ASIA

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. […]

More expert speakers have been added to WorldDAB Summit 2023, the event highlighting the global growth of DAB+, in Munich, Germany on November 8.We’ll hear from global keynote speakers including:Dr Thorsten Schmiege, President, Bayerischen Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM) on long term strategies for radio and audio

Hervé Godechot, Board Member of Arcom on their plan to increase DAB+ coverage in France to 60% by 2024WorldDAB President Patrick Hannon will reflect on ‘change and continuity’, reviewing his ten years in office, and passing the baton to the newly elected President.With one of the hottest topics right now, Luigi Troiano, Founder and CEO, Kebula with Yann Legarson, CEO, Radioplayer look at how radio broadcasters are strengthening their brand and leveraging opportunities with AI.And in “Android Automotive – continuing the conversation”, Joseph D’Angelo, Senior Vice President, Broadcast Radio, Xperi and Gregor Pötzsch, Product Owner, Radio, CARIAD, Volkswagen Group will discuss support for DAB radio in Android Automotive’s latest release.The event will also explore exciting new and emerging DAB+ markets in Africa, MENA and Asia, and hear about unique academic research on the development and implementation of “small-scale” DAB+ and how this innovative approach can help the adoption of DAB+ around the world.WorldDAB Summit 2023 will be hosted by award-winning Bavarian radio presenter, Larissa Schütz from HITRADIO RT1.It’s free to register online. […]

Content from BPRAnd that word is …………. Aircheck.In a competitive market, with each music format filled with multiple stations, often the only USP a station has is the talent.

Some program directors find working with talent daunting and overwhelming; talent can find the aircheck session threatening and disheartening. And the worst end-result is for talent to fear air-checking and for program directors to avoid it.

From the talent’s perspective, some of them may be gun shy of the aircheck due to a series of bad coaches in the past.  To gain the talent’s trust, the program director must be respected; the talent must value the program director’s advice.  Talent shouldn’t leave an aircheck session with the thought “well, that’s just your opinion…what would you know”.However, sometimes that is just what they think.So how do you, the program director, avoid that happening?Easy…. put the aircheck into the listeners’ hands!That is why BPR developed Talent Check.Talent Check graphically captures the listeners’ points of engagement and disengagement instantly and demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of content using an online “worm”.Talent Check can be used to test the appeal (or lack of) shows, individual presenters and programming elements such as contesting, features and benchmarks.The graphic display means talent can see what content is working and what isn’t from the listeners’ perspective.While talent may disagree with the program director’s opinion, it’s hard for them to disagree with the opinions of a couple of hundred listeners!Here’s a link demonstrating how Talent Check works.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2cUIclaH4cNow remember, Talent Check is the start of the process; it pinpoints what the audience likes and doesn’t like. It’s the program director’s job to then show the talent where improvements could be made. Coach, direct and nurture them.Main Photo: ShutterstockIf you have any questions…. please contact us.By David Kidd, BPR […]