Month: January 2024

According to the latest Nielsen Radio Survey, Mediacorp’s radio reach grew to a record 3.9 million weekly listeners in Singapore.  The national media network commands 82.2% of the radio market share and owns eight out of Singapore’s top 10 radio stations.Key audience segments that continue to record substantial gains include:
PMEB segment: 10% increase in listenership, highlighting the network’s strong appeal among professionals and business executives. This is evident not only for the segment’s top three stations CLASS 95, LOVE 972, and YES 933, but also in the success of Singapore’s premier English news station CNA 938, which boasts a reach two times that of its nearest competitor.
Women aged 15 and above: 6% increase in listenership, with LOVE 972, CLASS 95 and CAPITAL 958 standing out as their preferred choices.
Youth aged between 15 and 34: 4% increase in listenership, showcasing the enduring appeal of radio. Youth-centric stations YES 933 and 987 have further achieved heightened engagement with tertiaries aged 15 to 24, while RIA 897 tripled its listenership in the same age bracket.
Vernacular audiences: Malay listenership increased by 3% and that for Indians increased by 7%, cementing Mediacorp’s robust 95% market share in both segments.
The survey was conducted from August to October 2023, which tracked radio listenership via diary recordings by 2,034 adults aged 15 and above, with the results weighted by age, sex and race to be representative of the Singapore population. Dominance in the digital sphere Following continual investments in its digital portfolio from podcasts to livestreams, Mediacorp’s digital radio network has achieved a compound annualised growth (CAGR) of 17% over five years since 2019, translating into a weekly reach of 1.51 million listeners, or 93% of all digital listeners. This growth is accompanied by:

20% upswing in time spent listening on digital platforms to reach 8.4 hours;
8.6% increase in melisten audio streams to almost 70 million; and
40% surge in monthly podcast downloads to hit 1.4 million.
In addition to reflecting a shift in consumer preferences towards digital audio – and more specifically, a burgeoning demand for on-demand content and flexible listening options – these figures underscore Mediacorp’s success in staying ahead of market trends with its customer-centric and multiplatform strategy, leading to increased listener engagement and loyalty.Beyond digital audio achievements, Mediacorp’s strategic shifts to engage digital natives and enhance its presence in the everyday digital spaces of its listeners have also gained ground. Across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, Mediacorp’s roster of radio stations have witnessed a 23% increase in followers, with its top three stations, YES 933, 987 and OLI 968, making up a cumulative 1.3 million followers . Accompanying the growing reach is a surge in engagement including likes, comments and shares, which increased by 20% across these platforms.A key driver of Mediacorp’s growth on social media has been its doubling down on video livestreams of helmed by its audio personalities across different social media platforms. This has not only expanded reach but also fostered real-time interaction with fans, adding a new dimension to audience engagement. Its appeal is undeniable: on TikTok, for instance, YES 933’s monthly average engagement multiplied over six timesto more than 178,000, 987’s engagement soared by 32.5 timesto over 223,000, and RIA 897 skyrocketed close to 1279 times, surpassing 650,000.Angeline Poh, Chief Customer & Corporate Development Officer, Mediacorp, said: “Mediacorp is constantly looking to redefine audio entertainment, transcending traditional broadcasting to create a holistic a lifestyle experience that is seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of our audiences. Our record growth in digital engagement stands testament to this commitment, and our success in digital innovation, from interactive livestreams to on-demand podcasts, is reshaping how we interact with our audiences.”Added Ms Poh: “With wider audience reach and deeper engagement, radio advertising on our network grew by 13% year-on-year in the second half of 2023, with a corresponding 8% growth in the number of radio advertisers. As we continue to evolve and lead in this dynamic landscape, we remain dedicated to delivering content that entertains, informs, and inspires our audiences.” […]

Leading AI Audio Platform Adthos has released a new demo showcasing the latest technologies in AI generated music and images. Not meant as a commercial offering for the creation of jingles, this homage simply celebrates one of the radio jingle greats, PAMS Productions.PAMS Productions was a Dallas-based company renowned for creating some of the most memorable jingles and radio station identification packages from the 1950s to the 1970s. They were particularly well-known in the radio industry for their work in creating distinctive and catchy jingles that helped radio stations establish a unique sound and brand identity.The company’s innovative approach often involved the use of a signature melody or motif that would be adapted and customized for different radio stations. This allowed each station to have a unique yet recognizable sound. PAMS was a pioneer in this field, and their jingles were used by radio stations all over the world, contributing significantly to the distinctive sound of radio broadcasting during that era. Their work remains influential and is often studied and celebrated by those with an interest in the history of broadcasting and audio branding.

Using PAMS Productions legendary WABC ‘where the action is’ jingles made famous in the 1950’s and 1960’s as the inspiration, Adthos has created a variety of jingles that include speech and music and packaged into a promo video (featuring AI imagery) which you can experience here.Raoul Wedel, CEO of Adthos says: “This tribute has been created as a homage to one of the great radio jingles and is purely a fun way for us to demonstrate just what is possible with today’s AI technology“. […]

IP audio innovator Barix adds a new flavor to its encoding family with MultiCoder M400 new low-latency, multi-format solution that can send audio streams to receive points in four different formats. To be introduced at ISE 2024 in Barcelona later this month, the new hardware device also adopts Barix’s next-generation FLEXA platform to enhance buffering performance, application development, and device prototyping among other benefits.For the MultiCoder M400, the enhanced buffering performance of the FLEXA platform eliminates all stream buffering within the device — an important benefit given the presence of multiple encoding engines under the hood. This means that customers can encode audio into four formats, including OPUS, AAC+, PCM and 320KB mp3, and send multiple audio RTP/BRTP streams to receiving devices without delay while retaining exceptional quality.These capabilities make the MultiCoder M400 a unique sibling to Barix’s existing Instreamer IP audio encoders, which accommodate different use cases. For example, the Instreamer Classic supports more streaming protocols, ideal for Live IP Audio Encoding for Streaming Applications while the Instreamer ICE is perfect for organizations streaming solely to an Icecast server without latency concerns for online audio services. The MultiCoder M400’s greater CPU capacity also ensures plenty of space for new features and applications, providing a stronger foundation for ongoing customization and development.

The MultiCoder M400 is also the first Barix encoder to support high-efficiency AAC+ and OPUS codecs, allowing customers across a broad range of verticals in the Pro AV and entertainment industries to send a greater number of streams within the same bandwidth, and at lower bitrates than lower-efficiency codecs.“The MultiCoder M400 is the perfect solution for an organization that needs a secure and reliable solution to serve an array of receiving platforms, including a mix of Barix Exstreamer IP audio decoders and online media players,” said Reto Brader, CEO, Barix. “Our customers and their IT departments can also rest assured that the Barix FLEXA platform at the device’s foundation supports today’s strictest security standards, including HTTPS for the setup of the device.”The MultiCoder M400 pairs well with the recently introduced Exstreamer M400 for customers that want to use the AAC+ and/or OPUS formats for their audio streams. The device also pairs with legacy Exstreamer decoders, meaning that the MultiCoder M400 can serve all existing Exstreamer decoders across a large enterprise organization.ISE 2024 takes place January 30-February 3 at the Fira de Barcelona. Barix exhibits at stand 7C400. […]