Radio stations across the UK and around the world switched from normal programming to either a rolling news format or non-stop Michael Jackson songs.
The immediate change of format was in reaction to the death of the King of Pop, confirmed late on Thursday evening, GMT.
But whilst the likes of regional networks Heart, Galaxy, Gold, Big City, Smooth and Real Radio switched to playing non-stop songs from his huge archive, the majority of smaller stations in automation carried on regardless, albeit with hourly news provided by Sky News.
Online, social networks exploded with what will undoubtedly be the biggest topic of conversation services such as Twitter have ever seen. And raises the question, which will no doubt be a topic of conversation at the upcoming Radio Festival – is it better to broadcast local automation or a live network show especially in times of breaking news such as this.
BBC Radio 1 flipped to non-stop Michael Jackson songs mixed in with regular Newsbeat updates, whilst 5 Live and talkSPORT switched to non-stop coverage with reports, guests and interviews.
Production company Devaweb has informed RadioToday.co.uk it has created some generic promos, free for stations to play at this time. Contact chris@devaweb.co.uk for details.
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