S2Plus2 Phil Blizzard

In this Plus episode Arjun and Samira are joined with a true legend of radio journalism - presenter/producer - TV & Radio, Broadcast consultant, voice over artiste, moderator/compere for conferences and events, Phil Blizzard. 

Phil is the voice of Wish You Were Here with Phil Blizzard which is broadcast from 2pm-5pm UAE on Saturdays, via  Internet radio station, Capital Radio UAE (http://cruae.ae/events/event/whats-on-in-the-uae-with-phil-blzzard/). 

Enjoy 35 years of radio history, and also we get the definitive answer on the best airplane and airline in the world!

Transcript

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Samira: 0:09

Welcome back to another Incongruent plus episode with Arjun and Samira seems like we're becoming regulars on this side of the podcast.

Arjun Radeesh: 0:18

Yeah, of course. So today we are joined by someone who has not only regular in the world of radio and podcasting, but is considered a true legend in the field, with incredibly extensive and impressive professional career in broadcasting for over 35 years to be exact. He has successfully embraced the role of video producer, writer, presenter and media trainer and blast with more than 40 countries on six of the seven continents with programmes most recently that you will eat weekly ue and international travel programme called Wish you were here every Saturday from two to 5pm on Capitol radio.

Samira: 0:57

So Phil, the pod master Blizzard, we are so honoured to have you here. Welcome to the Congress podcast.

Phil Blizzard: 1:06

Well, I'm absolutely delighted to be joining you and you've done a lot of research, you've spent a few things that I wasn't totally aware of I've done in the spin off decades of broadcasting.

Arjun Radeesh: 1:17

Of course, when we were actually going researching about you, it was like we were blown off,

Samira: 1:22

for sure. We're definitely trying to convince you of our journalistic titles. But so with Phil, the pod Master, was that a name that you came up with or tell us the story behind that?

Phil Blizzard: 1:38

Well, he actually is so involved with podcasting and it must be great to be studying multimedia and have the option to do podcasting as well. But I started back in about 14 years ago with a company called ama info which is part of a British organisation called Emap and they have a status setup here with a mentor and a me Middle Eastern Economic digest. And I was asked, I was approached to help them with their audio setup. So we had an online radio station, which was business focus, music and a lot of interviews. And we started were probably the first actually to do podcasting. And the reason I was able to draw in on my extensive broadcasting experience in the UK and UAE to to drive that forward. So and then with the reactivation, and I'm doing a lot of corporate and commercial podcasting for big clients. I don't know padmasana just all came into play.

Samira: 2:33

Well, it's definitely very suiting. And I love it personally. Okay, thanks.

Arjun Radeesh: 2:39

Okay, moving on. So I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I won't be able to go on with this interview without asking you this particular question. So since you are a travel enthusiast talks more about travel, I want to know, which is your favourite airline, and your favourite aircraft

Phil Blizzard: 2:58

Well no doubt about it it is the Airbus A380. And to go with that, it's got to be Emirates in many ways, because I've had so many wonderful experiences from our flying perspective, but more importantly from a broadcasting experience. So when it comes to A380 I first went on board the aircraft many years ago when they had the It wasn't an never say across the time it was there. But it was on display at the show in Dubai and it was a test bed. So there were no seats inside. It was just a lower deck, upper deck full of technology, and great big canisters of water. And you might say Why were there canisters of water, they wish to resemble the passengers on the flight and they can sort of empty the water for them depending on how many passengers they wanted on board. So it's a flying testbed. It was fascinating experiencing on board that and explore all the different aspects of the aircraft. And then later on when it came into service or just as it came into service. I was invited to go to the handover ceremony of the very first a three at from Airbus to Emirates Airlines in Hamburg, Germany is what is known as the Airbus delivery centre. So for them, it's like receiving a new child into the fleet. There was so much excitement so but so much buzz. And we're able to do lots of interviews with the head of air as head of Airbus, and such a incredibly emotional experience when the A380 was put in front of the the hangar which was set up for the media, and about 3000 workers was up from airport around the aircraft. And at one point, the door on the upper deck open and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed came out. Sir Tim Clark and the Airbus crew and they were greeted like rock stars. It was like the Beatles have arrived. There were big cheers and shaking and waving. And we were able to film that and capture it and then do the interviews after a fabulous experience.

Arjun Radeesh: 4:49

Like when you were just describing that it's all I'm like, getting goosebumps out of nowhere.

Phil Blizzard: 4:57

The next day we were able to fly back on the aircraft fly on the delivery flight, it flew from Hamburg to Dubai. And it was only about 50 of us on it. And we could film in every aspect every part of the aircraft except for the cockpit. So we experienced economy, business class, and first class and even filmed in the shower.

Arjun Radeesh: 5:19

Yeah, I did. I did read that. You were one of the first people filmed on the shower

Phil Blizzard: 5:25

Not a pretty sight.

Samira: 5:27

Well, I'm certain we're all looking forward to taking to the skies again, and an Emirates a A380 hopefully soon, like

Arjun Radeesh: 5:34

I do love seeing it in 3D but I have never flown on it. So I got to fly on that once.

Phil Blizzard: 5:39

Arjun, will that be number one on your bucket list. You say?

Arjun Radeesh: 5:42

Yes, of course.

Phil Blizzard: 5:43

Yeah. And what about you Samira?

Samira: 5:45

I actually was very, very lucky to have flown on not on the second floor. But I think at least just visiting the second floor just looking around would definitely be on my bucket list. But just yeah, flying again. Something.

Phil Blizzard: 6:02

Absolutely. That's what we all want to do.

Arjun Radeesh: 6:05

So moving on. You're here in UAE, I assume for more than 30 years. Right? Just to back down? Yeah. So I assume like you did work for some time for Dubai. 92.

Phil Blizzard: 6:16

I did. Indeed. That's the reason why I came to the UAE to work on the Dubai 92. And very much. So focusing on a daily show and also outside broadcast, which is all over the place.

Arjun Radeesh: 6:29

How was that experience? Because I assumed by 92 is ARN's radio station right? Arabian Radio Networks right

Phil Blizzard: 6:36

Now it is yes. But in those days, it was purely the Dubai government, English language radio station part of Dubai TV and Radio Organisation for the Dubai government. So there was the Arabic services, the English service on 92. And on TV channel 33, which was the TV channel at the time. Yeah. So I think I got the position because of my experience with BBC local radio in the UK. And we did a lot of outside podcasting. And then what did someone just saw help on 90 tend to move things forward in terms of covering major events, sporting events like powerboat racing, golf, the Dubai Tennis Championships and events like the Dubai airshow, for example. So my experience from BBC Radio in the UK doing outside podcasts, I sort of fitted the slot, I suppose.

Arjun Radeesh: 7:26

Interesting.

Samira: 7:27

And so having been in the industry for such a long time, what is the biggest adjustment you've observed in radio from the late 20th century to now,

Phil Blizzard: 7:38

I suppose a lot of it is automation, which has some good points and not so good points and not so much here. But back in my home country, in the UK, a lot of local independent organisations have been amalgamated into broad based networks. So we're finding there, that's a big reduction in sort of coverage in, in smaller cities, large towns, which at the time of when you've got it now, say as we are now in a pandemic, local information is so important. And I remember working in Cardiff at one point, and there was a lot of storms, a lot of flooding, we were able to put out very quickly, a lot of local information for people just round the corner of factory or another part of the city. And some of that is now disappear completely because you have a network. And they will combine Cardiff for Birmingham and Manchester and have the same output going across those major cities, which is perhaps a little change on some local news or advertising. So that's one aspect. But when it comes to technology and broadcasting, I mean, what you can do now on a mobile phone example in terms of live links from anywhere in the world where you can record interviews and then send them back to your radio station or insert them into a programme itself is one as a broadcast has so much flexibility and opportunities to cut costs from places where in the past one might not have been able to.

Samira: 9:01

We've definitely been taking advantage of that as students and especially during COVID.

Phil Blizzard: 9:06

Well yeah, exactly like we are now working remotely from home or any remote location which is would have been very hard to have done 20 years ago.

Arjun Radeesh: 9:15

Moving on so what do you think is responsible for a growing listener rate in radio in a country that barely relied on technology 40 years ago,

Phil Blizzard: 9:25

Traffic jams!

Arjun Radeesh: 9:27

Ah,

Phil Blizzard: 9:28

Not so bad now but you know, traffic can be a bit sort of slow moving and if you got the company on the radio station, a good boy a broadcaster and makes that journey so much easier. I mean, we started joke at one time whenever a little slow down over a guy who'd read make people get stuck there and we can bang out a lot of adverts and we have a captive audience but it's just a showpiece to have. I think suicide I mean the UAE I mean people from so many, many different countries, so many different nationalities used to listening to music Radio and TV broadcasting organisations for their home countries hungry for that here in the UAE. And now, I mean, there are so many different stations, catering for every nationality.

Samira: 10:12

And so inspired by the title of your new travel radio show. Wish you were here. We would love to know if you had to choose one place in the world you would rather be right now as you know, we're all working remotely, where would you choose?

Phil Blizzard: 10:28

I feel very comfortable raised safe here in the UAE. And we've got plenty to do here. And the only aspect really is family relatives who are elsewhere. So if I was to choose one other place, I'd probably say Wales Well, I have a base in the UK and family within a couple hours driving time but at the moment we've lockdowns and things like that, not the ideal place to go. So I'm very, very happy to be here in the UAE and I'm based in Russel Kaymer. And yeah, that's the famous grateful.

Arjun Radeesh: 10:56

Oh, that's interesting. You're in Ras Al Khaimah!

Phil Blizzard: 10:58

Indeed.

Arjun Radeesh: 10:59

Wow. Great.

Phil Blizzard: 11:01

So on my doorstep we've got the the water side water aspects. Then we got the mountains Jebel Jais.

Arjun Radeesh: 11:10

What a scenery. Okay, so since travel has been put on hold, we have seen like a great emergence in water travel around the world. Have you tried it yourself? Or what destination or experience your favourite?

Phil Blizzard: 11:25

Yeah, to be honest, I haven't I've been inundated with a few tourism boards asked me if we can feature their virtual platforms to tell people about or to showcase their country. And I might do later on, you know, just as things start opening up to different countries, like here, here's a preview, we'll have a look at our many countries at the moment, but have a look, it's a bit of a marketing tool, you're not going to get any sort of experience binder here online, from my perspective. You can't taste a cuisine unless we can start having a reference coming digitally to us. I mean, that would be quite amazing, wouldn't it you know, we're sort of seeing a nice local dish in, in in Nepal or somewhere, and say"oh I want to try that". And then we hit a button. And that will give us that over over the digital platforms that would be fantastic. But at the moment, there's a bit of flat dimension, in my mind seeing countries virtually, I want to be the go get myself immersed into the experience of seeing that country.

Arjun Radeesh: 12:21

Literally, I agree with what you said, because it's sort of like, without me going to that particular place. We don't know what is happening, and how is the culture we can embrace the culture? Because that's sort of like the main thing of when we travel to another country, is that we are embracing the culture.

Phil Blizzard: 12:38

Yeah, one has to year.

Samira: 12:40

And so on your own show. How did you attempt to induce a sense of travelling in your listeners this year with COVID going on?

Phil Blizzard: 12:49

Yeah, erm I didn't want to make people feel travel sick. So I didn't dig into my vast archives of solid different destinations and experiences I've had the joy of experiencing, I've really slowly kept it more to the point of what's happening with airlines of flying, which countries are opening up so much more, hasn't been so so much of an experience whereas last year, we did special programmes from some great destinations like Tbilisi, Georgia, Montenegro, fascinating part not far from Italy really fine to to that with FlyDubai. So this has been very much more news, which countries opening up a bit on the visa requirements visa restrictions, but one has to be so careful that could vary so much from from nationality to nationality, but informing people of lockdowns, quarantine restrictions in different countries, so it's been more solid newsy rather than experience wise.

Samira: 13:43

Going back to your show, it also features some of the greatest hits of the 1960s 70s and 80s, which I love. But why did you choose to opt for a blend of nostalgic sounds with current travel content?

Phil Blizzard: 14:01

Say that like, if you go into broadcasting these days, generally speaking, unless you're doing a specialist music show, rock country western hip hop whatever. One as a presenter does not normally have much say in the music being played. And that is certainly a case of cat already UAE is formatted. The nature of the station is really sort of looking for an audience 35 Plus, but so the management field is not catered for by other stations. But of course, you know, we have a lot I mean, you're you're well under 35. And it's good to know you like the hits from days gone by the basis of the station is hits in the 60s 70s 80s 90s and a sprinkling of new ones. And to be honest, I don't I don't have I don't make any selections of the music in my show I get from the music director to play out list and I go with that. And yeah, if I want to dinosaur play around a little bit, so I'm talking about Africa, if I was doing a feature in Africa, I could bring out the most used song Africa by toto. I focus on the content, getting the latest views and the music will flow as it's been put together by the, the music, the programme director.

Samira: 15:12

So I suppose we can assume that you're more of a fan of the hits from back then for us.

Phil Blizzard: 15:19

Now, if I was choosing the news, it would be much more what I call indie, indie rock. A bit of classic, classic rock. So well, that'd be my sort of likes in music. So I gave you the flavour of what's been put onto the playlist by the programme director.

Arjun Radeesh: 15:41

So now we have seen you taking over the podcasting industry also with your show called Travel Wise. with] Blizzard, and you're talking about countries like Oman, you're talking about Thailand law union exploring places and giving like nooks and corners and in 10 minutes, you're just giving an entire idea. So what aspect of podcasting do you prefer over radio something that radio doesn't have?

Phil Blizzard: 16:02

Well, I like about it. I mean, it's like radio on demand. So I mean, it's the the way it can be used consume, you can listen to it whenever you want to just talk out there in the ether and disappears. And, again, more more stations now are taking elements or entire programmes, put those podcasts, but is it some? Well, also, I mean, I have total freedom because I don't have a programme director telling me as much what to play into the music about what content features so one can age one's experience and judgement and put into that podcast, what one hopes will appeal to the audience?

Samira: 16:37

Well, it's great that you're getting to do that. And now finally, to conclude the interview, as an expert like yourself, what would be the one piece of advice you would give to the future generation of broadcasters?

Phil Blizzard: 16:50

One piece of advice is to offer two pieces, if you don't mind.

Samira: 16:56

Sure.

Phil Blizzard: 16:58

One is in terms of looking forward to a career in broadcasting is to be what should we say, as broad as possible. Don't focus on one element, don't focus on you know, you might be a sports fanatic. And that's all you want to do is sports programmes, sports news, but be adaptable, cover as many aspects immerse yourself in the environment where you want to start your broadcasting. So if we're looking at a city get to know that city get to know that town, and be able to go out and sort of I mean, I'm in my first day with BBC Radio, and I wanted to do programmes playing music. But I started off helping a news team, which was fairly new to me. So I had to go out women interview the main counsellor for transport followed by someone from health, followed by someone from sport, and you just got to immerse yourself into it. Don't think I'm going to do sport and nothing else to sport, do music, do entertainment, do a bit of politics, maybe travel if you can, if you're lucky enough to be able to do travel features on regional radio station, but be as broad as possible, don't focus on one element of broadcasting. The second piece of advice is to remember, you are connecting with one person, not a mass audience. So when you're talking and communicating, you don't say everyone out there is you. It's great to be with you. Not great to be with everyone. It's a very personal medium. And that is so key. And unfortunately, I hear more and more often, people talking to a mass crowd rather than the individuals signal to think of someone in your mind, maybe your mom or brother or sister or good friend and you're talking to them personally in your mind when you're doing your links during your ear reports and things.

Samira: 18:48

Love that.

Arjun Radeesh: 18:49

Lovely, lovely, great, then that's pretty much it from our side. So to all our listeners, please do listen to Phil's show on Capitol radio, which you will hear every Saturday from two to 5pm on Capitol radio. So is there a frequency number for that?

Phil Blizzard: 19:05

It's it's an online radio station based in Abu Dhabi and awaiting the frequency for that so you can tune in from anywhere around the world on www.cruae.ae.

Samira: 19:22

Thank you. Make sure you tune in see you, see I'm using the right pronouns now.

Phil Blizzard: 19:30

Yes, so Sameera now it's been a pleasure joining you and I wish you all the best for your your careers and the next year and a bit at university doing multimedia and then the entrepreneur aspect as well. So good luck with that.

Arjun Radeesh: 19:44

Thank you so much, Phil, and that's a wrap from me myself, Arjun, and my co host Samira Banat and please do subscribe to our podcast. Our podcasts are available on also the meeting podcast platforms and that's a wrap from the Incongruent team.