ASIA

Radio journalist Cresencio “Cris” Bunduquin was shot dead early Wednesday morning by two gunmen on a motorcycle as he was leaving his home in Calapan City, the capital of the central province of Oriental Mindoro in Philippines.Bunduquin, 50, was the host of “Batita at Talakayan,” a show on y DWXR 101.7FM and online radio MUX.Agence France-Presse quoted DWXR manager Jester Joaquin as saying Bunduquin was a “hard-hitting” journalist who recently told him he had received death threats in connection with his work and wanted a change in hisline of work.In his latest shows, Bunduquin had denounced cases of local political corruption, the province’s illegal betting mafia and, the circumstances surrounding last February’s nearby oil spill from the Princess Empress, a 50-year-old tanker whose operating permit had reportedly been forged.He is the third journalist to be killed since President Ferdinand Marcos took office last June.Percy Lapid, the host of a show on Radio DWBL, was ambushed and killed by two shots fired at point-blank range by a gunman outside him home in the Manila suburb of Las Piñas last October.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.Since 1986, there have been 198 journalists killed in the Philippines, based on the data and monitoring from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).“The senseless killing of radio reporter Cris Bundoquin shows that those who attack journalists remain undeterred under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s one-year-old government,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Until the Philippine government shows it is serious about ending impunity in media murders, such killings will likely continue.”   “Everything indicates that Cris Bunduquin was murdered in reprisal for his journalistic comments. This shocking killing must not go unpunished, and we call on the Oriental Mindoro provincial prosecutor’s office to do everything possible to identify the perpetrators and, above all, the instigators and bring them before a judge. The vicious circle of impunity for crimes of violence against journalists must be broken,” said Daniel Bastard, Head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.“Bunduquin’s killing further shows that journalists in the Philippines still operate under threat despite our improvement in the press freedom index and the relatively friendlier relations that media has with the current administration,” said Jonathan de Santos, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. […]

From Monday to Friday, Nesia Daily will deliver a two-hour, magazine-style interview program connecting the Pacific with entertaining interviews, compelling chat and a splash of island music.According to host Jacob McQuire: “The new program focuses on the people behind the story, speaking with Pacific Islanders about the interesting and inspiring things they are doing in their communities in the Pacific and Australia. It’s like relaxing over a cup of koko in Samoa or kava in Vanuatu.”Jacob is a Dharumbal/South Sea Islander journalist and radio broadcaster from Rockhampton, central Queensland. He started his career at Australia’s National Indigenous Radio Service and has worked at Radio Boongara, ABC and Triple A Murri Country.Jacob continues: “As a South Sea Islander, I’m excited to take on this new role covering the region. My family made sure I was connected with the Pacific with my parents getting us over to Vanuatu to spend time with our cousins and learnabout our village and people. As a Dharumbal man, I’m also interested in the connections between the stories of mob in Australia with the Pacific and our shared histories and identities. We are facing shared challenges like climate change, and I hope my newshow can play a small part in a larger, shared future.”Producer and co-host Michael Chow is also an experienced presenter, producer and videographer. After six years hosting and producing for Australia’s leading music network, triple j, he brings his experiences as a broadcaster and proud Pacific Islander to ABC Radio Australia.  Originally from Papua New Guinea, Michael’s love for music and storytelling is at the heart of the content he has produced throughout his career, including for leading media Tone Deaf, The Music Network, and Rolling Stone Magazine.Michael said: “After moving from PNG to Australia when I was 15, the opportunity to produce a show like Nesia Daily feels like going back home. Never in my professional life have I been able to wear my PNG heritage so proudly as just “part of my job”. So, to leave the Pacific, join the media in Australia, and then years later have my media job become about the Pacific again is incredible. It’s like life has come full circle!”In addition to the morning show, a special half-hour Nesia Daily PM Edition capturing the show’s best moments will be hosted weekdays by Michael from 5:00PM to 5:30PM PNG time.ABC Radio Australia head Justine Kelly said: “ABC Radio Australia has been crying out for an engaging, entertaining morning show to keep Pacific audiences up to date with the people and news that matter. Jacob and Michael’s unique experience and perspective, as well as their on-air chemistry, will make this show a not-to-be-missed addition to our updated schedule.” […]

More speakers have joined this year’s Radiodays Asia, the leading radio and podcasting conference in the Asia-Pacific, to be held 5-6 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Kenny Ong, CEO Astro RadioKenny Ong is CEO of Astro Radio and Rocketfuel Entertainment overseeing strategic direction and artist management. He is Director of Astro Media Solutions (AMS) spearheading integrated media solutions, drive advertising revenue and increase adex share.Richard Fidler, Radio HostRichard Fidler is an Australian radio presenter and writer, best known for his hour-long interview program, Conversations with Richard Fidler on ABC’s Radio National, and as a former member of the Australian comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars.Emily Copeland, Director, Audience Innovation and Music Partnerships, ARNEmily is a strategic brand builder, who has led creative and content-driven organisations in reimagining traditional business and commercial models.Currently Director, Audience Innovation and Music Partnerships at ARN, she is responsible for uncovering and championing strategic projects which provide opportunities for audience and brand innovation and growth, while also leading partnerships across the Australian music industry.Valerie Geller, President, Geller Media InternationalValerie Geller’s company, Geller Media International, is a broadcast consulting firm which trains broadcasters & podcasters throughout the world to help each become more a powerful communicator.  Geller is also a former program director of WABC in New York, was executive producer of KFI in Los Angeles and news director of K-101 in San Francisco. She served as an elected board member of the Associated Press and the Radio & TV News Directors Assn. and was honoured with a Rockwell lifetime achievement award for broadcasting. She has long held a place on Radio Ink’s “Most Influential Women in Radio” list and serves on the board of MIW, to help mentor women in Radio.Norma Jean Belenky, Head of Events, PodbeanNorma Jean empowers and educates both podcasters and companies to tell their story to succeed with their podcasting initiatives. 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. Podbean has been providing innovative podcasting services as an industry leader since 2006. Along with their popular podcast app and hosting services, Podbean offers monetization, and private podcasting services for businesses and organizations.Abe Thomas, CEO, Reliance Broadcast NetworkAbraham Thomas is an experienced leader and digital entrepreneur, a brand strategist and an audio entertainment specialist with a proven track record of building and running large media businesses in a competitive environment. A media evangelist, he has over two decades of experience in building and scaling youth media platforms (across TV, Radio, Digital, Print) in India, China and South Asia. During his long-standing career, he has held various leadership positions across brands in the media and broadcast space.Radiodays Asia is a collaboration between Radiodays Europe, the world´s largest and leading conference for radio, audio and podcast, and broadcasting and podcast partners in Asia and Australia. The 2023 edition will run over two days in two tracks with 50 sessions. Top international speakers and industry leaders as well as successful producers and market experts will share their insights.Register for Radiodays Asia at Super Early Bird prices before June 1. […]

Content from BPRIt’s a common theme, contemporary music is in a difficult phase. US Music consultant Guy Zapoleon calls this period the ‘doldrums’ a phrase that assumes that the wind will eventually pick up and contemporary music will gather momentum and once again reflect the tastes of the mass / mainstream audience.The causes of this can be put down to a few fairly logical influences for example fresh or individual music styles emerge and then are almost immediately saturated with similar sounding imitators – the loss of unique freshness or lack of variety leads to boredom and lack of music passion – more or less where we are now.Media Fragmentation is another significant influence on mainstream music consumption.Radio listening has been fragmenting for some time now with mass market stations competing with music streaming, personal music playlists, YouTube etc. attracting listening time that was once the exclusive preserve of radio.Television is also going through its own fragmentation process; broadcast TV still attracts large audiences but they are smaller than the ‘hit’ shows of the past generated and ‘water-cooler’ TV is usually based on reality TV shows as streaming also impacts on TV and video viewing time.Hit streaming shows attract new ‘mass’ audiences – but there are some surprising side benefits starting to emerge. Recently, Luminate – a US based company linking music and music data published an article highlighting two ‘Hits’ that have come from HBO’s series ‘The Last of Us.’ Both Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ (1987) and Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long Long Time’ (1970) have both enjoyed a new life – and a new audience – as a result of this exposure both songs have seen massive increases in streaming and radio airplay.The graph below shows that Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ peaked around 30 days after featuring on the show.While the radio airplay has been relatively brief, streaming for the band’s catalogue continues to grow.So, the lesson for Radio Programmers?‘New’ music can also come from TV and streamers – although the life of these tracks may not be as long as a new ‘market’ hit, the songs exposed in this way may also boost interest in the artists generally.New music sources may surprise you.By Peter Don, BPRSource:Luminate Entertainment 365Luminate Music ConnectAll streaming figures represent total on-demand streaming activity (audio & video)Change in song-level streaming: Never Let Me Down Again (01/01/23 – 1/22/23), Long Long Time (01/15/23 – 02/05/23)Change in catalog streaming: Depeche Mode (01/01/23 – 2/14/23), Linda Ronstadt (01/15/23 – 02/28/23)Main Pic: Depeche Mode, Kiev, Ukraine, July 19, 2017: Concert Depeche Mode at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev during Global Spirit Tour. The vocalist Dave Gahan performs a song on stage. Shutterstock. […]

Radiodays Asia will address some of the most pressing challenges to broadcasters and podcasters looking to grow their audiences with James Cridland, Kym Treasure and Paul Amos part of the 2023 speaker line-up.With Andrea Ho, Deb Hishon and Guang Jin YEO, being announced as speakers last week, Managing Director of Xtra Insights Australia Paul Amos, Kym Treasure  the CEO and Founder of Audacia Audio, Radio Futurologist and Editor of Podnews Australia, James Cridland as well as June Pang, Head of Malaysia Media Measurement, GfK, and Germany’s Christian Schalt, Chief Digital Officer of RTL, Manager of Audio Alliance and General Manager of Digital Media Hub have been added to proceedings.Questions that will be addressed at the conference:
Is AI (artificial intelligence) a threat or an opportunity?
How can you make your station more successful with clever marketing, using events, social media and building communities?
How do you find out what listeners want? What does it take to attract a younger audience?
What are the current trends in podcasting – in Asia and in the world?
How do you create innovative and appealing content every day?
How do we fight misinformation and keep high journalism standards in a world of social media, bots and deliberate manipulation?
Radiodays Asia will be held on September 5 & 6, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. […]

RØDE has launched the new Streamer X and PodMic USB products, providing audio and streaming solutions for content creators. The Streamer X combines a professional audio interface, video capture card and control surface in a compact console. The unit has a fully customisable control surface, used for triggering sounds, voice effects and keyboard shortcuts.Some Steamer X features include: 
Up to 4K30 video capture and 4K60 pass-through via HDMI 
Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support
Integrated wireless receiver for connecting RØDE Series IV wireless microphones, including the Wireless GO II and Wireless ME
Dual USB-C interfaces for connecting to two computers or mobile devices
Easy configuration and control via RØDE Central desktop companion app
Compatible with free UNIFY streaming software for advanced audio routing, mixing and configuration
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Based on the original PodMic, RØDE’s PodMic USB offers both XLR and USB connectivity, plus loads of features for easily capturing professional sound.Some PodMic USB features include: 
Broadcast-grade dynamic microphone optimised for podcasting, streaming and other speech applications
High-power neodymium capsule for warm, highly detailed audio capture
Tight cardioid polar pattern, flat frequency response and low self-noise
Analog XLR and digital USB-C connectivity
Internal pop filter for minimising plosives and internal shock mount for reducing vibrations 
Custom professional pop filter included 
Fully compatible with RØDE’s suite of apps, including RØDE Connect, RØDE Capture and UNIFY
Robust all-metal construction and premium components – incredibly rugged and highly durable […]