ASIA

For this year’s Broadcast Asia show, Sonifex has  announced two new exciting products: the AVN-CU1 and the AVN-DIO10-12G.The AVN-CU1 extends the Sonifex Commentary range with a simple to use, single microphone / headphone combination, using Dante audio for comms, with a full feature set and a low price point.Features:
1 Comms Position
Simple to Use Fixed Format
Lightweight Aluminium Form Factor
Ember+ Control
4 Dante I/O Channels
Web Server Restriction of Operator Control
OLED Display for Configuration, Metering and Status Indication
High Impact VU or dBFS Metering
RGB LED Downlighting for Status or Decorative Illumination
Dual Redundant Network Ports with PoE
SFP Ports for Alternative Transceivers
4 Pin DC Input
The AVN-DIO10-12G simultaneously embeds and de-embeds 64 channels of audio from 12G/6G/3G/HD-SDI to the Dante® audio network.Features:
Dante to SD-SDI Through to 12G SDI Capability
Simple Plug and Play Interface
Dante Domain Compliant
Web Interface for Configuration
Simultaneous Embedding & De-Embedding for up to 64 Channels
Insert Mode Feature to Either Overwrite or Clear SDI Audio Selectively per Channel Pair
Test Tone Available on Embedded Outputs
Integrated SDI Generator
AES67 Compatible
Light Weight Aluminium Construction
Dual Redundant Network Ports with PoE
SFP Ports for Alternative Transceivers
Registration is now open for BroadcastAsia 2024, a part of Asia Tech x Singapore – the region’s flagship tech festival. The event will be held from May 29 to 31. It is the meeting place for Asia’s broadcasters, media and entertainment professionals. […]

Suria FM’s announcer DJ Lin has won the Most Trusted Radio Presenter in Malaysia award presented by Readers’ Digest as part of its Trusted Brands 2024 campaign.She has won the award for the fourth consecutive year.The award is the result of an independent study conducted by leading market research agency Catalyst Research with results published exclusively in Reader’s Digest Malaysia magazine.The study involved 2000 samples of individuals from all walks of life of Malaysia who were asked about their trust in the brands, products, and personalities across more than 45 different categories.DJ Lin, who is also the General Manager of Suria FM, said: “Thank you to my family, fans, media partners, Suria FM team and the management of Star Media Group Berhad for their unwavering support for me during my time as a radio presenter since 1999 until now. This recognition will indeed be a reinforcement and inspiration for me to continue to give a solid commitment to the Suria brand and the Malaysian radio industry.” […]

Bloomberg has announced the launch of Big Take Asia, an expansion of Bloomberg’s flagship daily podcast that takes a deep dive into the biggest stories across business, finance, and economics.The Big Take Asia podcast, hosted by Bloomberg reporter K. Oanh Ha in Hong Kong, is the latest installment in ongoing efforts to expand Bloomberg’s Big Take franchise.The first episode of Big Take Asia premiered on May 15 at 5am in Hong Kong / May 14 at 5pm ET.

In January, the Big Take expanded to Washington with Big Take DC, hosted by Saleha Moshin. In March of 2024, David Gura joined Bloomberg as a host of the Big Take Podcast along with Sarah Holder.

These changes, and the overall expansion have helped drive double-digit growth in Big Take’s audience. Subscribers to the Big Take podcast have increased nearly 20 percent since January. […]

The DRM General Assembly 2024 will start in less than a week in Dubai, UAE on May 19-20.It will be prefaced by a DRM Masterclass, “DRM – the What, Why and How”, a simple and attractive 90-minute introduction to the DRM technology.It is open to all registered guests. One single personalised zoom link/pass will unlock the door to the Masterclass and the General Assembly on May 19-20 at: https://s.drm.org/register-zoom-drm-ga-dubai-2024.Several VIPs (including specialists from Indonesia, China, Europe and North America) have confirmed their participation bringing with them news and perspectives on digital radio. One of the speakers is Stefano Fallaha, the CEO & Founder of Podeo, the largest and fastest growing audio-tech company in the Middle East & North Africa.The DRM General Assembly includes latest updates on key markets like India, Indonesia, China, South Africa, other countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. One of the most anticipated sessions is that on receivers, which is bigger, more comprehensive and innovative than before. Many multi-standard receiver solutions will also feature in the updates and demonstrations prepared by companies across the world.During the interactive sessions and break times of the Assembly, guests will also have a chance to network and meet delegates from key regions for DRM.For information and registration, please contact: [email protected] […]

ENCO and PHF COM have joined forces to harmonize the newsroom workflow for Morocco’s Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), ensuring that the state-owned news agency’s radio operations can share the same Ross Inception newsroom computer system. PHF COM, ENCO’s channel partner in Morocco, managed the Media Object Server (MOS) protocol integration work that now allows radio journalists to use the same system to produce new stories, and share news content with others as needed.Founded in 1959, MAP offers complete, diversified and objective national and global news coverage over its 24-hour news channel M24 and on RIM Radio, which provides live broadcasts and podcasts online and through free iOS and Android apps. RIM Radio, which launched in 2019, uses DAD radio automation to support its live broadcast streams.Younes Yamouni, CEO of PHF COM, says that DAD offered the ideal gateway to bring the two operations together. “One of DAD’s benefits is that ENCO designed it to be an open system that can speak to third-party systems,” said Younes. “This was important for several reasons, one being that MAP operates an all-IP workflow. Both ST 2110 and AES67 benefit from seamless interoperability across all systems.”ENCO’s Ross Inception MOS Interface enables Media Object Server (MOS) protocol integration between Inception and the DAD automation system, allowing journalists and news producers to access DAD audio asset libraries directly within Inception’s client interface. Users can search the ENCO library, preview clips, trim media as needed, and bring the desired elements into their stories through drag-and-drop functionality.Importantly, Inception rundowns are automatically synchronized as playlists on the DAD automation system to keep everything effortlessly updated for subsequent playout. “That is especially useful when journalists have a last-minute change,” said Younes. “They simply go into the interface to make changes to the story and modify the rundown. The change in running order is immediately reflected in the playlist, even if that playlist is already on the air.”Younes notes that three separate studios can access the shared systems today, and all three can be used to support TV and radio operations. Journalists from both stations interact with the DAD system primarily through the Inception plug-in. Audio clips can be recorded into the DAD system, or imported as files either manually or through watch folders using the DAD Dropbox utility.“It’s a very flexible system,” said Younes. “News stories can be provided for live feeds, or they can be pre-produced for podcasts or for live playout at a later time.” RIM Radio operators also utilize DAD’s intuitive Presenter on-air interface for managing live playout, and Younes adds that DAD offers a platform that MAP can grow with as new streams and services are added. […]

You probably already know this but new songs are getting shorter. 20% of the nominated songs in this year’s Grammy Awards came in at under three minutes.Since 1990, the average length of a song on the Billboard 100 has decreased from over four minutes to around three…. and this is regardless of genre.Chart courtesy of the Washington PostAccording to Joe Bennett, Professor of Musicology at Berklee College of Music in the US “Song lengths have always fluctuated with technological and cultural changes. You’ve got artists and technologies working in tandem and then artists responding to other artists. … That’s how the culture and the songwriting craft evolves.”For example, the amount of music that would fit on one side of a vinyl 45 rpm single, combined with the format of traditional radio programming, established the now-familiar three-to-five-minute length. A 45-rpm single could hold only about five minutes of music. Exceeding this often meant lower sound quality.In the 80s, tapes and CDs didn’t have the time limitations of vinyl and allowed artists more flexibility in songwriting. The average song length peaked at 4 minutes 21 seconds in 1992.In 2024, streaming platforms are setting the standard. On platforms such as Spotify, artists earn royalties only if a listener stays engaged for at least 30 seconds, making songs with instantly engaging hooks dominant as it ensures that the listener doesn’t just skip on to the next song. Shorter songs encourage more replays and …you guessed it…. more replays mean more revenue.Taylor Swift has followed the trend. The average song length on her 2010 album “Speak Now” was just under 5 minutes; on her 2022 album “Midnights’ it was just over 3 minutes.This has broader implications for radio than just being able to play more songs per hour. It means that your station’s content must be COMPELLING at all times. But what does compelling actually mean? Let’s start with the dictionary definition. Something is “compelling” when it “makes you pay attention because it is so interesting and exciting.”Compelling content is not just entertaining…. compelling content makes you think…it makes you feel…. it makes you tell your friends…it makes you keep listening in case you miss any more compelling content. Compelling content captures and maintains the attention of the audience.Each song should have a great research score to make it on air, every piece of talk content should be engaging, every contest should have an entertainment value attached to it, negatives/turn offs must be minimised or eliminated…and if you don’t know what those negatives are in 2024, do some research.By David Kidd, BPR […]