Month: November 2022

Jacqueline Bierhorst, Project Director of Digital Radio Netherlands has been given this year’s WorldDAB Award for Outstanding Service.The Award recognises an individual for an exceptional contribution to the roll-out of DAB digital radio and is made annually at the WorldDAB General Assembly.It is offered in memory of Per-Erik Selemark of Swedish Radio, former vice president and chair of the Technical Committee, who died in January 1999.Bierhorst has been a pioneer in commercial radio since 1987, specialising in distribution, marketing and content. She was project leader on the rollout of the DAB+ network in The Netherlands for all commercial broadcasters, launched in 2013.In 2015, she became Project Director for Digital Radio Netherlands, a collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, coordinating stakeholder involvement, and joint marketing of DAB+ in the Netherlands.Bierhorst is vice president and a member of the Steering Board of WorldDAB, and a consultant for the Flemish government Department of Culture, Youth and Media on the introduction of DAB+ in Flanders.Presenting the Award at the General Assembly, WorldDAB’s President, Patrick Hannon, said: “She’s launched DAB not once, but twice – in the Netherlands and then in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. She’s been an absolute star in galvanising both of those countries – the Netherlands has been the gold standard of how to launch DAB+. Not only has she been an advocate for DAB+, she’s also passionate about spreading good practice and enthusiasm for DAB+ right across the organisation and in many different countries. The phrase that springs to mind is ‘a breath of fresh air’, and I have been very grateful for her support.” […]

The only live Bollywood platform across South East Asia, Masti Media Network Singapore’s flagship brand Radio Masti 24×7 established its first ever international collaboration by expanding formally to Malaysia. The station is now available exclusively on SYOK, the Astro Radio digital platform.Radio Masti 24×7 was initially launched in 2009 as a three-hour live Bollywood Radio station on MediaCorp’s Expat Radio frequency, XFM963. It was also winner at the Mediacorp Radio Awards.In 2016, with the change of media policies leading to existence of only four national languages on the airwaves in Singapore, Radio Masti 24×7 was re-established as the first and only live 24-hours digital Bollywood radio across south east Asia.As a part of the collaboration, SYOK and Radio Masti 24×7 will cater to Malaysian fans of Bollywood music while also offering digital content, gossip, news and updates from across the world, notably from India, Singapore and Malaysia.During the pandemic, Radio Masti 24×7 was appointed exclusively by the Ministry of Communication & Information (MCI) in Singapore, leading to the launch of special Bangla programming that gained immense popularity with the Bangladeshi migrant community in Singapore as well as Malaysia.Kenny Ong, CEO, Astro Radio and Rocketfuel Entertainment, said: “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Masti Media Network, our first partner from Singapore and we welcome Radio Masti 24×7 on board SYOK, which will now offer Malaysians access to more popular Bollywood music, digital content and updates to enjoy. This addition will bolster our current offering on SYOK for radio, music and podcasts and we look forward to working with more local and international partners as we further define our footprint in the local audio landscape.”Renuka Arora Bhagat, Founder Director, Masti Media Network, said: “We are pleased to confirm Astro Radio as our First ever International collaboration in the region. Together we hope to blend communities across Singapore and Malaysia together with the Indian Bollywood content as the foundation. Our clients continue to remain our focus as they advertise to reach out to our vast audience base. We are confident that Malaysia will love our content as we go local and bring along the much-loved Khans of Bollywood closer to our neighbouring country” […]