ASIA

Keith Williams, RCS Vice President Asia Pacific spoke at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union RadioSonic conference in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.Mr Williams presented ‘Radio Innovations’ which included an update on the rapid uptake of AI on radio across the Asia Pacific region and the latest integration of RCS Cloud products coming to marketRadioSonic is staged as part of ABU’s new programming mega-event ABU CON-FEST which strategically brings together ABU’s signature content events; ABU TV-CON, ABU RadioSonic and #ABUdigital all in one place with the vision to create a single gathering of producers to share new ideas and talk about creating content that matters. […]

Podbean’s Norma Jean Belenky helps us navigate pitfalls and avoid mistakes.Serving as Podbean’s Head of Events, Norma Jean produces Podbean’s virtual events and hosts, produces Podbean’s official podcast, Podcasting Smarter and supports Podbean’s enterprise and internal podcast customers in APAC.Belenky is a creative entrepreneur whose career has encompassed media, events, podcasting, marketing & social media, business development, project management, health & wellness, and the arts.  She specializes in event management, creative business strategy and start-ups, project management, business development, branding, marketing, and product development.Her session at Podcast Day Asia (part of Radiodays Asia) will be on the mistakes people often make that can be avoided.  Norma Jean will be giving advice on what you can do to make your podcast, or podcast network, more successful.  She will identify key areas for improvement as well as important areas that shouldn’t be overlooked.If you are just starting out on your podcasting journey, Norma Jean Belenky’s session will be vital to your growth, and if you are a seasoned podcaster or have a range of podcasts in your network you can identify key areas for improvement – often with little effort.Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash […]

Content from BPRAccording to BPR’s latest study on the all-audio listening environment, music streaming is seeing more of its users spending upwards of 2 hours a weekday with their preferred platform. When compared to the listening time of both radio and podcasting we can see the listenership with these mediums is more casual.A study conducted by BPR late last year, which focused on the listening habits of people from a wide range of regions and demographics, retuned some fascinating results.4500 surveys were conducted in September 2022. The study was conducted with 18-54 Men & Women, who had listened to some form of audio in the past week.As a global study, it featured 500 respondents from 9 different key international cities to give a wider perspective on the trends in audio listening across many western markets, with the results of all 9 markets averaged as the total used in this report. Those cities are:
London, United Kingdom
Berlin, Germany
Paris, France
Prague, Czech Republic
Stockholm, Sweden
Madrid, Spain
Sydney, Australia
Los Angeles, USA
New York, USA
While radio still has the wider cumulative audience, we are seeing evidence that music streaming has a stronger grip on its listeners, reflecting the changing audio environment.  Driven By the Strong TSL, Music Streaming Has the Largest Share of ListeningRadio is close behind here, but Music Streaming is now in front reflecting the shifting tides of consumer behaviour.Unsurprisingly, Streaming is much stronger in the younger end, while Radio remains dominant 35-54.We also see similar splits between Men and Women, where radio is tied for overall share with Men, while with women Streaming has the larger share.Survey information provided by the BPR All-Audio Report 2022. Download the full report here […]

If you haven’t quite managed to book your ticket for Radiodays Asia, then there’s some good news –the early bird ticket price has been extended until July 15.For just USD 349 you can come to Radiodays Asia, which includes Podcast Day Asia, to be held on September 5 and 6 in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.Radiodays Asia is an intimate conference, which gives you the chance to get up close to those who can help you with your business: whether that be podcasting, radio or audio. There is often time to catch up with speakers over coffee or ask a question in the exhibitors area if you are not able to ask in their session, and speakers are often found attending other sessions they are interested in.Over 500 attendees from over 150 businesses from 40 countries are expected to attend Radiodays Asia this year – make sure you are part of it.Register for the Early Bird rate here.Your ticket includes:
Entry to the full two days conference in 2 tracks – 5-6 September
Entry to the evening networking events
Access to any Meet Ups during the event
Access to a selected number of catch-up videos from the conference for 30 days after the event […]

Content from BPREach week I view websites of radio stations in Australasia, North America, South Africa, the UAE, the UK and other English-speaking countries as part of BPR’s monthly Website Check Up.The one thing I continually notice is the vast difference in websites……. overall quality of graphics & content, user friendliness, current v out of date content etc.Have a look at your station website and then those of your competitors and other stations in other markets.Are they doing things better, things that are innovative?Here are a few tips on how to audit your website:
Is the site visually appealing? Does the overall look and feel sit within your station’s brand image? Or is it stale and like many network sites, a bit “one size fits all”? Ensure all images, audio, videos and social media make your website more engaging and interesting.
Is it mobile-friendly? If not, make it so! Your website must be easily accessible and readable on mobile devices.
Is website speed optimized? Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix issues that are slowing down your website and making it more difficult to navigate.
On that point….is your site easy to navigate overall? Organize your website’s content in a logical and easy-to-use structure. So many sites do not!
Is the language clear & concise? Make sure that your website’s text is easy to read and understand. Check for typos and grammatical errors…. trust me, I see them all too regularly.
Keep content updated and relevant. Seems like a no-brainer but so many times I see contests that have finished but are still live on station websites. Is the current on-air line-up actually current?
Finally…. do some research. Use analytics to track user behaviour and make data-driven decisions for improving the website. Conduct user testing and gather feedback to improve user experience.
By David Kidd, BPR […]

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and WorldDAB are organising and hosting the forthcoming DAB+ Digital Radio -Technical Workshop ‘New developments in DAB+ systems’.This series of online workshops will begin on Tuesday July 18, running through until Thursday July 20.This technical workshop will provide broadcasters and other media professionals with an update on the latest DAB+ developments. It will be structured in three parts:Day 1 will focus on the business case and includes a review of the latest standards updates, a discussion on balancing broadcast, IP and 5G distribution and an update on the German project to integrate the DAB+ Emergency Warning feature into their national emergency warning system.Day 2 will focus on how to get started with DAB+ with presentations from industry leaders on the latest DAB+ system features and implementation options. A panel session featuring international professionals will discuss the ‘Initial steps’ to establish DAB+ digital broadcast radio.Day 3 will move on the DAB+ network design and implementation of best practice, discussions on the role of small-scale DAB+ and will conclude with a panel session were established network providers discuss the requirements and methods used for “DAB+ measurements and monitoring”.Register here. […]