ASIA

The All India Radio (AIR) centre in the hill town of Kurseong, West Bengal, has been made the hub of content generation and transmission centre for Nepali languge radio broadcasting in India, starting April 1, 2023.The decision was made following a meeting of the External Service Division (ESD) of All India Radio under the chairpersonship of DG (News).The ESD of the AIR broadcasts programmes in 27 languages, including 15 foreign languages, and until now, the Nepali services of the ESD were being broadcast by Delhi AIR.AIR’s Kurseong station, which had been established in 1962 earlier used to broadcast only local news in Nepali once a day at 6.50 pm. From Decmber last year, it started broadcasting news with national content in Nepali four times a day.There has been a long standing demand in the Hills that AIR Kurseong be made the centre for content creation for the Nepali language as it would promote local artistes.In a press release, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said: “With this, our local talents, artistes, musicians, singers, lyricists, writers, dramatists, news readers, news producers, radio content creators will greatly benefit. Kurseong will become the heart of Nepali Language Radio broadcasting in India.” […]

After 82 years of operation, the final program of BBC Persian (Farsi) Radio was broadcast on Sunday, March 26.The Farsi radio service was launched as part of the BBC’s Empire Service on December 29, 1940, with support from the Foreign Office during World War II.It provided the latest political, social, economic and sports news relevant to Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.The closure follows the BBC’s strategy to create a modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation that drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences.The World Service had stated that it aims to save £28.5m million by closing Persian and Arabic radio stations as part of a more considerable effort to save £500 million yearly.The corporation will also stop producing radio content in ten other languages, including Chinese and Hindi.The broadcaster has said that the cuts result from years of UK government-imposed limits on license fees below inflation, in addition to the rising cost of producing programs. […]

Content from BPR.The strategic role of podcasts within a radio/audio group or a specific station’s strategy can differ and fulfil multiple purposes.Ideally podcasts contribute to revenue if possible but that does not mean that without revenue they cannot play an important role within an audio/broadcast business.  A lot depends on your point of leverage, whether it be as a creator, distributor, host or seller.When considering Podcast we must also include Vodcast (Video-On-Demand-Cast) which in simple terms means adding visual content to compliment your Podcast audio. Vodcast is likely to overtake Podcast in the fullness of time however for the purpose of this article I will refer to Podcast.From a broadcaster’s perspective there are a number of strategic reasons for podcasts:TRAFFIC AND SHARE OF EAR:Most network platforms use podcasts to create traffic through their apps and without a podcast component an audio platform is not considered complete nowadays.  I’ll side-step the issue of whether podcasts actually contribute to profit because that is a vexed question with a lot of broadcasters however podcast certainly creates traffic and promotability.  So if your strategy is about creating traffic and driving usage statistics then podcast is a highly valuable component.  Whether a radio station can make serious money from offering podcasts depends very much on a station’s resources and audience target. Radio Tok, a News /Talk radio station in Warsaw is an example of a station with a significant commitment to podcast offering thousands of on-demand audio choices driven by around 40 Journalists.ENGAGEMENT:Podcasts can be very useful in giving listeners somewhere to go if they are particularly passionate about a subject the station cannot otherwise devote more linear airtime to.  A Typical example of this being the “full” version of a celebrity interview being offered as a podcast following the broadcast of the edited highlights.CATCH UP LISTENING:Using podcasts for listeners to catch up with the “best of the breakfast show” if they miss the show live.  In a typical western market around 20% of adult breakfast radio listeners use catchup podcasts in some shape or form, albeit most breakfast listeners currently prefer to listen to their favourite radio breakfast show live.SPECIFIC TOPIC:This is where a station puts resources into offering a podcast on a particular subject.  In the case of a small to medium station with limited resources, making some money from this sort of effort is highly desirable.  An area of specific topic podcast which is under-utilized is what I call the “extended commercial” where someone who hears the 30 second ad for the new Ford Bronco can link out to the 5-minute detailed review of the vehicle offered as a podcast or vodcast.  A very good example of targeted content offered by a radio station is the recently launched “Breaking Ground” Vodcast from Nova Entertainment which is sponsored by Fitbit.BRAND POSITIONING:This is an area which radio stations are yet to truly embrace. This is where a business offers targeted podcast content to send a message about what the brand stands for. At present a lot of corporations are jumping on climate change related content in order to position themselves as “green friendly”.  Equally a radio station wanting to cement an image of being “local” should seek to corner the market on podcast content about things and topics within the listening footprint of the station.TO PODCAST OR NOT TO PODCAST?The podcast narrative is very broad ranging from vested interest acolytes who will tell you podcast will create a usage vortex of such magnitude that terrestrial radio stations will be literally sucked out of existence to people who think podcast is nothing more than a highly fragmented money-pit.As with all things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.  Podcast is certainly here to stay and will thrive for the foreseeable future whether radio is involved or not.  There is danger in not addressing a podcast strategy for your audio/broadcast business and there is risk in rushing in, throwing money at the wall for the sake of being seen to be in “the game”.A good place to start in developing a podcast strategy is asking the question “what do my listeners want?” closely followed by “of what my listeners want, what can I do really well, consistently?”There are several other questions you should ask but for that you can call me.What-ever you decide to do with podcast, it should not come at the expense of your ability to make great linear radio.  If anyone tells you otherwise, lock the door and call security.Happy PodcastingBy Wayne Clouten, BPR […]

As automotive technology develops more connectivity, and car makers plan for a future that includes autonomous driving, manufacturers are addressing the accessibility of radio in cars.Various solutions have been developed over the years and it seems that car makers are listening to the mounting evidence that drivers want to listen to live radio and they want access to their radio choices easily and quickly from a prominent position in the car dash.Radio DNS has for many years provided an interoperable standard that sits behind car radio interface technology. Digital transmission has been delivering pictures and text to enrich radio’s car screen experience for some time. At the 2023 edition of RadioDays there was renewed discussion about further enriched live radio and new audio experiences in cars (see previous article on Xperi’s latest product).The Director of Automotive Connected Mobility and Global Automotive Practice at TechInsights, Roger Lanctot, made the point that once a car connect to the internet, either with an embedded sim card or via mobile coupling, it becomes a browser.“We’re getting very enhanced contextual awareness in the car, which is creating new value propositions… Personalisation and digital assistants are now widespread in cars,” he said.Christian Winter runs the product team for radio apps at the Volkswagen Group company CARIAD. Before joining the newly build software company CARIAD he worked in the radio team at AUDI and was responsible for bringing more than one million Hybrid Radio capable cars into the market.Hybrid Radio is the ability to link seamlessly between broadcast radio and online streaming. Winter told delegates that the current hybrid auto app is “99% like Android,” so it can be adapted to car operating systems easily.The hybrid radio experience offers automatic online station following that switches between broadcast and streaming, providing “the best way a station can be received” as a car is moving in and out of broadcast coverage areas.Connectivity, passenger screens, entertainment in the back seat, streaming apps and traditional radio are all combined in the hybrid radio functionality. When lyrics are available there is a new trend developing for ‘Car Karaoke.’Another development is integration with speech systems and AI so that your car can suggest stations, programs or podcasts to listen to after talking to you and calculating the duration and arrival time of your travel.Gwendolyn Niehues, Project Manager Automotive at the German public service broadcaster ARD said the car user experience has developed further in recent years to include interfacing with Geo apps so that you can drive and listen to regional content to find local attractions and news. Personalisation of connected car radio is also an increasing trend.“Radio needs to be easy to find, impossible to miss and easy to use by pressing just one button… it needs to be user centric.”Collaboration between car makers and the EBU is important so that European standards can be followed, she said. One of the compulsory standards for all new cars in Europe is digital broadcast radio receivers, another is clear driver distraction guidelines.Voice commands are becoming a major way to access radio and other audio services in the car, so effective voice commands and interaction need to be provided.“In cars, smart radio needs to be impossible to miss, to be personalised responsibly and make sense in it’s curation.” Collaboration with EBU is important so that European standards can be followed so car manufacturers have guidance such as clear driver distraction guidelines and proper testing in the car model before it goes to market.“Think about it from the user centric perspective… it’s important to retain what radio has always been and that is a varied listening experience,” she said. […]

“What effect does the current news cycle have on your mood?” asked Jeremy Druker, from Transitions. He was not surprised by the overall negative response from the audience, many who are journalists.“Journalists should not just be the watch dog, but also be a guide dog by guiding people to solutions, he said. “Solutions Journalism is rigorous, evidence-based reporting on existing responses to social problems.”He expanded further on the characteristics of solutions journalism, known as SoJo:
Features not just a person, but a response to a problem and how it happened.
Provides evidence of impact, looking at effectiveness – not just intentions
Seeks to provide insights (replicable models) that can help others respond too – not just inspiration
Discusses limitations, caveats and the response, to show there is no perfect solution.
“Evidence shows that SoJo increases audience engagement, and that can increase revenue,” said Drucker.Using SoJo has the following impact according to research:
Increased engagement because readers of solutions stories spend 25% more time on page.
Increased positive affect towards news source, story and issue.
Increased self-efficacy and stronger belief that they can contribute to solutions themselves.
Increased intent to learn more than individuals exposed to traditional reporting.
Increased intent to share solutions-orientated reporting (tweeted 27.9% more) than traditional reporting
When you engage with funders to monetise SoJo: 
Inquire about their goals and show how they align.
Develop project ideas swiftly and test low cost prototypes with the target audience.
When you engage with communities, use SoJo to define the problem they face:
Ask your audience
Let them define the problem
Discuss the solutions 
When asked, “How do think this approach works for short news cycles?” Drucker replied, “Not for breaking news, but perhaps a day later a program with a longer story format could show a solution that has made positive change in another community. For example, a school shooting story with a program that has worked to change attitudes.” […]

Amazon and Google will have to offer all UK licenced radio stations access to their streaming platforms.This is to be a part of what is the biggest UK government overhaul of traditional broadcasting in over two decades.Smart speaker platforms, such as Google and Amazon, will be required by law to ensure access to all licenced UK radio stations, from major national stations to the smallest community stations.Platforms will be banned from charging stations for being hosted on their services or overlaying their own adverts over the top of those stations’ programmes.The Bill will also reduce regulatory burdens on commercial radio stations, relaxing content and format requirements developed in the 1980s which tie them to commitments to broadcast particular genres of music or to particular age groups.The new regime will give stations more flexibility to update or adapt their services without needing consent from Ofcom.The reduced bureaucracy these changes will deliver could save the radio industry up to £1 million per year.New Ofcom research shows UK ownership of smart speakers almost doubled during the pandemic.In 2020 almost 22% of the population had at least one of the devices from manufacturers including Amazon, Apple and Google but the percentage has now risen to 39%.The inclusion of a guarantee that all UK licensed radio stations must be made available on smart speakers was welcomed by the industry.Chief executive of RadioCentre, the industry body representing commercial radio stations, Matt Payton told the Financial Times, “It’s only sensible that the government introduces safeguards for the future that will guarantee consumer choice and support the public value provided by UK radio services”Commercial radio stations have expressed concerns that without regulation, the makers of smart speakers would be able to restrict access to their platforms and undermine the sector’s advertising business model.Currently one quarter of live radio audiences access content online, with more than half of that online audience using smart speakers such as Amazon’s Alexa, according to Radio Joint Audience […]