers is a missing word from this song.

tell me what it is and you can bring the family to come with fireworks on Saturday night firefly you think the answer is firefly Daniel is the wrong answer that was from Murcia and what about poor old Mark hear ACDC you again you spell ACDC

Local swimming somebody actually wins their grateful.

They are speaking well actually, I'm going to tell you that you want some tickets the neighbourhood Weekender radio x in college answer the phone so hopefully that thank you great.

Yeah, no worries for the trail just because it will play two little clips of the winners and second just give us a wolf.

Just maybe there's something about the honesty of the radio x brand that one winners don't behave as they should it's no secret that and then today he's been quite a roof saying I can't make that time best just leave it and I will reply back to what time is the direction we would love to get you on and talk about the premier 42 if you need to be precise to be precise would be available 8:40, then.

It's anyone because it still travelling anybody else would be like I'm in luck.

I don't want to get the audience America of course winners.

The light here sometimes they don't have the same is true of Oz is your name Alice from tattoo darling.

Yes, what 71 December Christmas Eve 71? What about you? Take 10 year old London for the Chelsea Flower Show you don't want to go now.

So what about a late entrant silver very late entrance.

Competition entry that is not made it to the radio station for 34 years of going on with want you to help us find the person who owns the original winner turns into a great story.

I allow us to introduce a lady called Bridge he says she is Robin olds.

Don't have this is your mum.

I am free and then they find Robin producers from Robin hotel that it says that Robin has asked her husband for a little time off and she said and listen to this all night the 300km journey to see you tomorrow.

This morning in the Air Tonight Tonight to sitting up some cameras Robin old.

We have found who are searching for you.

I've got a phone call from my Nicky's partner and she said you going to find out something is a competition.

It's really amazing.

I'll explain when I get the original sponsor involved.

It's only fitting that we finish your journey 34 years later and that we honour you the gift of the 96 CDs but given the CDs albums in those days.

Don't really exist.

It's all pretty much are we going to give you a cheque instead to the value of $2,000 spectacular story.

I'll probably talk about more than the content itself ever was and there's no lesson.

I guess so with Plymouth Sound launching 45 years ago.

Hello sister Goulding falling cotton leaving Radio 1 5 years ago.

I'm so utterly blown away you got no idea.

It's just been the best morning of the first ever UK the Christopher stone 55 years ago this week's radio moments.

Thank you.

David this week's the big winner on lucky lines 7, thanks also to rea Martin and Ian Williams from the BBC freelancers group.

Don't forget to rate and subscribe if you haven't already to the radio Today programme and will push something else similar to your podcast app next week.