ASIA

Pure has launched an innovative suite of new products for the iconic Evoke range that are built on Frontier’s leading Venice X platform, offering the benefits of SmartRadio to their customers.The new Evoke Spot, Evoke Play and Evoke Home products offer a diverse choice of usage across any home while taking the listening experience to the next level with a choice of DAB+, FM and Internet Connectivity. Every model of the new reimagined line is a SmartRadio device and therefore combines the reliability of FM and DAB+ with the choice and flexibility of streaming Internet Radio, Podcasts and Spotify Connect.Both Pure and Frontier have developed multiple products together, disrupting and changing the industry one collaboration at a time. Looking back on Pure’s product history, the Evoke-1 first laid the foundation and then adapted to customers’ needs over the course of 20 years, evolving into stereo product (Evoke 2) and then providing enhanced user experience with an added large colour screen and Bluetooth functionality (Evoke H4)Keeping with this constant evaluation of customer needs and addressing current trends, the latest reimagined Evoke Series composed of the Evoke Spot, Evoke Play and Evoke Home combine the advantages of SmartRadio while keeping contemporary design and focus on usability. Pure forwent the inclusion of any microphones or voice assistance allowing for maximum privacy. The new Evoke models feature a foldable colour display that doesn’t only save space and make this compact music system look even slimmer, it also makes it easy to conceal distracting lights. Keeping ease of usability in mind, complex functions such as alarm clock, timer or changing the audio source are hidden away under the foldable display while everyday functions are easily accessible on the surface of the devices.Frontier’s solutions are used by the world’s leading audio brands and are in millions of devices. Pure and Frontier have shaped the radio market with their innovations over the last 20 years and continue to push ahead. The Venice X module supports Spotify Connect, Amazon Music and Deezer as well as over 60k Internet Radio stations and 100k podcast episodes.Both Frontier and Pure are members of the SmartRadio logo programme, which aims to promote SmartRadio and educate users on the benefit of owning a SmartRadio over a DAB radio.Adrian Nordhaus, head of innovation and product management at Pure said: ‘We wanted to create a high quality and reliable product that had the best user experience that we could offer to allow us to be competitive in the growing SmartRadio market. We chose Frontier to work with and selected their Venice X platform, which combined high levels of functionality into a single, highly integrated turnkey module that enables SmartRadio products.’Prem Rajalingham, managing director at Frontier said: ‘We are delighted to work with Pure and once again create innovative products that will lead the SmartRadio market. We continue to see the SmartRadio market growing, with brands moving more products from simple DAB + FM to SmartRadio products that combine DAB, FM, Internet Radio, podcasts and catch-up radio.’ […]

Community radio in South Asia seems to caught in the crossfire between ‘development’ and ‘rights’ as restrictive legislation and cumbersome application procedures handicap the sector’s growth.Rules such as the ban on news broadcasting in India and in Bangladesh (where there is an exception for development-related news have prevented the emergence of an enabling environment for the sector in the region. At the same time, policy-makers increasingly acknowledge the social impact of community radio as a critical vehicle for poverty eradication.Bangladesh’s experience with community radio has demonstrated significant social impact over the past decade.Community radio is largely a rural phenomenon in the country and has been acknowledged for its contribution to addressing social iniquities like child marriages and natural disasters like cyclones and floods.In 2005, an AC Nielson survey observed that radio was one of the two mass media ‘that penetrates the poorest sections of society.’ A 2009 Bangladesh Institute of Social Research survey entitled Community Radio Readiness in Bangladesh reinforced Its popularity and credibility as a medium for social change, indicating that 94% of respondents ‘believed that radio can solve any community problem.’While this may be an oversimplification, a 2021 survey conducted by the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) suggests similar insights in terms of both listenership and trust.The survey also shows that community radio listenership jumped from 6.8 million to 10 million in less than 3 years – surely because of the pandemic. Listeners emphasised that the pandemic had created ‘panic, especially during its early stage when there was no vaccine and there was a paucity of appropriate healthcare. Miscreants had also been spreading misinformation on social media.’It was during this stage that community radio stations across Bangladesh began a concerted campaign comprising community service announcements, interviews with government officials and experts, radio jingles and spots, interactive phone-in programmes with doctors and health expertsBangladesh community radio’s efforts to combat covid-19 have been internationally recognised at the UN World Summit on the Information Society 2021 at the International Telecommunication Union Headquarters in Geneva.Community radio has created scope for the poor and marginalised community to raise their own voice; it is a voice for the voiceless. It has become a new platform for local elected representatives, local law enforcers, the private sector and civil society to facilitate good governance.A distinctive contribution of community radio lies in its ability to give voice to the excluded, and to bring peripheral voices from the margins to the centre. Bangladesh’s recent track record in this regard would also indicate ground for measured optimism.In 2015, Free Press Unlimited, a Dutch independent information advocacy group, and the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) conducted a study titled Pioneering Connecting and Empowering Voice for Change, to evaluate the participatory nature of community radio for the marginalised in Bangladesh. The study encompassed 18 operational community radio stations across the country.This highlighted that community broadcasting had had a constructive impact on the participation of women, along with marginalised sections such as the Dalit community, transgender actors and persons with disability.BNNRC conducted a similar follow-up study, tracking the participation of women, in 2017. This indicated that the gap in participation between average youth-men and youth-women had narrowed substantially over the years, with women comprising 45% and men comprising 55% of all regular and volunteer broadcasters.The gap continued to close when the data was further disaggregated. Out of all regular broadcasters, 63% were youth and 47% were youth-women.[1] The study also observed that many community radio stations were led by women, while one of the stations is entirely run by women.In 2021, trends suggest a substantial deepening of the sector in terms of both community engagement and social impact.Community radio advocates in Bangladesh have embarked on an innovative strategy of using fellowship programmes to incentivise participation from disadvantaged groups. The fellowship programme incorporates training on community media journalism, fact-checking, research and new media marketing.While community radio listeners are used to listening through low-cost radio sets, there has been a seismic shift; in 2021, most listeners tune into radio programmes through their mobile phones. Community radio stations have thereby started internet broadcasting, essentially going into the podcast model.A BNNRC survey in 2018 indicated that audiences increasingly favoured podcasts – visual programmes with a ‘watching’ option as they ‘listen.’These trends indicate that community radio broadcasting in Bangladesh has moved firmly from the initial phase of legitimisation and awareness-building into the consolidation growth phase.Community radio in Bangladesh has reached a point where it is empowering the people at the margins with the right to the information that has an impact on their lives. For more insights, read the full article by Asha Sen, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, AHM Bazlur Rahman, the co-founder and CEO of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication and Ashish Chandra Sen, Founder President of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Asia Pacific. […]

India’s Big FM network ran a campaign called ‘Big Cybershield’ to raise awareness about cyber security by educating people to use the digital space cautiously.The month-long campaign threw light on various issues such as credit card and banking phishing scams, fake government sites and emails, document cloud phishing scams, fake jobs, lottery scams and event phishing.It was supported by various eminent personalities such as Abhishek Bachchan, Gulshan Grover and Jimmy Shergil who promoted the activity on-air. Targeting the senior citizens, a digital classroom was held for them where a cyber expert taught things about ‘safe online practice’ every day.According to ScamCheck India about 885,000 listeners benefitted from this activity.The initiative culminated on the network’s  social media in the presence of Satej Dnyandeo Patil – IT & Home Minister Maharashtra and Tushar Bhagat – Founder Scamcheckindia.com, and was moderated by RJ Rani.Sunil Kumaran, Country Head – Product, Marketing & THWINK Big, Big FM said: “The past two years has been a testing time for all of us, especially now that the world has moved to digitization completely, people are facing a lot more trouble to deal with cybercrime.  Through this campaign, we were able to create awareness among the general public about the pitfalls of the limitless worldwide web. We are thrilled that we could harness the power of the media towards this much-needed initiative.” […]

The deadline for sending entries for 2022 New York Festivals® Radio Awards competition is February 9.New York Festivals Radio Awards honors storytellers from around the globe. Since 1957 NYF has celebrated excellence and innovation across all genres and platforms, keeping pace with industry-wide developments and global trends.Last year, the awards received entries from more than 30 stations, networks and independent producers from across the globe.

Asian entries won one metal and seven Finalist nods at last year’s Radio Awards.Entries are judged by the Grand Jury made up of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe, including a number from Asia including India, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.Entries are judged on production values, organisation, presentation of information, creativity and use of the medium.All entries in the 2022 competition will be judged online by NYF’s Radio Awards Grand Jury. Award-winning entries will be showcased on the Radio Awards winners gallery.To enter, visit: HERE, for additional information visit: Rules and Regulations. […]

Kadal Osai 90.4 FM in India’s southern state of Tamilnadu is the country’s first and only radio channel for fisherfolk which also raises social and environmental awareness.Armstrong Fernando from Ramanathapuram district’s Pamban town started the station, whose name means ‘Sound of the Sea’, about five years ago. The station now has a team of 12 members.Pamban island is located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka, with a population of over 100,000 out of whom 80 percent are engaged in fishing.

The 24/7 channel provides weather updates, information on potential fishing zones, local news, traditional music and promotes marine conservation. It also serves as a direct link between the government and the community to quickly resolve people’s problems, from receiving government incentives to purchasing tokens for fishing.The station also ran a successful initiative to conserve endangered species who would often get entangled along in the fishermen’s nets along with the fish.Radio Kadal Osai began rewarding fishermen with INR 1,000 ($13.35) if they released trapped turtles to the ocean while capturing the moment on their phones.“This became a huge success. A lot of fishermen sent us videos of them releasing turtles to the sea. We give them cash rewards and also announce their names on the radio. This also helped to create awareness about the conservation of sea turtles,” Gayathri Usman, the station head of Kadal Osai told TRT World.“People now don’t take plastic bags to the sea. They are cautious and aware that polluting the sea would directly affect their livelihood,” she added.The station has also been educating people about pandemic-related issues and debunking disinformation about the virus.Lenin, who works as the channel’s programming coordinator, told TRT: “The radio has a great influence in the lives of the people who listen to it [compared to] TV, social media or word of mouth. People acknowledge that there is little possibility of being misinformed on this medium.” […]

Content from BPRWe’ve all been in brainstorming sessions, whether in a room with others or via Zoom with colleagues based anywhere & everywhere.Whatever the problem to be solved, there are those who will contribute and those who would like to but won’t.

Why?When it comes to group interactions with colleagues, individuals are particularly vulnerable to a condition known as motivation to conform. The reasons for this can include the need to avoid rejection and conflict, accomplish group goals or establish one’s identity. After all, why undercut your Group Program/Content Director’s views or challenge an opinionated CEO if it means somehow diminishing your own power, influence or authority?This risk aversion is a big factor in the success or failure of brainstorming sessions.The global management consultancy, McKinsey & Company, recently posted an article “A Better Way to Brainstorm”.One of McKinsey’s management tools is Anonymous Brainstorming.This concept can be a counterweight to our motivations to conform and help contributors feel like their expertise and ideas are being fairly considered.Here’s how McKinsey’s Anonymous Brainstorming works.To ensure that all ideas are weighted equally, the person in charge of the session (CEO, Group Program Director etc) appoints a facilitator to collect ideas submitted through a central software application. (This step would be managed ahead of the brainstorming session.)During brainstorming, ideas would not be presented in a specific order or tied to specific person. This provides anonymity and allows for proposals that may run counter to the opinions of “the loudest voice”/the most powerful person in the session.The facilitator presents the list of ideas and the individuals vote on them independently (and anonymously) to reveal the degree of alignment behind each idea. Once the ideas have been vetted and reprioritized, the group repeats the silent-voting process until a clear choice can be made.Now this type of structured facilitation will take more time and effort than a traditional brainstorming session—but it has the potential to reveal truly original business initiatives and creative concepts that may not have come to light if the participants thought their reputations were on the line.By David Kidd, BPR […]