ASIA

Content from BPRBy Peter YiamarelosIt starts with one listenerEvery radio station no matter how high the ratings started with one listener. This individual person has been on a journey with the station from the moment they were “exposed” to that station. This article gives an example of how this one listener has been present over time with a radio station and its brand. Starting from the very beginning when that listener was “exposed” or “discovered” that station as a “non-fan” to the stage of being a loyal “super- fan or Evangelist”.A typical music format station has a number of content elements in place.Such as Station name, Format, Breakfast show, Workday line-up, Drive, Night & Overnight shows and Weekend shows and features.Digital content is important to the brand of the station but should be viewed as an extension of the ‘product’ of the station and not part of it.The listener journey cannot move forward without a consistent product or content.

AwarenessFrom the first moment the listener is exposed to or discovers a station, whether on AM/FM/DAB+ , Satellite, Stream app aggregator, they begin a journey that takes them through various states that will change the way they consume that station. While they may not be listening exclusively to that station they may have 2 or 3 favourite stations out of a world of choices. Ensuring the listener has your station as one of their main choices is one of the toughest challenges a Content director / Marketer, Host or content creator has to deal with.The journey begins with Awareness, one way or another a listener becomes aware of your station. This awareness can come in various forms on various devices or platforms.The initial stages of this journey begins with Exposure, Exploration, walking past a live Outdoor Broadcast, an Event, a Billboard promoting the station, Word of mouth from a friend or social media post from an influencer. The goal at the end of the day is establishing Loyalty with the listener and without Awareness this cannot be achieved.Causing a listener to become aware of your station or brand through “Discovery” is so powerful because they establish a form of ownership or loyalty with your brand. Aside from the wins you will get with ratings gains along the way, they will be more forgiving when they become loyal listeners if they are served content they feel does not fit with their expectations.The listener journey could be from the moment you launch the station or it could be from the first time the listener becomes aware of your station. Either way these steps and stages still apply.Form of listening: at this stage your future super-fan may or may not listen into the station. In fact they may not be consciously aware of the station. Your listener leads a busy life, they may not even know what a radio station is. For now you can definitely assume they are in the “non-fan” stage of the listener journey.AttentionNow your listener is aware of you via your product i.e breakfast show, workday line up including drive, nights and weekend programming and the noise you generate daily via various forms of marketing i.e traditional and digital marketing campaigns, OB’s, events as well as TVC’s. The journey has begun with some listening but they may not be returning to your product on a daily basis.The next step is to convert their “awareness” into “attention” and then covert the listener’s “undecided” state to an “established” stage on the way to “loyalty”.Attention is an amplified state of “awareness” in radio X’s listener journey , which essentially is a continuation of the awareness stage with presence through website, social media peripheral content further marketing in that space and some great PR.The ability to really have people talking about you in the market place from what you’re doing with your product will extend to great interest and attention in the listener and of course clients. Noise created the awareness & attention stages shows confidence in the product and that is infectious towards the listener as well as clients.UndecidedAt this “undecided” phase the listener may be listening to your station daily, well done! Let’s call it “general listening” or “sampling” your station.But they’re still far from being a loyal “super-fan” because they’re listening to other stations as well. In some cases over a 7 day period they’re possibly tuning into another 2 or 3 more stations. This is separate to that listeners “other “ forms of media consumption such as Movie streamers e.g. Netflix, podcasting, Youtube and social media.At this point research is one of the tools used to ascertain ‘what content the listener is consuming’ and ‘why they haven’t switched over to your station’ on a daily basis or have not yet become ‘super fans’ yet.While research should be used from inception to launch and the day to day running of station X, here is where asking the right questions and interpretation of the results of the research study will help steer the sound of the station in the right direction and convert the listener to a loyal fan.The results of that study could convert that listener over with a simple a cash prize competition or the best suited content being delivered in station X’s breakfast show.Regardless, this is where the majority of your marketing should be focused, getting as many new listeners “sampling” your station. Especially as they have already become “aware” of you and that you now have their “attention”. Your marketing should do those key things to make them aware of you, get their attention daily and ensure that the marketing has some form of call to action to get the momentum towards loyal listening.FACT: 80% off your listening hours are driven by 10% of your loyal audience.This means that as you get listeners sampling your station many will stay to become super fans and many will leave, but may also come back. Don’t give up, so long as you have people sampling your state you will continue to convert new listeners to become loyal fans.In part 2 we will explore some further interesting aspects of the radio – listener relationship. […]

Media Prima Audio Malaysia’s English station Fly FM has announced new daily lineups and segments in line with its new tagline “Fly FM, Playing Malaysia’s Flyest Music All Day“.Its weekday lineup will remain unchanged but promises more humorous and entertaining material, featuring Douglas Lim and Juanita in the morning from 6am to 10am, as well as Fly 45 with Natalie and Elysha from 10am to 1pm and 1pm to 4pm, respectively.Listeners will also be able to enjoy Fly Drive’s daily lineup which continues into the evening with Ryan from 4pm to 8pm and the Gen F segment, which features Fifi from 8pm to 12am.In collaboration with DJs Playground, Malaysia’s top DJ academy that offers professional and certified DJ classes, Fly FM will debut a brand-new segment that will air every Friday.The segment, called “FlyDays with DJs Playground,” will run from 5pm to 8pm.Weekends will see the addition of trailblazing TikTok content creator Ryan Howlett and one of Southeast Asia’s most in-demand comedians, Kavin Jay.The brand-new weekend lineup starts with Fly Weekends with Raqeem, Rika and Gabe who host on rotation from noon to 4pm; Fly Weekends with Kavin and Howlett from 4pm to 6pm; Fly Malaysia from 8pm to 9pm; Drop The Bars with DJ CZA from 9pm to 10pm; and Fly Nite Club from 10pm to midnight. […]

The University of the Philippines (UP) officially launched the celebration of 100 Years of Broadcasting in the Philippines (100 YBP) with a documentary presentation and webinar hosted by the Department of Broadcast Communication (DBC) of the College of Mass Communication (CMC) in UP Diliman, on June 29.The documentary “Wika, Awit, Radyo, at Pananakop” tackles the origins and development of radio broadcasting in the Philippines, from the American Colonial period to the post-World War 2 era, as radios became more accessible and part of everyday life. This documentary, produced and written by Professor Elizabeth Enriquez and directed by Maps Arciga, utilized animation, archival videos, and printed sources. It asserts how broadcasting was first used as a colonial apparatus, but later adopted for local purposes. Tagalog and other Filipino languages took centerstage in the story, being formative to the medium’s acculturation process.UP President Danilo Concepcion, UPD Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano, and UPD CMC Dean Fernando Paragas delivered their messages of support for the webinar and centenary celebrations. Concepcion acknowledged the role of UP educators and alumni in shaping mass communication in the country, especially in spreading accurate and valuable information through radio and television and keeping the broadcasting industry alive.In the documentary, Enriquez explained that the Americans used broadcasting as an effective tool for colonization until it became helpful to local businesses and integrated into Filipino culture. “It was part of the American strategy to reshape the consciousness of Filipinos in the American cultural mold. The English language and popular music from the West were first heard on the radio and used as the standard by Filipino broadcasters. While Filipino listeners enthusiastically adopted the foreign sound, it did not take long for Tagalog and kundiman to enter the soundwaves.”The Japanese were the new colonizers during World War II. According to the documentary, they “attempted to purge America from Filipino consciousness. Tagalog and other local languages and local musical compositions and folk songs enjoyed airtime. Still, English and American music were not wiped out while Filipinos hardly learned Nihongo and did not become accustomed to Japanese music.”“After the war, broadcasting spread throughout the country. The English language and popular music from the United States were back on the air. But so were Tagalog and other Filipino languages as new radio stations began operating in the provinces. Filipino singers and musicians performing on the air attained fame, especially when the local music recording industry took off,” Enriquez added. […]

Radiodays Asia 2022 has announced as a headline speaker Bauer Media Audio UK’s Chief Content and Music Officer Ben Cooper.Cooper joined Bauer Media Audio UK in 2020 and holds the role of Chief Content and Music Officer in which he oversees much-loved audio brands including Absolute Radio, KISS, Magic Radio and Hits Radio Networks. Ben has a wealth of experience having worked for over 20 years within the radio, music and live music industry and having previously worked at both the BBC and within commercial radio. He has a strong track record of leading and developing successful teams to deliver creative content alongside strategic, bold decision-making driving digital innovation and change in order to meet the new ways audiences consume and interact. Prior to joining Bauer, Ben was Controller of BBC Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra & Asian Network.The conference also announced more new speakers.Heyang Zhou is the multi-award-winning host of Round Table, the premier radio talk show that discusses issues affecting China and the world. The live broadcast is then rolled into podcasts which makes it the most popular English language podcast that emanates from China. The show has been honoured with the accolade Top Podcast and Classic Podcast on Apple Podcast in the region in 2019 and 2020, respectively.Natalie Pozdeev is a media education specialist, with expertise in practice-based radio, journalism and digital content training. She is currently Program Convenor at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), where she leads the radio and podcasting team.Nessa McGann founded McGann Media, a radio consultancy business focusing on audio training, funding, and talent development in October 2020. Part of the start-up of the Irish Regional Youth Music station SPIN South West in 2007, she was programme director and then station manager, delivering the station a number 1 market position. Previously station manager at Wired FM, Nessa also worked as a freelance reporter and news journalist for RTÉ Cork and Lyric FM.Radiodays Asia 2022 will be held in-person and online on September 6 and 7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.This will be the third edition of the new conference from the team who produces Radiodays Europe, the world’s largest and leading conference for radio and audio development, in collaboration with broadcaster organisations in the Asia-Pacific.

Radiodays Asia includes a fantastic line-up of speakers, leading experts and professionals from around Asia, Australia and across the world. Topics ranging from radio and podcast strategy, new digital developments, successful formats and content development, fact checking and investigative journalism, podcast storytelling and business, social media, audio advertising, sales and the latest research about consumer behaviour. The most important trends and new ideas worldwide in one place.The main conference runs over two days with two parallel tracks of sessions. It will have meet-ups and interactive sessions as part of the programme to facilitate networking and sharing of ideas. There will also be an exhibition area where you can learn the latest about services from our commercial partners. In addition, four educational training workshops will be included in the offer, as well as an evening networking event.Click here to register with the Early Bird Price before July 15. […]

Federico “Ding” Gempesaw, a radio political commentator in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines was shot and killed by masked gunmen on June 29.Gempesaw, 62, hosted a block-time program Bitayan sa kahanginan (Gallows on-air) on Radyo Natin, a local broadcaster.He was a staunch supporter of the late Cagayan de Oro mayor Vicente Emano who made him head of the city hall office that manages the local government-owned markets.According to witnesses, Gempesaw had just stepped down from his taxi outside his home when masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot him twice and fled.The attack, which is the first media killing in the city, took place on the eve of the assumption of presidency by the country’s new president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.Journalists in Cagayan de Oro expressed worry that the killing could signal the start of attacks on media workers in the city and called on the President to look into the killings of media workers and start bringing their killers to justice.He was the 24th and last media worker killed since 2016 when former president Rodrigo Duterte rose to power, and the 196th since democracy was restored in the Philippines in 1986, based on data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). […]

The BBC News Afghanistan service in Pashto and Dari has launched a weekly radio programme, Women (Mermen in Pashto, and Zan in Dari).The 30-minute show will go on air at 7 pm Kabul Time in Dari and at 8 pm in Pashto (14:30 and 15:30 GMT) every Friday.It will be available via FM and shortwave frequencies across Afghanistan and will be available on demand via the websites bbc.com/pashto and bbc.com/persian/afghanistan, and the BBC News Pashto and BBC News Dari channels on Facebook.Presented by Shazia Haya in Pashto and Aalia Farzan in Dari, the programme is aimed at women and girls – especially those in rural areas – in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Alongside offering them a platform to voice their views and questions, the new show will also deliver content that informs and educates, empowering the listeners to make informed decisions and choices.Shazia Haya and Aalia Farzan are BBC journalists who moved to the UK following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.The programme, which talks about women’s rights, healthcare, education, household economy, parenting, children’s health, as well as entertainment, sports and politics, opens with women-focused news from around the world. It discusses with experts the week’s main subject item and includes permanent slots on motherhood and childcare; inspiring stories about successful women from Afghanistan and around the world; and an arts & culture section dedicated to latest works by female writers, artists and musicians.Shazia says: “This programme for me means giving a voice to the voiceless. I hope Mermen will help empower the Afghan women to have better.”Aalia adds: “I want our new radio show, Zan, to serve as a window to every Afghan woman’s home. A window which opens every week to bring her the kind of knowledge that is really useful for her, and also to invite her to speak out about the things that worry or frustrate her.” […]