ASIA

A week devoted to helping radio stations broadcast remotely begins on Monday.The special week will bring a program of virtual events and talks from experts from around the world to help stations that need to shift to remote delivery due to Covid and other emergencies.

Organized by UNESCO in partnership with WHO, Remote Radio Week is an online training program aimed at building the capacity of local radio stations to produce accurate and professional radio content in the event of containment measures or emergencies, including financial difficulties.
The program, which will also be available on demand, will cover the several thematic areas, with particular reference to the pandemic crisis.
The program targets radio operators, professionals and managers worldwide with a particular attention to the needs of local radio stations.
Remote Radio Week will propose distinct program in English, French, Spanish and Arabic during the day, featuring experts, examples, debates and technical tips for the audience.

The online event has the goal of supporting the mission and operations of radio stations located on five different continents.
It consists of an online program that provides information on how to:

Train station staff to work remotely (e.g. studio, broadcast, IP, cloud, social networks, and DIY equipment, etc.)
Promote credible and trustworthy radio journalism and public service efforts (reliable information, disinformation, media and information literacy, social links, etc.)
Manage a radio station in times of crisis (e.g. human, economic aspects, social/strategic role, etc.)

Five themes will be delivered across the week. View the full program here.

Registration is free. Register here. […]

Content from BPRI have just finished reading a very interesting book called Media Unmade by Tim Burrowes (main picture: Linkedin).Burrowes is one of the founders of marketing and media company Mumbrella and is perhaps uniquely positioned to have observed the changing face of Australian Media over the past decade, Media Unmade is an observer’s view of the changing composition of media ownership in the period 2010 – 2020 – but it also highlights changing consumer habits that have underpinned these changes.Newspapers have been facing a decline of readership and advertising, driven largely by ageing readership and the loss of traditional revenue streams (rivers of gold) together with the rise of digital consumption as a preference for consumers and marketers.The dramatic fall of magazine numbers and readership is as much a commentary on ownership and mismanagement as it is a reflection of reader priorities.In all this – there are some positive stories of resurgence although some, like out of home and movie have also been impacted by covid.In television, Channel 9 emerges as a strong TV/Digital/Newspaper/Radio group while Channel 7 is in the process of reconstruction and re-focus while 10, under new ownership is now the Australian partner for the Paramount+  video streaming service.Media Unmade is a well-constructed, highly readable and interesting overview of the Australian media universe, however many of the lessons highlighted here are also being repeated in a number of countries.In Australia, Radio is not without its challenges. In attracting ad share, radio is holding its own, but behind the scenes it’s also reinventing and restructuring as digital streaming and other audio challenge for listening time.SCA – (Hit / Triple M networks) announces a new ‘Digital First’ strategy built around the company’s LiSTNR app. ARN (KIIS / Gold) also announces a new Strategy and Connections initiative connecting data, content and revenue. Nova Entertainment (Nova / Smooth) has also launched its own new podcast network (NEPN).In the UK the BBC launched SOUNDS a couple of years ago as a way of consolidating its outputs into a single content aggregation. The success or otherwise of this is yet to be fully seen ..What is clear is that the media landscape continues to evolve and change either leading or responding to changing consumer priorities.Over the coming weeks we’ll be unveiling a new BPR International All-Audio project designed to shed light on what is happening to audio consumption that impacts radio listening and other audio consumption.By Peter Don, BPR […]

It’s all about the tension levelsSelling Radio Direct with Pat BrysonI was teaching a new group of salespeople last week and we were discussing how to manage the tension level that usually arises when we are asking a prospect to buy. If prospects are uncomfortable, they usually won’t buy from us. It’s up to us to bring the tension level down, to make our prospects comfortable. How do we do this?We want to make sure that we use words from the world of our clients, not from the world of radio, TV or newspaper. Our industry terms should never be used outside our offices. Most of the time, our prospects don’t understand fully what we are saying. They may not want to ask us to explain. More than likely, they simply don’t buy. They are uncomfortable.We also need to make sure that we speak clearly. How’s your grammar? Do you use dialects? In some areas of the country, it’s considered acceptable to use improper English. Actually, it’s not acceptable. You might get away with it in a small area, but if you talk to anyone outside the area, you will come across as uneducated. This makes it difficult to establish credibility. After all, we’re supposed to be the marketing experts.What about those “ticks”, those physical things we do, often unconsciously, that signify that we are nervous. If we are nervous, soon our prospects are also. We transmit our nervousness to them.There are also some words that we can use to manage the tension level, to bring it down: authorize, approve, agreement, results, proven, easy, save, results, profit, let’s.On the other hand, there are words we should omit from our closing vocabulary because they will spike the tension level: contract, deal, sign, cost, buy, liable, obligation, price, pay, decision.One of my former students had been a newspaper salesperson for 15 years prior to coming to radio. When we were studying these words, he shared with me how he had used them in his former profession. When he was calling on a prospect who used a competitor’s product, he used the words like this:“How liable are you when you sign their contract? What type of obligation do you have to pay for their deal? With our agreement, we make it easy. All you have to do is authorize this campaign and the results have been proven by other of our clients.”In other words, he used the bad words when referring to the competition and the good words when referring to his own. Diabolical? Yes. Brilliant? Yes!Our job is to reduce the risk and stack the value. Doing so makes potential clients comfortable in saying, “Yes” to our offers. Higher billing awaits!Pat has a New Book […]

Content from BPRFew things are more unpleasant that program director/presenter aircheck sessions. Perhaps the best analogy is the apprehension that one has when going to the dentist. Nobody likes it!Few presenters that I have worked with enjoy the process. Few program directors look forward to the experience.Presenters dread aircheck sessions because they assume that their boss is going to point out their faults and mistakes. The often confrontational aspect of these sessions undermines their productiveness.Can aircheck sessions be productive? In most cases, the answer is yes. However, there are some basic rules to be followed.Rule 1. Give the review of the presenter’s work a positive spin. Don’t be afraid to point out the good stuff. People are more likely to pay attention if the session focuses more on the positive than the negative. When it comes to the negative critique, make it forward looking. Lines such as: “That didn’t really work so well but here is how you can make it better next time.”Rule 2. Ask questions of the presenter. “If you were faced with this situation again, how do you think you could improve upon it?” “How would you rate this segment?” By turning the tables on the presenter, you allow them to critique their own work. Sometimes you may find that they can point out areas of improvement that have not occurred to you.Rule 3. Space the sessions apart. It is not necessary to have an aircheck session every day. Once a week is probably enough. More frequent sessions may lead to needless repetition and fatigue. Avoid information overload. Human beings best process information in small doses.Rule 4. If possible, keep the sessions short. An aircheck session should probably never be more than a half an hour.Rule 5. Know your presenter. In my experience, a large number of presenters are fragile people. They can be insecure. In some cases, they may be their own worst critic (although they will never admit that to you.) Some presenters have out-sized egos but these personalities often are the most insecure of all. Approach airchecks sessions more like a psychologist and less like a judge and jury.Don’t expect the presenter to ever say, “Hey, let’s do an aircheck.” However, you can make the experience into something that produces positive results in both the short and long term.By Andy Beaubien, BPRIf you require further help with your own airchecks sessions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] […]

Wayne Clouten is a principal of international broadcast content consultancy, BPR. He contends that too often we think purely about competition between radio stations when we are, in fact, competing for people’s attention with all kinds of media.Mr Clouten has  kindly contributed the following article.Much of the statistical movement we see in radio surveys, particularly TSL movement has likely nothing to do with an exchange of TSL between radio stations, it is more to do with an exchange of TSL between a radio station and other forms of audio”The problem is that with radio survey data the tendency we are drawn to is trying to draw lines between this radio station and that radio station, but the reality is that listening overall is much more fluid and radio only forms part of the bigger listening ecosystem.I believe a lot of “movement” we see in radio surveys is the result of what I call “proportional dilution”.It works like this: Imagine my station has 50 listeners listening for one hour each, and your station also has 50 listeners listening for one hour each.  So, in our little market there is 100 hours of total radio listening of which we both have a 50% listening share.  The next survey comes along and I gain 10 more listeners but my listeners are spending more time listening to something else other than radio so my radio TSL drops to 30 minutes per listener while yours remains the same as before.There are now 80 hours of total radio listening in the market of which your station now has a 63% share while my station drops to a 37% share.  None of my listeners actually went to your station, in fact they hate your station but it looks like your station gained from my station in the survey when that was not actually the case.All this doesn’t change the fact that my stations share of radio listening in the official survey went down relative to your station, what changes is how you interpret these share movements from a strategic and tactical perspective.I have been observing an exponential development of this issue in recent times.  COVID has likely accelerated this development in listening behaviour, but the trend was already there well prior to COVID.The degree to which radio listeners use other forms of audio varies quite a lot depending on demographic and station format.This is often particularly manifest in P1 listeners of a radio station.  They may love you and have absolutely no interest in any other radio station….when they are listening to radio…but that is not to say they don’t have a great interest in another form of audio and will spend more time with it in the future.The key issue is to appreciate that listeners are more than just radio listeners and for the average listener, radio is just part of a much broader listening ecosystem they have access to and can move within seamlessly to create the listening experience they want.BPR is an international media consultancy company working with market leading radio and television stations in major markets worldwide. We deliver clear and effective research based solutions for your programming, and marketing issues. […]

Content from BPROne of the age-old radio dilemmas centres around a simple question… what is the right amount of talk on a music station’s breakfast program? There is no single right answer but here are some factors to consider when considering this question.
How engaging, informative and entertaining are your presenters? The range extends from presenters who are well-known and beloved by listeners to presenters who are essentially best at executing a given format. In the case where you have one or more highly talented, conversational and compelling personalities at breakfast, you have to give them enough opportunities and latitude to engaged with the audience. Otherwise, their talent and listener appeal are wasted. On the other hand, if your breakfast presenter’s job is to merely facilitate the format and provide a smooth transition from one program element to the next, the presenters role is more limited and the amount of time taken up by spontaneous talk should be minimized. In this circumstance, a fixed number of songs per hour is recommended.

How many songs per hour are ideal? Personality breakfast programs and especially those with a multiple presenters can get by with as little as 7 or 8 songs per hour. However, the non-musical content of the program must be consistently entertaining and informative. Programs that are strictly formatted and have presenters who are basically format facilitators may be able to play as many as 12 or more relatively short songs per hour. Song editing is something that should be done very judiciously because listeners are often offended by songs that are not played in their entirety.

News and information – Listeners may have an expectation of hearing a lot of news, traffic, weather and sport information from your station. Full-service music stations are sometimes considered one of the leading information stations in the area. The need to provide information may be a limiting factor in the number of songs played per hour. Such programs may have to limit the number of songs to 8-10 per hour. Additionally, non-informational presenter talk may also need to be limited.

Is your station brand based on playing a lot of music with minimum interruption? With formats such as Soft AC, Smooth Jazz or Classical music, listeners may expect to hear an equal number of songs at breakfast as in other dayparts. Alternatively, pop music stations with a fast-paced breakfast program and popular personalities have more latitude and can get away with fewer songs per hour.

How important is listener interaction to your breakfast program? Some stations are known for a high degree of listener participation at breakfast. This may be in the form of games and contests. Some personality presenters have a talent for eliciting interesting and entertaining on-air interaction with phone callers. However, breakfast presenters that can do this on a consistent basis are fairly rare. If this is the type of content for which your breakfast program is known and liked, the number of songs per hour may be limited and may vary from one hour to the next.

For most music formats, 8 songs per hour is the bottom threshold. Breakfast programs that play fewer than 8 songs per hour can justify this approach only if they have one or more consistently compelling and popular personalities. On the other hand, stations that play more than 12 songs per hour at breakfast are required to carefully restrict the amount of talk content per hour.
As you can see, there is no single fixed number of songs that are appropriate at breakfast. In reality, the correct number is contingent on a number of factors including music format, audience interaction, presenter type and the amount of news and information. Finally, we must consider the nature of your radio market’s breakfast offerings. Listeners in some markets are accustomed to hearing high-profile personalities who deliver a consistently fun and entertaining performance at breakfast. Listeners in other markets may require a large amount of news and information. Consider the program options that are available and design your breakfast program to fit the marketplace.By Andy Beaubien, BPR […]