ASIA

Asia’s only locally produced and regionally-syndicated weekly music show will be added to six more stations across Indonesia and Thailand.Asia Pop 40, produced by Singapore’s Eon Media Group Pte. Ltd., is now airing weekly on the El John Radio Network across Sumatra, Indonesia, on Saturday evenings from 7 pm to 10 pm and Sunday afternoons from 1pm to 4pm every week.It is also airing on sister station NinetySix FM on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8am to 11:am. The main markets in Indonesia served by the El John Radio Network include Palembang and Peknabaru, among others.

El John Radio Network’s Programme Director & Producer, Ferry Anggara, commented: “Asia Pop 40 is cool! It not only plays the top-40 songs but also fun segments like ‘Hit Predictions,’ which sets this show apart from others. With its interesting line-up of music and shows, and its broad reach across Asia, we are excited to be part of the Asia Pop 40 family.”Asia Pop 40 was also added recently to Bangkok-based BKK.FM. The show can be heard weekly during Friday evening drive-time from 5 pm to 8 pm, and on Sunday evenings from 9 pm to 11:59pm.BKK.FM’s Managing Director Mike Somerville stated: “BKK.FM is honored by our new partnership with the team at Asia Pop 40. We know that it will become one of our most popular weekly shows. We now air it twice a week in response to requests from our listeners from all over the world, including from Europe, the United States and Canada.”Singapore’s EON Media Group produces Asia Pop 40. CEO and Executive Producer Rob Graham said: “We are thrilled that AP40 is now being heard across even more stations in Indonesia and Thailand. The addition of AP40 to the El John Radio Network means that AP40 is now heard on 17 stations in Indonesia and five across Thailand.” […]

A new report by Nielsen has found that the appeal of podcasting has broadened for both listeners and advertisers.“The rise in popularity has effectively changed the landscape of the entire market. Rampant celebrity involvement, high-profile platform mergers and podcast-inspired TV programming highlight just how much the podcast industry has developed in just a few years’ time,” says the report, which makes the point that podcast listening has moved from early adopters who listened heavily to a few favourite podcasts, to lighter but more mainstream listening habits.The Podcasting Today report, based on American data, concludes that “the maturing of the podcast landscape has broadened the appeal of podcasts well beyond those who have been listening for many years.”

“Today, the library of podcast titles is approaching 2 million, and it shows no sign of slowing down,” says the report, which confirms many of the trends that podcast creators have known for some time. The IAB believes U.S. podcast revenue will reach $2 billion by 2023—that’s a big jump from the $842 million generated last year.
“In addition to having a broad effect on the overall media industry, the maturing of the podcast landscape has broadened the appeal of podcasts well beyond those who have been listening for many years. That’s a key shift, particularly as advertisers look to podcasting for whitespace opportunities. Today, almost half (49%) of U.S. podcast listeners are lighter, more casual users: people who listen anywhere from one to three times a month.”

The report highlights two reasons for the growth towards the mainstream:

Consumer interest in new, engaging content from across the media landscape continues to grow, and podcast content has proven to be an attractive option among the media diets of millions of Americans, especially during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic paused the growth of heavy podcast listeners. With revised lifestyles and schedules over the past year, this isn’t unexpected. Yet while the percentage of heavy listeners declined slightly last year, we’re now seeing it increase, rising from 25% earlier this year to just under 30% as of May. So we know there is a segment of the population that was very engaged with podcast content before the pandemic arrived, and that audience could continue increasing its engagement if the conditions (or content) are right.

The pandemic has not had a negative impact on overall podcast engagement. Listener growth did flatten during the second half of last year, but it has ramped up notably in 2021, largely due to an increase in at-home listening, says the report.

According to Nielsen Podcast Buying Power data, the percent of the adult U.S. population listening to podcasts has grown more than 40% in the past three years. As podcasts become a bigger part of our media culture, they’re attracting broader audiences. The growth in listeners is happening across all age segments as more consumers discover and start listening to podcasts.

The increasing appeal of podcasts to general audiences is exactly why brands and agencies need to be tracking engagement with them and leveraging the opportunities in their marketing strategies and campaigns, the report concludes:
“The growth of podcasting has brought a massive opportunity for advertisers to reach highly engaged, niche audiences,” says Arica McKinnon, Vice President, Client Consulting at Nielsen. “While the industry has made strides to capture metrics like downloads, brands have been challenged to understand the impact of ads. Today, those challenges are fading.”
Podcast advertising—particularly when read by the host—drives stronger brand recall punch than more traditional forms of advertisements. Nielsen’s Podcast Ad Effectiveness (PAE) solutions have found that host- read ads drive a brand recall rate of 71%, which subsequently creates high levels of
Longer ads (60 seconds+) drive even higher lifts among consumers. When it comes to seeking more information about a brand, longer ads are nearly 70% more effective in this category than shorter ones. The lift scores for purchase intent and recommendation intent are both 40% higher for longer ads than shorter ones. Not only do longer ads generate stronger engagement, they also drive brand recall: nearly three-quarters of listeners were able to recall the brand after hearing a longer ad. The financial services, technology and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries are notable for high ad recall, probably as a result of the pandemic.

The report recommends that brands shouldn’t approach podcasts with the same advertising strategies that they use in traditional, mass-reach media. Given the wealth of data about podcast listeners, brands have the ability to engage with listeners who are the most receptive to learning about their products and services.

The report gives a case study example of an American financial investment brand that was grappling with creating a sense of trust, credibility and excitement with consumers amid a time of rapid change, uncertainty and technological advancement.
To address its challenge, the brand began advertising in podcasts. After being exposed to the brand’s ad, 79% of listeners were able to recall the financial services brand, which is notably higher than Nielsen benchmark norm of 65% for the financial services industry. Almost half of respondents described the advertising as “trusted” and “convenient.” The advertising also received high brand fit scores, which contributed to high agreement with brand attributes and high recall scores. […]

WorldDAB has announced a new name of its annual conference – WorldDAB Summit, which will take place as a live online event on November 9.The members-only session will continue as the WorldDAB General Assembly, taking place as usual on the day before the Summit, on November 8. Here’s how the programme for the two days will look:8 November  10:00 – 11:30 CET   WorldDAB General Assembly 2021 (members only)

The WorldDAB General Assembly is when our members will hear directly from the WorldDAB leadership, including the President, Treasurer, Vice Presidents and Committee Chairs, about WorldDAB’s progress and work over the past year, and priorities for the coming year. The recipient of the WorldDAB Award for Outstanding Service and the results of this year’s WorldDAB leadership election will be announced at this meeting, which is restricted to members of WorldDAB only.9 November 10:00 – 15:00 CET   WorldDAB Summit 2021 (open to all)The WorldDAB Summit 2021 brings together digital radio experts from around the world and across the radio industry.  In one day you will have the opportunity to:•    Connect with expert speakers through LIVE questions and answers•    Get inspired by keynote sessions from industry leaders•    Join us from anywhere around the worldThe WorldDAB Summit is free to attend, and is open to both members and non-members. More details and registration information will follow shortly. […]

During this pandemic, some Malaysians have discovered hidden talents, including a penchant for comedy, as they entertain family and friends while staying at home. MIX FM listeners can use their comedic talents and stand a chance to win RM100 in daily cash prizes through contest, ‘MIX Make Us Laugh’ from now until 24 September, weekdays from 7am to 7pm, and weekends, from 9am to 11am, on-air or on the SYOK app.To win, interested contestants can listen to MIX FM and prepare to tell MIX announcers a joke that will make them laugh. Listeners can participate by:Being the first caller through when the cue to call is aired.

Announcers will then ask the contestant a simple question and which will need to be answered correctly.Then, contestants must tell the announcers an original and creative joke which should be between 1 to 2 minutes. Jokes must not include any elements of indecency, and must not be defamatory, scandalous, explicit, inflammatory, obscene, profane, or blasphemous, or will be disqualified.The announcers will then identify if the jokes meet the criteria and the winner will take home RM100 in every segment.The best jokes will be shortlisted to the final round and the winner of ‘MIX Make Us Laugh’ contest will be announced later this month and will take home a grand prize of RM1000. […]

Audio advertising has gone through some seismic shifts in the last decade thanks to a number of factors. There’s more listeners and more ways to listen. According to Edison Research ‘The Infinite Dial’, 2020, 74% of 25- to 54-year-olds are regularly streaming music, news and podcasts, with smart speakers emerging as one of the most popular ways to listen. And perhaps most importantly technology has made it possible to harness the power of data to create truly targeted advertising.Another breakthrough from the creators of the Adthos Ad-ServerThe Adthos Ad-Server was released 1 June this year, and has since been downloaded thousands of times across the planet. Now, Adthos is back with another world premiere. Adthos Creative Studio enables the production of broadcast-quality advertising audio using synthetic voice technology for on-the-go spot creation, with a powerfully targeted approach.

More than a text to speech solution, Adthos Creative Studio is a first-of-a-kind browser based multitrack editor that allows broadcasters and advertisers to collaborate online, combining music, human and synthetic voice to produce real-time audio advertising.  With the kinds of features commonly found in Digital Audio Workstations – including equalisers, compressors, limiters and even an option to use professional plugins.Hearing is believingAdthos Creative Studio harnesses the power of AI to produce natural sounding and programmable audio that needs to be heard to be believed. Within the standard package choose from up to 14 US – English different voices, with many more available in Adthos’ exclusive voice talent library available as part of the professional voiceover package. It’s also possible to add a specific voice or voices to the library as an additional service.Once selected, voices can be brought to life with character and personality. Control intonation, speed and apply reading rules for certain types of content such as phone numbers or emails to deliver realistic and engaging audio.Advertising that’s always a step aheadAlongside the text-to-speech functionality, Creative Studio’s one-of-a-kind embedded webserver allows the insertion of content based on different data sets to produce timely, relevant advertising. From web-based information such as the weather pages, using geo-targeting for location-based advertising, or even Excel files in the case of information such as pricing catalogues for supermarket deals.Taking care of the humansOne might think this takes away opportunities from voiceover professionals, but it’s quite the opposite. There are several ways for the voice talent to monetise their synthetic voices, like through a royalty system. They will also have access to a complete audit of where, when and what their voice has been used for, including being able to playback the recording, with the opportunity to opt out of various kinds of advertising e.g., Alcohol or adult-themed content. Astonishing possibilities. Unbelievable price.Adthos Creative Studio comes in at just USD49.99/month for a standard subscription.While it’s ready for production and available, Adthos Creative Studio will launch initially with Limited Access, meaning customers must apply and be approved by Adthos before they can access it.  Once approved, customers will get the chance to experience and utilize the full potential of broadcast-quality AI-generated audio advertising.Curious? Prepare to be amazed at http://www.adthos.com/creative-studio […]

GfK recently conducted the yearly GfK Radio Insights study to investigate the appeal of radio to listeners in today’s digital era, as well as during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia.According to the findings, radio has a huge role to play in music discovery with 74 percent of listeners rely on radio for music discovery more than Facebook / Instagram / TikTok (41%) and Spotify (33%).The study also demonstrates that radio still has a firm hold on the market today. More than half of total listeners have at least one official Malaysia radio station app installed on their device (53%). This is more than other streaming apps such as Spotify (42%), JOOX Music (33%) and Apple Music (14%). According to findings, the popularity of radio station app is driven by the availability of a variety choices of playlist or radio stations (91%) and also the fact that it doesn’t incur any subscription charges (76%).

Despite the competition for ear-time from listeners’ own music collection as well as streamed music services, live radio remains the most popular form of audio entertainment that listeners are spending the most listening hours on in a week. The report revealed that live radio accounts for 43 percent share of total listening hours in a week, compared to 26 percent share clocked by streaming services, and 20 percent by owned music. Podcasts / audio books recorded 11 percent share.Homebound Malaysians continue to listen to radio, making it one of the top most consumed media amongst consumers in the country on a daily basis. The survey highlights that almost 9 in 10 radio listeners are listening to radio; for the same or even longer duration as during the MCO. In fact, over three in five (63%) indicated they are now listening more radio at home.In addition, radio listening occurs across multiple devices and platforms, which allows listeners to tune in to their favourite station whenever and wherever they want. Findings reported a surge in radio listening via portable device with 62 percent tuning in more frequently via mobile phone and 38 percent listened more via computer or tablet.“New media is changing the way listeners consume audio content. However, radio’s edge over the other platforms can be attributed to the fact that it’s live, free and gives an element of surprise once in a while, which is why it manages to retain the loyalty of its listeners.” said Alex Poon, President of Commercial Radio Malaysia.Radio has always played a vital role in companionship and providing emotional support to listeners. Findings show that 63 percent of listeners agree that they will miss radio if it is no longer available, an indication that radio has successfully established strong emotional connection with listeners during such trying times.Despite the rise of alternative sources of music, radio continues to appeal to millennials with 54 percent of them increased their radio listening during MCO. It also emerged as the most popular music source, with 76 percent of millennials claiming radio to be their favourite source for up-to-date music.With its widespread reach, radio advertising serves as a great launchpad; as the first touchpoint on a customer’s journey which is then followed up with an action taken at advertiser’s store. The study showed that 46 percent of millennials frequently visit the advertiser’s offline / online store after hearing a broadcast radio ad. The study also indicated that advertising on radio makes a brand seems more authentic or appealing, agreed by 65 percent of millennials. Meanwhile, 52 percent agreed that they will consider buying the product after hearing a broadcast radio advertisement.“Radio continues to engage Malaysians day and night across a range of devices and platforms even as we go through this challenging times together. The ability of radio to connect listeners with news, music, entertainment and community are the main driving factors why radio will continue to stay relevant and draw audiences back for more.” said June Pang, Malaysia Media Measurement Lead at GfK.Note:The GfK Radio Insights study is a yearly survey of radio behaviour in Peninsular Malaysia among radio listeners aged 15 to 49 with a sample size of 1,000. Survey was conducted online from 1 July to 14 July 2021. Millennials are defined as radio listeners aged 25 to 39 years old. […]