ASIA

According to the first GfK Radio Audience Measurement for 2022, Media Prima Audio (MPA) continued to position itself as one of the most influential radio networks in Malaysia.The Radio Audience Measurement study was done over six weeks and with a combined methodological approach with a sample size of 6,639 people.MPA kicked off the year with a full lineup of fresh content, new talents, creative campaigns, and activation resulting in promising audience numbers.Hot FM retains its position as one of the biggest radio stations in the country, reaching 3,513,000 listeners weekly. Hot FM is the leading station with the highest number of followers on Twitter with 1.8 million followers and TikTok with 1 million followers. Hot FM has also executed a few campaigns since the start of the year such as Hot JL, Hot FM Rakyat Rangers Pegang Apa Tu?, #RewangRakyatRangers, and Hot FM Peralihan ke Endemik Showcase. These campaigns allowed listeners to win cash prizes and engage with well-known announcers, namely Fara Fauzana, AG, and Fad that lead the Hot FM breakfast show, Rakyat Rangers.Buletin FM has reached a total of 263,000 weekly listeners, an increase of 31,000 weekly listeners in comparison to survey 2, 2021. In addition, Buletin FM strengthened its position as a credible radio station for PMEBs with a listenership increase of 40%. Buletin FM has also presented a few campaigns such as Usahawan Buletin FM to help promote small local businesses and Masterclass Buletin, which invites guests to come on the show to share educational business information with the listeners.Buletin FM has reached a total of 263,000 weekly listeners, an increase of 31,000 weekly listeners in comparison to survey 2, 2021. In addition, Buletin FM strengthened its position as a credible radio station for PMEBs with a listenership increase of 40%. Buletin FM has also presented a few campaigns such as Usahawan Buletin FM to help promote small local businesses and Masterclass Buletin, which invites guests to come on the show to share educational business information with the listeners.Fly FM recorded 1,033,000 weekly listeners. There is also an increase in listenership for the Breakfast Show by 70% and Drive Show by 32% for the age group of 30 – 34. Fly FM has doubled up its exclusive listeners to 96,000 listeners weekly. Fly FM also ran campaigns such as Fly FM Boomerang Tracks, which allowed listeners to win cash prizes by guessing the title and the artist of the boomerang tracks. For Fly Five Beats, listeners had to identify the name of the artists and the title of all five beats to win cash prizes.MPA’s Chinese radio station, 8FM has now recorded 447,000 listeners weekly, with an increase of listeners for the age group of 10-14 and 20-29. There is also an increase of 54% of listeners with a household income of RM8,000 and above. Campaigns presented by 8FM include SPM Saya Pun Mampu, 过好生活之你好夏天 (8FM Hello Summer) and 过好生活之跟我揾食 (8FM Food Award) led by 8FM breakfast announcers, Royce and Angeline. These campaigns allow listeners to call in and stand a chance to win cash prizes. […]

Facebook has confirmed that it is pulling out of podcasting, just a year after entering the market.A change in focus appears to be the main reason with promotion of its “Metaverse” and a shift in attention to its main feed and some of its newer products like Instagram Reels.According to a note sent to partners, people will no longer be able to upload podcasts from this week, and according to Bloomberg, it will discontinue both its short-form audio product Soundbites and remove its central audio hub.In an email a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg, “We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences”, adding that they didn’t have a specific date on when Soundbites and the audio hub would shut down but it will be in the “coming weeks.”Facebook isn’t planning to alert users to the fact that podcasts are leaving the platform, leaving that instead to publishers.It doesn’t mean the end to audio on the platform as the Live Audio rooms will be integrated into Facebook Live and users will now be able to upload audio as well as  audio and video. […]

According to a report just issued by Listen Notes, there are at least 2,836,347 podcasts and 132,691,458 episodes in the world.And their report says that the number of new podcasts is declining with only 8,453 released in April as opposed to over 16,000 in March, over 17,000 in February and 20,454 in January.The boom of new podcasts during the beginning of the pandemic has also passed with 1,017,349 new podcasts released in 2020, down to 712,414 last year, and declining even further now as things get back to normal. […]

Lawo’s latest diamond console was on display at the 2022 NAB Show, and radioinfo was given a first hand look by Al Reynolds.The fully native IP surface powers with their Powercord DSP and Audio IO engine.The surface is fully modular allowing endless changes as required and almost unlimited expansion, allowing it to be used as a 2-fader module that is ideal for voice over booths or editor booths, or it can be scaled all the way up to 60 faders with the dual layer support giving the operator access to 120 faders.There are also key extension and rotary extension modules that can go above the fader modules for bigger production applications.The 13.3 inch 1080P multi touch screens are an option addition that sit beautifully on top of the console and give the end-user access. In channel strip mode the user can see level metres, peak and loudness, what processing has been applied to each fader, as well as what busses have been assigned which give a quick visual display of everything on the console.In access mode and because the screen is touch capable, simple things like moving the full 5-band EQ curves can be done by fingertip.To hear more about the Diamond, listen to Al talk to radioinfo’s Wayne Stamm. […]

William ‘Dub’ Irwin was showing off the latest version of the WideOrbit playout system at the 2022 NAB Show.Dub told radioinfo’s Wayne Stamm that the software “…is now completely platform agnostic …with deployments on Linux, Mas OS or Windows.”While the system ingests from almost all playout systems quite easily, WideOrbit has a really tight integration with MusicMaster via the Nexus system that can allow real time changes to a playlist, allowing real time reconciliation of the playlist and real time editing in both directions, automatic song card creation, and bi directional metadata sync so if the user makes a change in one system it is reflected instantly in the other. […]

GatesAir showed off their new range of codecs at this year’s NAB Show, and Keyur Parikh showed radioinfo’s Wayne Stamm some of their new products.These included the IP Link 100E, the newest edition to the IP link series GatesAir first introduced in 2012. This card plugs into their FM exciters providing the capability of audio over IP.This card has three network interfaces that can be used for streaming, and AES 3 digital audio in and out, RS2 32 and a GPIO.The IP Link 100 C with essentially the same hardware and software, but with the addition of the XLR input and outputs with a choice of analogue or digital.Once again this unit has multiple network ports.Keyur also showed of GatesAir’s latest exciter for HD radio, and their FAX compact range and a new portable FM transmitter.[embedded content] […]