Month: September 2024

In a session hosted by the Pubic Media Alliance, RJ Vijdan Saleem, a Radio Mirchi radio jockey from Kashmir told a story of an entertainment radio presenter who was faced with breaking news of his uncle who was shot dead during his debut radio shift. Then revealed the story was about him.His uncle was a journalist who was the victim of the continuing territorial tensions in Kashmir. Due to radio broadcast regulations in India, presenters on commercial entertainment stations are not allowed to broadcast or discuss news stories.“I could not talk about it because, due to regulations you can’t talk about news directly or indirectly. So how did I talk about it? I talked about my uncle’s death and played music suitable to my emotions, but was limited in how I could talk about the wider issues.”

Vijdan has been disciplined and was taken off air for 4 months at various times due to some of his comments, but hen still feels it is important for him to reflect what the audience is feeling at times when violence breaks out or there are internet bans or other troubles in the region.“There are days when my city goes silent, but I can’t talk about it… At those times I try to reflect the mood of the city. I can’t discuss a murder, but I have to reflect the mood of my people. “This is the biggest challenge I face. I navigate it through music, stories and words that resonate with my audience’s feelings. I can’t be going ‘ha… ha… ha’ when my city of facing something hard, yet I can’t speak about news.”He says India needs to “broaden the canvas” and allow news on radio. “We will still entertain you, but we would have more things to talk about,” he says.PMA’s Kristian Porter says the challenges facing public service media are growing, which is why the conference session is looking at stories from the region that highlight the challenges and solutions media companies are dealing with.“In many places audiences are tuning out from hard news content… the media ecosystem is increasingly cluttered. The fight to cut through is becoming more difficult. Part of the challenge lies in more competitors such as streaming services and even gaming platforms. In this ecosystem radio needs trust to thrive.”The Public Media Alliance is the largest global association of public broadcasters, it’s mandate is to support and advocate for public Service Media. Media freedom, journalist safety and knowledge sharing are some of the key advocacy areas for PMA, which also has a podcast.Yumie Yoshiba (pictured above) from Japan’s NHK talked about strategies to attract young listeners. One of the most effective strategies is streaming and catch-up radio.She showed a graph of live listening (red) and catch up audio (blue). In 2022 the number of people using online audio catch-up overtook the number of people listening to live radio streaming in her company, the Japanese national broadcaster NHK.“There is more potential for radio to reach audiences with catchup audio, especially young people on mobile devices… Radio is not an old medium,” she said.Other examples from NHK are the ‘News Pekopa’ show, hosted by two comedians, and a show by two hosts from a boys music group. “We use influencers and artists to increase our young content.”NHK also visualises radio on tv with a once a month tv show catching up on the music group’s radio shows.“Information is presented in an easy to understand way, to respond to young people’s questions… At first fans of the boys group sent messages to the artists, then we saw an evolution of the fans… now they want to talk about issues as well as to talk about stars and music. Very good questions are coming to the program now, we didn’t expect it.”“When you talk about things that resonate with your audience trust is built. Don’t betray your audience,” said Yoshiba.In Thailand, Thai PBS began as a online station, then expanded to partner with other broadcasters such as community stations to rebroadcast the Thai PBS programs. Twenty years on the broadcast still has not had success to expand to broadcast frequencies, but, due to smartphones and the growth of streaming, “people have now found us on streaming and podcasts,” said Sopit Wangvivatana from Thai PBS podcasts. […]

Commercial Radio Malaysia president Nasrin Nori (pictured) welcomed delegates to Kuala Lumpur for Radiodays Asia 2024, saying: “Radio has always been a big part of my life as it is for many of you here. “Just days after celebrating our national day we welcome you to Malaysia. Radio is woven into the fabric of our lives in this country, but the landscape is evolving faster than ever.”As CEO of Media Prima, Nori says his stations are “not just keeping up, we are innovating.”

“As we move forward it is crucial that we stick to our roots as well. Our strength lies in our diversity, we broadcast in many languages to reach every corner of Malaysia so that they feel heard and included.. Race, religion, royalty are core values in Malaysia, how we handle these sensitive topics is important and we need to project unity as well as diversity… The ongoing crisis in Palestine is a stark reminder of how the world is connected and this touches us here, affecting advertising revenue.”Turning challenges into positives, he explained: “We have one of the best traffic jams in the region, which is good for business because it increases radio time spent listening…  in KL we have also had leadership changes and media has had to adapt to those governmental changes as well.”“Radiodays Asia has become a meeting place to share ideas across the region and beyond,” said Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Bin Md Isa, the Chief Secretary Minister of Communications, opening the conference.“The importance of this event cannot be overstated, as we stand at the cross roads of technological change and shifting consumer habits. In Malaysia, Radio is a trusted companion in our daily lives that connects our diverse community. “As technology shifts we must adapt and evolve while preserving the core values that have made radio an indispensable part of our lives. The coming of AI has made the landscape more competitive than ever before. In Malaysia we understand the need to ensure the talent and connection of radio remain paramount into the future to enrich the tapestry of our nation.”“Radio remains resilient, a reliable source of news and a platform for cultural expression,” he said.Radiodays CEO Peter Niegel told the 300 conference delegates about the energy in the Malaysian economy at the moment.  “Kuala Lumpur is part of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.”“We have one of the oldest and one of the most loved industries in the world. Radio keeps coming with new ways to reach our audiences in this digital age. It is our job to make the most of those opportunities.“Our focus in this year’s conference is identifying new opportunities for audio. While audio still remains strong, there are many new challenges. Radio holds its reach and podcasting is growing, but we need to constantly reinvent ourselves to remain relevant, to do that we will need to work with new technologies such as AI.”Artificial intelligence is one of the topics in this year’s conference.ABU Head of Radio Olya Booyar (pictured) said radio’s challenges are not unique.“Everyone is struggling with change, we are no different from other industries. ABU members rely on technology as much as everyone else. Moving audiences to new platforms and improved production tools such as AI is important. Audiences make ever increasing use of their smartphones. “We need to adapt to all the new tools, but we also need to remember that trust and reputation are some of the most needed characteristics in a crowded and sometimes fake media market…“Radio of my parents generation is well and truly dead, but radio of the next generation on platforms we cannot yet imagine, has a bright future. For instance, podcasting has proven that long form content is still in demand… “Tap into the collective experience of everyone here and learn how to dominate your market before everyone else does,” she urged conference delegates.The conference continues in KL for the next three days. […]