ASIA

Streaming and podcast solutions provider StreamGuys has launched its second-generation SGreports solution, a robust log processing and content analytics toolset for live streams and podcasts. The updated solution, part of StreamGuys’ growing SaaS suite of analytics and monitoring services, offers a much-improved user experience through improved data aggregation and presentation, along with quicker access to streaming analytics. StreamGuys has initially made the updated solution available for small-to-mid sized clients, and will soon expand availability to larger enterprise accounts that require higher levels of customization.SGreports helps broadcasters and media companies access metrics to understand how audiences interact with streaming content, and then leverage the resulting data to make intelligent business and programming decisions. The software presents visualizations on user dashboards to help them quickly filter and compare data on program streams and podcast episodes, for example. In its previous iteration, users manually parsed data through SGreports’ expansive filter options to build reports. While the process of exporting data was straightforward, the data aggregation process could grow time consuming as the number of sources of metrics grew.“Broadcasters with varied streaming portfolios often have specific reporting needs that weren’t easily services by the prior iteration of SGreports,” said Robert Minnix, head of product, StreamGuys. “SGreports now offers a more cohesive environment to aggregate data from different subsets to achieve a singular view, as opposed to managing data across many dashboards. The simple explanation is that users have a more consumable view of everything in one place, which is especially useful for larger media networks and market-based streamers who have a lot of ground to cover. We have now centralized all this data to a single pane of glass.”

As with before, SGreports also allows users to flexibly drill down for greater detail and customize their views for maximum efficiency. However, SGreports also now offers a “snappier, more responsive user interface” that offers more visually distinctive metrics and with greater speed. That includes more insightful charts and graphics versus columns of numerical information. “Some of the SGreports metrics that our users value most, such as geolocation information from users in difference cities and countries, are now presented in ways that are simply more appealing to view and quicker to digest.”On the quality-of-service side, StreamGuys has migrated SGreports to a Kappa software architecture that better supports real-time processing for analytics. This allows SGreports to aggregate data quicker, with event metrics often available within minutes of completion. “We’ve integrated the analytics stack into our infrastructure so that the host and client servers are processing data in real-time,” said Minnix. “There is no more waiting until tomorrow to access metrics on user traffic, as there is no more batch processing data across different intervals. The information populates as viewers and listeners disconnect.” SGreports’ advanced reporting capabilities now include enhanced user agent and device-level analysis based on the Open Podcast Analytics Working Group (OPAWG). Support for OPAWG – a cross-platform initiative to standardize podcast download tracking and measurement – bolsters IP and user agent blacklisting, bot identification, and filtering to provide higher-quality podcast reporting through community-based specifications. SGreports also now directly integrates with StreamGuys’ flagship SGrecast podcast management platform and will soon support SGrewind time-shifting service to help users spot trends in traffic and consumption of rewindable content. […]

Content from BPRLaunched in August 2023, Germany has a new Radio Star as bigLayla becomes the main personality on bigGPT. the first station in Germany to feature a fully functioning AI driven radio personalityAudiotainment Südwest – the company behind one of Germany’s most successful youth stations bigFM is behind the launch of this new AI web radio “bigGPT”.  The station is available online at https://www.bigfm.de/webradio/bigGPT or on DAB+

Andy Abel, Digital Head of Audiotainment Southwest  says: “We were immediately hooked. Not because synthetic moderators are combined here with a selection of music, but because RadioGPT tries to implement three things in broadcasting: Live, local, and AI-assisted”First comments from bigFM listeners who have already heard the new synthetic presenter “It’s almost scary how good it sounds”.“bigLayla”, as the new moderator is called, is programmed interactively, and can also answer listeners’ questions.bigFM moderator Kristina Fixemer, who also moderates her own web streaming channel on bigGPT.de: talks about her new AI colleague. “Sometimes bigLayla still sounds a bit strict and technical, but at other times flirty and almost human.”bigFM’s Rolf Vogl adds, “It’s so exciting to hear that the AI can generate content and answers from the Internet in seconds and then, thanks to its learned character, she also talks to our listeners.”Music on the station is also a new challenge “We only play top 40 songs on bigGPT all day long, but that sounds easier than it is. It’s not the top 40 of the usual radio hits, but based on music videos and songs that are most streamed every day on platforms including YouTube, Spotify, Shazam, TikTok etc. we balance the sources and the sequence, then AI then selects the songs that run in the bigGPT music mix.” according to music producer Lukas Spannbauer.Alexander Heine, responsible for the development of the AI prompting, has been training both bigLayla and other male AI ‘DJs’ for weeks in a moderation camp: “our goal is, to have Layla absorb as much good, selected content and impressions as possible…..In the last weeks. She has listened to podcasts, scientists in Germany on the subject of artificial intelligence and has developed an understanding for the concerns that AI will take work away from other media professionals. Now, for the first time, she will step on the thin ice of interacting with a real audience.”For the CEO of Audiotainment Südwest, Kai Fischer, “It’s an open learning laboratory for media professionals,.. We can only judge how we use this technology for the day-to-day broadcasting of our radio stations when we understand the technology 100 percent and can use it responsibly.”Program manager Valerie Weber on the world of synthetic voices: “Our greatest challenge is to make it clear that it is not a human. As bigLayla learns almost exclusively from and through people, the AI voice sometimes very eloquently conveys the impression that it is a human being. We wanted to focus on maximum transparency, letting synthetic language models act reliably from their own recognizable role will be the exciting task for the future development of AI personalities.”You can sample bigGPT and the radio stream for yourself at https://www.bigfm.de/webradio/bigGPT […]

Juan Jumalon, a radio broadcaster in Mindanao, southern Philippines was shot dead in his studio while he was on air.Jumalon, 57, also known as DJ Johnny Walker was in his home-based 94.7 Gold FM Calamba studio, when a gunman entered the studio pretending to be a listener and shot him twice in the head.A video of the attack on the station’s Facebook page, where the broadcasts are also aired, shows Jumalon pausing and looking upward at something away from the camera before two shots ring out. He slumps back in his chair as background music plays on.

The attacker snatched his gold necklace before fleeing. Jumalon was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.The police said they were investigating a motive for the killing and were not aware of any previous threats against Jumalon’s life.Jumalon is the fourth journalist to be slain since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022, and the 199th journalist to be killed in the country since 1986, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said, condemning “the brazen killing”.President Marcos Jr strongly condemned the shooting and said he had ordered the national police to track down, arrest and prosecute the killers.“Attacks on journalists will not be tolerated in our democracy and those who threaten the freedom of the press will face the full consequences of their actions,” Marcos said in a statement.With an average of three or four journalists murdered every year, the Philippines is ranked 147th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index.It is ranked seventh on CPJ’s most recent Impunity Index, which spotlights countries worldwide where journalists are slain and the killers go free.Photo: Facebook […]

Futuri has announced the launch of Futuri AudioAI™, formerly known as RadioGPT.
The end-to-end content system, which combines automation system integration, Futuri’s TopicPulse story discovery AI, large language model (LLM) technology, and AI voice, has enhanced multiple features and added new capabilities. In response to industry demand, it’s also now accessible to television broadcasters, digital publishers, streaming stations, and others wanting to capture growth opportunities in live audio.
The new Futuri AudioAI™ integrates multiple LLMs — beyond the GPT-4 integration that was a component of RadioGPT — to develop content based on up-to-the-minute TopicPulse insights. Using multiple LLMs means the content Futuri AudioAI™ delivers is even stronger, and it better enables Futuri to improve the system continuously.

This enhancement also benefits Futuri AudioAI™’s weather report capabilities, which enable stations to strengthen their live and local positioning by running sponsorable weather reports with live conditions around the clock — even overnights and weekends.
Futuri has also partnered with a network of powerhouse voice AI companies to augment its in-house AI voices, including ElevenLabs, PlayHT, and Resemble AI, to make voices from their portfolios available alongside those powered by in-house Futuri voice AI. These selections are all housed in Futuri’s Voice Choice Library™, giving users access to a broad array of best-in-class options all in one place. Futuri AudioAI™ users can continue to clone their own talent to add to their own AI voice libraries.
“AI is evolving at warp speed, as are Futuri’s capabilities,” said Futuri CEO and Founder Daniel Anstandig. “Futuri AudioAI™ takes the best of RadioGPT, which has received an extraordinary worldwide response, and makes its core features more powerful. Plus, adding these esteemed AI voice partners to our Voice Choice Library™ gives our users unparalleled options to differentiate their sound. Futuri is proud to lead the way in AI innovation for media companies and content creators.” 
Anstandig and other members of the Futuri team have recently delivered keynote addresses on the power of AI at conferences in London, Zurich, Oslo, Toronto, Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur, and more, and Anstandig recently led a discussion on AI capabilities at the NAB Show New York’s Radio Insights: Executive Seminar.
The launch of Futuri AudioAI™ follows the July launch of SpotOn, the state-of-the-art AI solution that delivers end-to-end production — original scripts, music, and voiceover — for radio and television broadcasters looking to streamline the production of promos, spec spots, and commercials. In its first three months, SpotOn has generated more than 150,000 different pieces of custom audio with original, never reused scripts for its partners. […]

BBC News Arabic has announced an Emergency Radio Service for Gaza in response to the conflict in the region.The emergency service – Gaza Daily – will broadcast vital news daily to the people of Gaza during this time of urgent need.It will provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies.

Produced in Cairo and London and broadcast on medium wave, the service will initially run one programme a day at 1500 GMT from Friday 3 November. A second daily update will be broadcast at 0500 GMT from Friday 10 November.The BBC World Service has a history of responding to emergency situations globally. Most recently, in May 2023 during the conflict in Sudan BBC News Arabic began an emergency radio service. In February 2022, the BBC News Ukraine service began extended TV bulletins following the invasion of the country. BBC Media Action also previously launched a service for Gaza in 2014 following a summer of conflict.Liliane Landor, Director, BBC World Service, says: “BBC News Arabic are extremely well-placed to offer this vital service for the people of Gaza at a time of greatest need. Their expertise and specialist knowledge of the region alongside the BBC’s reputation as the most trusted news provider, means we can reach civilians in Gaza with the information they need.” […]

RØDE has launched a limited-edition range of white products featuring the RØDECaster Duo, PodMic, PSA1+ and NTH-100. The exclusive White Collection marks the first time these products have been released in custom colours, giving creators the opportunity to brighten up their setup.The centrepiece of the collection is the RØDECaster Duo, RØDE’s all-in-one audio production solution for creators. Released earlier this year to widespread acclaim, the RØDECaster Duo boasts all of the same groundbreaking features as the RØDECaster Pro II – RØDE’s flagship audio console – in a compact and portable form factor. It is perfect for smaller podcast productions, streamers, or any creator who wants to get big results from a console with a small desktop footprint. The new white finish perfectly complements the RØDECaster Duo’s bright interface and colourful RGB controls.Also available in the White Collection is the iconic PodMic dynamic broadcast microphone, which features a new black grille for a sleek yet classic look. The PSA1+ professional studio arm and NTH-100 headphones round out the collection, offering creators the chance to build a complete audio setup all in white.

These are available in two bundles, a solo creator bundle featuring the RØDECaster Duo and one mic, arm and headphones, and a podcaster bundle featuring two of each accessory alongside the console. Both bundles come with premium XLR cables to complete the setup. […]