The Guardian's radio company, GMG Radio, has announced a number of new programmes that will be made by independent producers for its radio stations, which include the Smooth, Century and Rock Radio networks. The programmes come after the radio company announced it had set up a £1 million fund to commission independent productions.
Among the shows are two music documentaries from Smooth Operations, one called 'Rolling River of Rock' looking at the music heritage of cities along the Mississippi River, and another called 'Rock In The Dock' which, needless to say, will look at famous cases from the pop courts. Something Else will make a six part series called 'Banned in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s', UBC will make a documentary about music and culture in 1968, while Wise Buddah will make two series, one on rock stars who went broke called 'Where Did All the Money Go?', and one called 'Heroes' Heroes'. Smooth Operations will also make a special programme for Remembrance Sunday called 'Blogs From The Bunkers', telling the stories of soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Confirming the new programmes, GMG Radio CEO John Myers told reporters: "GMG is committed to providing listeners with new and compelling programming and, thanks to the support of the Scott Trust, we have chosen a fantastic array of programmes that we know will be enjoyed by our audience. This is only phase one of our commissioning process and we look forward to ordering more early in the summer".