ASIA

India’s 93.5 Red FM network has launched Red Indies Radio Festival, which began on June 20 and will continue till June 24.The on-air festival will showcase Indie artists from across the country and give their music a national platform throughout the week.From conversations to sharing their musical journeys, the festival will also have renowned names from the music industry joining the celebration.Early morning classical shows will feature stalwarts from the classical world like Satish Vyas, Abhijeet Pohankar and the morning show will be taken over by leading indie artists such as Armaan Malik, Raftaar and Papon.Another segment ‘Late Night with Legends’ will feature Amit Trivedi, Palash Sen, Neeraj Sridhar and many more sharing their musical stories.Nisha Narayanan, Director & COO, RED FM, and Magic FM, said: “The entire festival is all about celebration of music and independent artists across a wide spectrum of music genres. The idea behind the project is to celebrate independent artists who follow their passion to create something extraordinary and connects them to a world of new audiences and opportunities.” […]

Benztown and P1 Media Group will host a free webinar for radio professionals around the globe, entitled “How to Create a Winning Playlist in a Streaming & Social World, Part Two” on Thursday, June 23.Benztown is a global leader in radio imaging, voiceover, programming and jingles; and P1 Media Group, provides research, strategies and consulting to radio stations worldwide.The webinar will be hosted by Andreas Sannemann, CEO, Benztown, and Ken Benson, Partner, P1 Media Group.Returning for Part Two of this popular webinar is special guest Guy Zapoleon, radio programming legend, music historian and Owner/President, Zapoleon Consulting. This is the 22nd in the webinar series from top radio experts from around the world.The 30-minute webinar will cover topics including:With stations having more data than ever to analyze including Streaming info, Shazam figures, Tik Tok breakouts and tools like Zapoleon’s Hit Predictor, how do programmers prioritize all this data and use it to build their weekly playlist?Is Music Call-Out still important?How radio, particularly Top 40 radio, should deal with old songs that have become vogue again and are new to many listeners, such as Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”.

Is a human-curated playlist a competitive advantage for radio versus the Streamers’ algorithms?Why listening to new music and “using your ears” to pick hits is more important now than ever.Register at https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/GuyZapoleon. […]

Ten new organisations have joined WorldDAB since May 2021.They include South Korean solution provider RF2Digital, Indian solution and service provider Jasmin Infotech, network operator digris, Vietnamese electronic vehicle manufacturer VinFast, South Korean test solutions manufacturer RedwoodComm, Romanian network operator RADIOCOM, Croatia’s regulator Agency for Electronic Media, US-based electronic vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors, global vehicle manufacturer Ford Motor Company and Swiss network operator Romandie Medias. WorldDAB now has a total of 106 members from 32 countries.By joining this global industry forum responsible for defining and promoting DAB digital radio, their membership includes many benefits.Participate and network
Participate in WorldDAB Committees, Working Groups and Task Forces
Attend WorldDAB member events
Reach customers with targeted networking opportunities
Free or discounted admission at other organisation’s industry events
Speaking opportunities
Resources
GfK statistics – quarterly reports on DAB digital radio sales
ETI library – samples of live on-air ensembles from different countries
Strategic information on country rollout plans, coverage maps, presentations and tailored research from industry experts
SharePoint – online member document sharing tool
Member directory
New clients
Promote your products and services to stakeholders across the industry
Dedicated member profile on WorldDAB website
Discounted rates for advertising in brochures
Profiles of success stories
Publication of your organisation’s press releases and white papers
Connections with emerging markets
Support and advice
Dedicated one-to-one support and advice on all aspects of switching from analogue to DAB:
regulation licensing technical trials network build-out
best business case scenarios cost modelling
receiver legislation
production of new digital radio content marketing […]

The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) announced the winners of its annual Awards for Editorial Excellence 2022 in recognition of outstanding works of journalism over the past year in the Asia-Pacific region.Mediacorp Singapore’s English-language station CNA938’s radio documentary “Educate or Regulate: The Alarming Rise of Cryptocurrency Scams”, won the regional award for Excellence in Audio Reporting, edging out other finalist entries by CNA’s The Climate Conversations’ podcast team and BFM Media.SOPA is a Hong Kong-based not-for-profit organisation dedicated to pursuing excellence in journalism. Its awards recognise outstanding works of journalism over the past year in the Asia-Pacific region.In the CNA938 documentary, Ernest Puey explores the rise of crypto scams, what’s luring victims, and if regulation is the only answer to the problem, as the latest data in Singapore shows almost 3 in ten investment-related scams involve cryptocurrencies. The programme features a cryptocurrency scam victim sharing his story, analysts who give a behind-the-scenes look at enforcement and recovery investigations, and a developer who created an unexpected viral hit in Singapore’s cryptocurrency space, the Umbrage Coin.According to the judges, the winning CNA938 piece was “excellent reporting on a significant issue”. They appreciated its “high production quality”, and said: “This sets the bar for audio journalism in the region. It touches a very current, urgent and complicated topic very successfully with extremely detailed editing.”98 awards were presented for coverage of key issues around the region. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of SOPA and the 24th consecutive year of Awards for Editorial Excellence.More than 750 English and Chinese-language entries competed this year in 20 categories including two new categories of Excellence in Technology Reporting and Excellence in Audio Reporting.

The Audio Reporting category drew strong contenders, including startup Project Brazen, whose podcast “Fat Leonard” won a global Award for Excellence. And in the new Technology Reporting category, Tencent News won the Chinese-language Award for Excellence for “Across the Ruins: The Bicycle Sharing Drama Has Not Ended.” […]

According to GfK Radio Audience Measurement survey, Wave 1 2022, Malay-language radio station Suria FM has managed to attract more than 3.4 million listeners a week, an increase of 11% or 350,000 listeners.The station’s breakfast show Team Pagi Suria, which is hosted by Ajak, Fizi Ali and Suraya Borhan and airs 6am to 10am weekdays, recorded the highest increase of 18%. It also recorded the biggest leap in terms of exclusive listeners among all the Malay-language commercial radio stations in Malaysia, at 22%.The Suria Cinta segment, hosted by the award-winning DJ Lin from Sunday to Friday, 8pm to 1am, has the highest weekly time spent listening (TSL) among Malay-language commercial radio stations, averaging two hours and 40 minutes.Mid-morning show Gaya Suria and evening drive show Suria Petang are among the top three stations in Malaysia that have recorded the highest listenership in those time slots.DJ Lin, who is also the general manager of Suria FM, told The Star: “The success achieved is the result of everyone’s hard work at Suria FM. We at Suria are committed to improving radio performance in all aspects, especially digital.“ […]

Radio Teater Nasional (RTN), an audio project of local Malaysian theatre company Manamana debuted an audio adaptation of the theatre piece ‘Dato Seri’ on Wednesday.Through RTN, Manamana seeks to revive the art of the radio play by adapting selected Malaysian plays into episodic radio dramas, which will be available for free on the project’s website.A Malay adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy Of Macbeth, Dato’ Seri is adapted by father-and-son duo, the late Muhammad Ali Hashim and Omar Ali.The radio play version was adapted and directed by Omar, who also voices the titular Dato’ Seri DiKijang.Set in the 1960s, the critically acclaimed play takes place in a reimagined, never-colonised, Malaya called Pertiwi which weaves Nusantara culture, society and stylings. The plot follows Dato’ Seri DiKijang as he navigates political intrigue in his ascent to the family throne, as prophesied by three witches.The list of voice talents includes Sheena Baharudin as Datin Seri DiKajang; Na’a Murad as Dato’ D’Hul; and Nadia Aqilah, Ruzana Ibrahim and Siti Farrah Abdullah as the ‘Tiga Nasib’ witches.The rest of the cast comprise Fatin Syazwanie, Radhi Khalid, Naque Ariffin, Faez Malek, Zul Zamir, Yusman Mokhtar, Kamini Senthilathiban, Nabil Musawir, Endee Ahmad, Amanda Ang, and Coebar Abel.RTN aims to increase arts accessibility across Malaysia to various communities including the visually impaired, the mobility challenged, B40 income group, those residing in rural parts of the country and students.

A statement from Manamana Productions said: “Malaysian Arts has often failed to cater to and include marginalised groups, due to content, cost or accessible venues.”“By using a radio drama model, Radio Teater Nasional will allow for previously marginalised groups to access the Arts.“Radio Teater Nasional’s curated Malaysian plays will be adapted into an episodic audio format, performed by experienced local talent to create fully immersive radio dramas and stored as digital plays accessible to all.“Our long- term goal is to curate and produce plays in a diverse array of Malaysian languages.“We hope to also reach out to schools and school literature clubs, to encourage pickup by the younger generation, for them to develop Arts appreciation and development.”Originally set to launch in 2020, the project was delayed due to the pandemic.The Dato’ Seri radio play can be streamed for free with new episodes available every Wednesday until July 20 via www.radioteaternasional.com.my. […]