ASIA

Podcast Day 24 will be held on 4th October this year with three in-person conferences in Sydney, London and New York, all on the same day, bringing together the top broadcasters, publishers, platforms and technology companies from around the globe.Podcast Day 24 will include:
Content, Industry Trends, Spotlights, Revenue and Research
Find out the secrets behind some of Australia’s biggest shows…
Hear from the big names in the podcast world, the latest news, the facts and figures
Get the inside track from the new companies making a splash
What are the commercial opportunities for podcasters and networks and what’s the data     telling us about this new audience.
Attendees in Sydney also get free access to videos of all the podcast sessions in London and New York.Toni & Ryan (Ryan Jon Dunn and Toni Lodge) will be taking to the stage and sharing how they made the leap from radio to podcast in a multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify. Toni and Ryan have built a cult following for their podcast since launching in August 2021, in less than a year they clocked 1.3 million downloads in a single month.How did they make the leap from radio to podcast, what can be learnt about the role of video or ‘vodcasts’ and how do they plan to keep innovating since signing with Spotify.Prithi Dey from Spotify will be chairing the discussion.Starting a new show: the 50/50 rule.It’s easy to focus on the idea, but what else should be considered when launching a new podcast?Discover how the team at LiSTNR approach the launch of a new podcast and what the five rules of success are.With over twenty-five years in the entertainment industry, Executive Head of Podcasting LiSTNR, Grant Tothill shares exclusive insights and knowledge.What Makes a Compelling Narrative Podcast?Siobhán McHugh, Consulting Producer, The Greatest Menace discusses how to take a story and make it into bingeable audio.In this session the internationally recognised podcast producer, documentary-maker, oral historian, writer, journalism academic, podcast critic, podcasting consultant and The Power of Podcasting author, discusses tips, tricks and best practice to use story, sound, script and episodes to achieve the most compelling storytelling through sound.Some of the speakers confirmed for Podcast Day 24 include:Marc Fennell, It Burns (Audible), Nut Jobs (Audible), and the chart-topping hit ABC/CBC podcast Stuff the British Stole, Scott Stephens ABC’s Religion & Ethics Editor and the co-host, with Waleed Aly, of The Minefield on ABC Radio National. […]

This year’s overarching theme “DRM for FM and AM – The Radio Platform for All” gave the DRM Consortium the chance to make new receiver announcements and demonstrate the deepening worldwide interest in DRM.A foretaste of all this was given on September 6 as a virtual event, to an audience representing all continents around the world. But for many of the DRM Consortium members, supporters and all those interested in digital radio, the first chance to meet in person, after almost three years of restrictions, was at the “DRM Meet and Greet” event hosted by Fraunhofer IIS at the IBC convention in Amsterdam on September 10. There the guests enjoyed a chance for renewed networking accompanied by live DRM transmissions received on several receivers and receiver modules displayed at the booth.CML Microsystems and Cambridge Consultants from the UK for the first time presented the prototype of their upcoming low-cost and all-band DRM receiver module, which will make building affordable DRM radio sets particularly easy. The company representatives announced that the module will be available from Q1 2023.Gospell presented their entire range of well-established and full-featured DRM receivers consisting of desktop and pocket radios, with support for EWF Emergency Warning Functionality and Journaline text service. In addition, Gospell unveiled their new car radio for easy integration, the Stereo Digital Radio Receiver GR-520. All models provide DRM reception across all DRM broadcast bands.Next to the Gospell receiver, Starwaves showcased three upcoming DRM receiver solutions: A complete and full-featured DRM and analogue AM/FM receiver module available to receiver manufacturers, with automotive-grade tuning and fast scanning across all DRM frequency bands and support for EWF Emergency Warning Functionality and Journaline text service.Starwaves also presented its DRM SoftRadio App for Android phones and tablets, which upgrades any existing device to a full-featured DRM receiver simply by connecting an analogue RF SDR dongle. The app is available in major app stores including Google, Huawei and Amazon.The line-up of new and exciting DRM receiver developments could also be experienced a few hours later at the Nautel stand during the “DRM Is Ready for FM” event.The audience attending this DRM event learned about the multi-channel use of DRM in FM, as implemented by DRM member RFmondial and demonstrated in India. This was followed by a brief presentation of the recently concluded, successful DRM AM and FM trials in Australia. The focus switched then to Europe and specifically Copenhagen in Denmark, where the DRM in FM trial is continuing on the air.The DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja, congratulated all those who attended in person the two DRM events during IBC 2022 for their involvement and support of digital radio. Some of them came from as far as India, South Africa, Pakistan, US, Romania, UAE, Australia and China. “It was exciting and even emotional to see again so many people involved in DRM in one single place, to talk to them directly and show them the great progress made by DRM in these last few and very hard years” she said. “It was satisfying to share with all the DRM family less slides but introduce more receivers. There is a real buzz around digital radio and DRM, despite current difficulties and the current economic climate. At IBC we feel that the case for DRM in both FM and AM, as the complete, energy-saving, feature-rich radio platform of the future was comprehensively demonstrated like never before.” […]

RCS’s Zetta radio automation system looks like it belongs on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. In fact, it controls something far more important: the entire playout system of a radio station.RCS, was a major sponsor and exhibitor at the RadioAsia and Radiodays Asia conferences which ran one after the other at the Shangri-La in KL, Malaysia over four days last week.Mike Pfeiffer, AsiaPac Support Manager at RCS, took Peter Saxon on a quick tour of the Zetta radio interface.[embedded content] […]

Building content making skills in onair teams:  Natalie Pozdeev (Program Convenor, AFTRS)In a Radiodays Asia Masterclass for both budding and current content directors, Natalie covered the challenges facing this group of radio professionals.CD’s need their teams to
Make high quality content
Engage, entertain and inform their listeners
Be on brand
Keep all of the stakeholders happy…shareholders, managers, sponsors
Teams are not static, people move on, new faces come in, and team dynamics change over time, or the requirements of the team can change.CD’s have to be able to see potential.So where to start, and a Skills Gaps Analysis and Skills Development Plan allows CD’s to identify skills that need to be built as well as acknowledging those that already exist.Natalie says knowing what skills the individual team members already have “…is important because you want to be really efficient with your time and you’re not training them in things that they know how to do already, but you’re also not training for things that you don’t need them to have. Be very clear about what it is that you need people to do, and what they can already do.”Skills you team need will include
Physical Skills
Technical Skills
Social or emotional skills
Personality and attitude
Knowledge
Think about
What level you need their skills to be at i.e. Basic or expert level
How much the context matters e.g. different formats for music or talk
See Blooms taxonomy (Google)Once the skills gap has been identified, bridging the gap should include
Quality feedback. Impactful feedback that improves skills and performance

Set up the time, place, mood well
Encourage self-analysis and reflection
Understand individuals and frame the feedback to meet them where they are
Don’t cover too much at once

Safe experience. Set up ways to practice that are safe so they can make mistakes without them going to air
Scaffolding learning. Structure the development to build the skills step by step. Think tiny steps, not big leaps
Structure training. Look for suitable courses if these are applicable
Once this is in place, it is then important to notice and to encourage progress. […]

If anyone understands the power of relationships, it’s one of Australia’s leading Content Directors, Amanda Lee, from Fox FM Melbourne who shares why the bond between Content Director and Talent is just like a marriage on day 2 at Radiodays Asia.Amanda says the foundations of any strong relationship are
Trust, Respect & Understanding
Communication
Compromise
Honest & Genuine Feedback
Being a cheerleader and having fun
And like all relationships this take work, constant work to be strong, functional and enjoyable.When Amanda first came into Fox and began work with the breakfast team of Fifi, Fev and Nick, she says “…it was important to come in slowly, observe and be there to support, champion them and share ideas.“I needed to show that I genuinely cared about them and the show, but I wanted the show to continue to be successful, that I could be trusted, and I knew what I was doing.“My aim was to spend time with them as a show and individually. Ask what motivates them, what do they want to achieve as a show, and ask how you can help them achieve that goal.”“All three have the same goal in that they want to be Number 1, but they all have different motivations, motivations I can use when giving feedback to them as a show and individually, or when I need to fire them up to bring out their best.” “It’s about leading with empathy, always being their biggest fan, understanding who they are as performers, and what it is that motivates them to get out of bed at an ungodly hour of the morning.” […]

Radio is always first and this is why Kenny Ong, CEO of Astro, Malaysia loves radioKenny Ong, the CEO from Astro Radio gave an inspirational and insightful presentation on where radio is now and where it needs to go in the future.He said everyone is on different journeys in radio, starting radio now is daunting for some. Ong gave the audience some great examples of the difference between brand and product. And how can radio compete in this new world as radio is a small dot in the entertainment world, radio needs to focus on partnerships in the big world of entertainment. The Masters of the Media world needs to be on the side of radio and in partnership with radio station.He showed all of the technical advancements that are happening in all of the media systems, it’s very complicated and everyone is fighting for attention and the competitors is not other stations but other media.What radio stations need to focus on in the future is the ‘Attention Metrix‘ a new method of how much time can you hold people, how much they understand and what they recall – “your partners will not want to see reach in the future they will want to see attention”.Kenny said you have to manage the audience and create an eco-system which will keep them involved. He noted there is a “JTBD –  Job to be Done” – people don’t buy things for the most obvious reason they buy it for other reasons prestige, peer pressure, better second hand value for cars – nothing to do with the features. Radio needs to think about how they will get their JTBD done for their audiences. In the audience family you need to track data, content is no longer king, reach will no longer be the measurement it will be more about how involved the listener is on every level.He also told the audience they need to look to Asia as well as the Western world. In Asia, you need to note the technologies from China and Japan, they have far superior AI and VC. The West is far behind China.Finally, he said, you need consistency. Ong is proud to be in Radio because radio is for the community. […]