ASIA

According to local media reports, Indian FM Radio network Radio Mirchi, a part of Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL), Radio Orange and Sapphire FM have each bid Rs 2.51 billion (US $30 million) to acquire Big FM Radio network, which is undergoing an insolvency process.Big FM, owned by Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL), is the country’s largest radio network with 58 stations and reach of over 1,200 towns and 50,000 villages.In February this year, India’s bankruptcy court admitted RBNL under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) on the plea of IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd., which had approached the tribunal after the company allegedly failed to repay its dues of over Rs 1.74 billion.

Of the total admitted claims of the lenders of Rs 5.78 billion, IndusInd Bank’s claim is Rs 1.72 billon, HSBC Asset Management Rs 2.38 billion, Franklin Templeton MF Rs 1.03 billion and Reliance Commercial Finance’s claim is Rs 640 million.After considering the cash at Big FM, the total recovery for lenders could be as high as 55 to 60 per cent against the total admitted claims.Sources close to the process said that the lenders are likely to ask both the bidders to revise their bids upward. […]

ENCO has joined forces with Benztown and Compass Media Networks to bring its SpecAI ad creation solution to an expansive customer base in the North American radio broadcast market. The three companies will work together on strategic business development initiatives that emphasize how the technology can help broadcasters create spec ads for sponsors on demand, alleviating the time, energy, and costs of traditional production methods while accelerating the sales process and time to market.SpecAI leverages generative AI models to create audio content and automate voice tracking for new spots. ENCO will demonstrate SpecAI at the NAB Show New York beginning tomorrow at Javits Center, where the company will exhibit at Booth 517. Representatives from Benztown and Compass Media Networks will also share insights into their contributions, which include sales, marketing and product design responsibilities.Compass Media Networks, who will lead the sales and marketing efforts,  is among the fastest growing radio networks in North America, offering a large portfolio of branded audio programs that reach tens of millions of listeners daily on broadcast and streaming platforms. Their Yamanair division has been the leader in providing spec commercials and creative  services to radio broadcasters over the past decade through their Specbyte and Cash by Creative product lines which currently serve thousands of radio stations. SpecAI will expand this portfolio  for local radio sales teams.

“AI adoption has swiftly moved forward over the last few months, and as the largest player in spec commercials for over 10 years we recognized it was time to offer an AI solution for our clients,” said Hiram Lazar, Chief Financial Officer, Compass Radio Networks. “Using Benztown’s libraries, we can now give our clients the option to produce ads with an AI voice or a live voice to customize prerecorded spec commercials.”Benztown, a longtime ENCO partner, is a global leader in radio imaging, production library, programming, podcasting, jingles, and voiceover services with more than 3,000 affiliations on six different continents. Benztown will supplement Compass Media Networks’ sales and marketing efforts with an emphasis on international clients.Benztown and Compass Media Networks have worked closely with ENCO’s engineering team on SpecAI’s development. Specifically, Benztown has added their sonic design expertise to the solution, including user-selectable music beds that run underneath the AI voice while Compass Media Networks added their user interface expertise from their Specbyte and Cash by Creative platforms.SpecAI’s workflow is simple. The user, typically an account executive within a media organization, first answers a few questions to determine spot length (30 or 60 seconds), writing style (casual, humorous, uplifting), and sponsor details (company name, address), using a web browser or mobile device. SpecAI generates three scripts to choose from, which users can manually be edited or re-generated through phonetics to perfect the copy. The user then selects their preferred sound of the AI voice and music bed underneath before downloading the final down-mixed audio file. The process can be completed in seconds.Dave “Chachi” Denes, President and Co-Founder of Benztown, adds that the music options will help set the tone for each spot. “The music in SpecAI is categorized by format,” he said. “For example, an account executive for an Adult Contemporary or Rock station has many options to add music that aligns with the client and station’s demographic. There will also be themed music available for holidays throughout the year.”NCO’s sales and business development team will also contribute to the collective go-to-market strategy, though ENCO President Ken Frommert believes that the existing relationships that Benztown and Compass Media Networks have with affiliates will ultimately create broader awareness for SpecAI. “SpecAI is a gamechanger because account executives can now walk onto a customer site and create a ready-to-air spec ad in seconds,” said Frommert. “Compass Media Networks brings exceptional value through their experience selling human spec ad services, and Benztown is a force in radio imaging and music libraries that we have enjoyed working with for years. We are excited to work together with these companies to bring our vision for AI to the broader radio community.” […]

Content from BPRRadio, like any business, needs people who are willing to take well-calculated risks to continually improve their product offering. Building that new morning show, implementing a format that no one has done before, redefining the way you undertake tactics etc.But sometimes, things don’t always go according to the script.

However, there are many valuable lessons to be learned from failure which can lead to success in the future. Failure is a necessary part of innovation.

Failure can often be a stepping stone to success for several reasons:Learning and Growth. Failure provides valuable lessons and insights. When we encounter setbacks or make mistakes, we have an opportunity to analyse what went wrong, understand our shortcomings and learn from them. This process of self-reflection and learning helps us gain experience and develop new strategies for future endeavours, increasing our chances of success.Resilience and Perseverance. Failure tests our resilience and determination; it presents us with challenges and obstacles that require us to push through adversity. When we face failure head-on and refuse to give up, we build resilience and develop a stronger mindset. This resilience can be a powerful tool in achieving long-term success because it helps us bounce back from setbacks and keep going despite obstacles.Innovation and Creativity. Failure often forces us to think outside the box and explore new approaches. When our initial plans or methods don’t work, we are prompted to seek alternative solutions. This need for innovation and creativity can lead to breakthroughs and new ideas that we may not have considered otherwise. Failure encourages us to experiment, take risks, and explore uncharted territories, which can ultimately lead to success.Motivation and Drive. Failure can fuel our motivation and drive to succeed. Experiencing setbacks can ignite a strong desire to prove ourselves, overcome the odds and achieve our goals. Failures can serve as powerful reminders of our aspirations, pushing us to work harder, improve our skills, and persist until we achieve success.

Perspective and Adaptability. Failure provides us with a fresh perspective and an opportunity to reassess our goals and strategies. It prompts us to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, identify areas for improvement and adapt our approach accordingly. By being open to change and willing to adjust our course, we increase our chances of finding success in new and unexpected ways.Now let’s make one very important point. As Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said, “There are two kinds of failure…and only one is something to be proud of”“I always point out that there are two different kinds of failure,” Bezos said. “There’s experimental failure — that’s the kind of failure you should be happy with.” These are the big, bold bets that either “move the needle” or involve a public face plant”.But Bezos also notes there’s “operational failure,” and entrepreneurs should attach no mystique at all to these sorts of misfires.  “We’ve built hundreds of fulfilment centres at Amazon over the years, and we know how to do that. If we build a new fulfilment centre and it’s a disaster, that’s just bad execution. That’s not good failure,” Bezos explains. Extending your existing business is known territory and, if executed properly, should not involve much in the way of risk. If you screw up something you should already know how to do, that’s nothing to celebrate.”Thomas Edison may hold the record for the most failed attempts before reaching success on a single project, having failed several thousand times before inventing a functional light bulb. His response has become famous to entrepreneurs: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”And finally, in the words of Bill Gates: “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”By David Kidd, BPR […]

Russia has detained Alsu Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor at US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).Kurmasheva, 47, holds both US and Russian passports and works for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service. She travelled to Russia on May 20 for a family emergency. She was temporarily detained on June 2 and arrested again on Wednesday, October 18.She has been charged with not registering as a ‘foreign agent,’ according to RFE/RL. If proven guilty, she could face up to five years in prison.

She is the second western reporter to be jailed on spy charges in Russia in the last seven months. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for alleged spying in March. Since then, he has appeared in court several times since and unsuccessfully appealed his detention.“Kurmasheva is an accomplished journalist who has long covered ethnic minority communities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in the Volga-Ural region of Russia,” RFE/RL said.“She has reported on initiatives to protect and preserve the Tatar language and culture from Russian authorities, who have exerted increased pressure on Tatars in recent years.”The Committee to Protect Journalists said: “CPJ is deeply concerned by the detention of U.S-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on spurious criminal charges and calls on Russian authorities to release her immediately and drop all charges against her,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting.”Photo: YouTube […]

By Edison ResearchThis post is from Edison’s Weekly Insights email.  Please click here if you would like to subscribe.
Choices, choices. The in-car audio landscape today offers myriad options, including radio receivers, satellite radio receivers, voice-activated speakers, and Bluetooth or aux cord capabilities that allow for listening to smartphones and other content. Increasingly, vehicles are equipped with smartphone-based infotainment systems Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and consumers are moving towards a seamless phone-to-audio experience.
How does the presence of these systems affect the time spent consuming audio in-car?

This week’s insight comes from Edison Research’s Share of Ear dataset, which is based on a one-day listening diary and measures the amount of time those in the U.S. age 13+ spend with all audio. Respondents also answer some demographic and consumer questions, including the presence of audio infotainment in-car systems in the primary vehicle in which they drive or ride.
The graphic below compares the in-car daily audio time for those who don’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Audio in the primary vehicle they drive or ride in, versus those who do have one of the systems.

The top bar shows that among listeners who don’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, they spend the majority of their in-car audio time, 67%, listening to AM/FM radio, including over-the-air and streams. They spend 9% of their audio time streaming, 12% with SiriusXM, 4% with Podcasts, and 8% of their audio time with some other audio source, such as CDs.
The bottom bar shows that those who do have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their primary vehicles spend twice as much time streaming: 18% of their daily in-car audio time is spent streaming, compared with 9% of daily in-car audio time spent streaming by those without the systems. They also spend more of their daily in-car audio time with podcasts than listeners who don’t have the systems: 7% compared with 4%.
Listeners who do have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto spend 46% of their time with AM/FM — 27% less than those who don’t have CarPlay or Auto.

Even those with these systems choose AM/FM for nearly half of their in-car listening. For many people, even with so many new options, radio and the in-car environment continue to just go together. […]

By Jamie Wood February 14, 2014, marks the day I touched down at Adelaide Airport, ready to dive headfirst into an incredible career opportunity as the sales director for the leading radio station in the market. I was a fresh-faced 27-year-old with big ambitions and even bigger challenges ahead.As I stepped into the role, I quickly realized that despite our station’s dominance in the ratings, the city of churches was a unique market set to throw some major headwinds my way!

The Hurdles.First off, Adelaide was birthplace of two of Australia’s top three FM networks. These competitors had a “head office feel” about them, loaded with resources and backed by national executives right there in the local market, An intimidating competitive set by any measure.Secondly, the economic landscape in Adelaide was grim. Key industries like manufacturing and auto were in sharp decline, resulting in soaring unemployment rates. From an advertising standpoint, we were left with all networks aggressively vying for finite revenue opportunity.But perhaps the most challenging was our station’s pricing. Despite our leading ratings position, we were priced at a 20% to 40% premium on the market and had plenty of national demand putting pressure on our fill rates.It was clear that if we were going to change our fortunes, we needed a radically different plan.  Here’s the 3 major strategic initiatives we deployed.

Differentiate like hell. In a highly commoditised market where vanity metrics like “number of spots” and buying metrics like “reach and frequency” dominated, we doubled down on audience quality.  We made it our mantra that “not all audiences are created equal.” In every sales pitch, brief, ratings discussion, and piece of marketing material, we drove home the point that our audience wasn’t just big; they were big spenders. We showcased their income, spending habits, and the purchases tied to their life stages. In a tough economy, this message struck a chord with advertisers eager to make every dollar count. Sacrifice the small. Rather than chasing after every radio dollar, we set our sights on clients with a high price tolerance. Our target: the top 25 advertisers across all media. We traded the hard sell for a consultative approach. We listened, learned about their long-term challenges and objectives, and then presented proactive solutions that went beyond quick fixes. Yes, it was a patient game, and we weathered some rough revenue months, but our laser focus on the market’s biggest spenders set us apart from the competition, promising substantial dividends down the road. Optimise the inventory. Our premium pricing was largely driven by the high demand from interstate bookings. After a huge audit, we uncovered a treasure trove of remnant inventory and lower-demand sessions that we could offer as value-add or at significant discounts. We got programming on board and asked for exclusive on-air features and benchmarks tailored specifically for local clients. Through clever scheduling and inventive packaging, clients could unlock high-reaching media plans, blending premium inventory with strategic value-adds and seamless integration. Forget individual spot rates; the real magic lay in the overall value equation. So what? These were undoubtedly some of the most trying years of my career, humbling in many ways. However, after two years of embracing these strategies, we delivered revenue growth of 24.5% in a declining market and clinched the Australian Commercial Radio award for the best metro sales team too.To anyone out there facing seemingly insurmountable odds, here’s the takeaway: when the rules of the game aren’t stacked in your favour, create a new game that you can win.About the AuthorJamie Wood is the Global Sales Director of Boost Media International, Boost provides revenue solutions and advisory services to media companies globally.  Jamie also hosts Media Sales Mastery a top rated podcast showcasing best practice from some of the industry’s top thought-leaders.    […]