ASIA

If COVID allows, Radio conferences will be back on the list for 2022.Radiodays Asia, which has been held as a virtual event during COVID, will also be in September but just before IBC, from 6th to 7th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Radiodays Asia focuses on the future of radio, audio and podcast businesses, specifically for broadcasters in Asia, and usually has a good attendance and a number of speakers from Australia.

This years conference will by a hybrid event.Speakers at the previous Radiodays Asia conferences include Greg Byrnes (Nine Radio), Peter Charlton (Nova), James Cridland, Rachel Corbett (Nova Intertainment) as well as Valerie Geller and Steve Ahern.Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union has scheduled a virtual event from 22 – 24 March.Commercial Radio Australia is yet to finalise a date for next year and will likely wait until the situation with Omicron becomes much clearer.There is no official announcement yet from CRA about 2022.The CBAA conference for community radio stations will be held in Cairns from March 24 – 26 and will be opened by the new CBAA President, Jacquie Riddell.Speakers so far include Gabrielle Andolfatto – Youth Forum, Jon Bissett– Community Media in a Post-Pandemic World, Jo Curtin and Rachel Rees – Update from the CBF, Kerrie Foxwell-Norton– Meaningful Conversations About Climate Change, Holly Friedlander Liddicoat and Maddy Macquine– Women and GNC Forum.NAB Show and the Radio Show will now roll into one event, beginning in April next year with the conference in Las Vegas set for April 23 – 27 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.This is the biggest show of equipment in the world and covers Radio, TV, Film and all other forms of broadcasting.The incorporation of the Radio Show means that their event, usually in the latter half of the year, will no longer happen.The Worldwide Radio Summit, usually held in March or April at a venue in Los Angeles, has not been held since COVID began, and there has been no announcement from organisers about the possibility of a gathering next year.Radiodays Europe will be in Malmö, Sweden from May 15 – 17, and already there over 120 speakers confirmed, including Yagmur Özberkan and Susani Mahadura who produce the award-winning podcast show, Özberkan and Mahadura, Caspar Adriani CTO Pluxbox, Richard Stern CEO TuneIn, Olle Zachrison Head of Digital News Swedish Radio, Nicolau Santos President RTP, Caroline Pouron P3 Swedish Radio, Nick Piggott Project Director RadioDNS, Rebecca Frank Content Director KISS, Anne-Marie Dohn Radio 4, Joe D’Angleo Xperi, Frances Currie, and Lorna Clarke BBC. The full list of speakers is here.The IBC Show is set for Amsterdam from September 9-12. This is usually the biggest show of equipment outside of the NAB Show.At this stage there is no program or list of speakers as the last IBC only just finished at the beginning of December this year. […]

Pacific Content has compiled a list of the major predictions for the Podcast industry in 2022.All told over 75 predictions were received from industry leaders that contained many of the themes from 2021, including industry growth, advertising, audiences, and content strategies.On one of the main predictions, surrounding Paid Subscriptions there were differing views with some experts like Wonder Media Network Co-founder, Shira Atkins, Co-founder, saying, “Paid channels and subscription-supported podcasts will be few and far between by end of the year. It is only the shows with *massive* audience, or the networks with startup capital that can make subscriptions sustainable, or throw off enough cash to be self-supporting.”

Others held a counter view, like Acast COO, Oskar Serrander, who says, “In 2022, we will see an influx of podcasters to the subscription game, and they’ll start experimenting with it — delivering not only bonus content to their fans, but a variety of other benefits like ad-free streaming, early releases, exclusive access to creators, and more.” There was general agreement around the need for podcasters to step up their game and take audience development seriously, especially given the sheer volume of podcasts that are now available.Head of Digital Audio, ARN/iHeartPodcast, Corey Layton, says, “The ongoing difficulty in building audiences and discoverability will lead to fewer one-off series. Expect to see the growth of parent feeds — retaining audiences with one broad subject matter, that shifts from series to series.” iHeartMedia’s Bob Pittman adds, “Marketing will get more important than ever: As more creators launch podcasts, “cutting through” will become more important — and harder. Brands with big marketing platforms will win here every time.”Radio and TV networks, streamers and studios, along with Facebook, Netflix and YouTube are all predicted to move more strongly into podcasting.APM Studios COO, Alex Schaffert, says, “Networks, studios, and streamers that don’t yet have an original audio division will start one in 2022.”However Shreya Sharma, Writer/Curator of Inside Podcasting, expects “… independent podcasters and networks will blossom. The exponential increase in celebrity podcasters seems to have spurred the indies to grow their shows with intention, through avenues including networking and education.” Podcast advertising is expected to not only grow, but it will also ‘grow up’ with iHeartMedia’s CEO, Digital Audio Group, Conal Byrne, saying, “Podcast advertising will evolve into a good blend of titles and audience: Host-read ads will continue to be critical for brands to drive real engagement, as the essential value proposition of podcasting — but audience cohorts will complement these more and more on media plans — which will allow those plans to start driving real scale and start pulling in bigger budgets — for the networks that have scale.”Podcast advertising is expected to not only grow, but it will also ‘grow up’ with iHeartMedia’s CEO, Digital Audio Group, Conal Byrne, saying, “Podcast advertising will evolve into a good blend of titles and audience: Host-read ads will continue to be critical for brands to drive real engagement, as the essential value proposition of podcasting — but audience cohorts will complement these more and more on media plans — which will allow those plans to start driving real scale and start pulling in bigger budgets — for the networks that have scale.”Corey Layton says, “The demand for programmatic advertising will continue to soar. 2022 will be pivotal for publishers to maintain the premium nature of podcast advertising without letting the shouty ads in. Collectively we need to hold the line and ensure podcasts premium sound applies to not only the content but the bits in between.”As for the big players, James Cridland, says, “Spotify will continue to grow, and become unarguably the most popular podcast app in most countries. To combat this, Apple Podcasts will launch an Android app, and become a champion of the open podcast ecosystem”The full list of Pacific Content’s top 14 predictions is here […]

Malaysia’s Chinese radio station 988 is collaborating with Yee Lee Corporation to usher in the Chinese New Year (CNY).CNY, also known as the Lunar New Year, is believed to be significant to ensure good fortune and prosperity for the coming year and has many religious traditions and beliefs.CNY 2022, the Year of the Tiger will be celebrated on Feb 1. The tiger is considered the symbol of power in Chinese culture.

This year marks the third time Yee Lee is collaborating with 988 as its partner for CNY.Their partnership has resulted in a radio drama titled The Treasure Of Family – The Missing New Year.The drama tells of Gong Xi Nian, who rarely returns home for CNY due to his busy schedule. His girlfriend suggests they go back for the festivity this year. Frustrated, Gong makes a wish for CNY to vanish. His wish comes true and the people around him have no idea what CNY is all about.Delighted at first, Gong then starts to discover that his memories of his parents are beginning to vanish too. He now must find a way to reinstate CNY.All 10 episodes of the radio drama are available on 988 app. […]

Arguably the most prestigious international awards of its kind, The New York Festivals Radio Awards receives entries from stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe.The mission of the competition is to honour the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community.Entries are judged by the Grand Jury made up of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe, including a number from Asia including India, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Entries are judged on production values, organisation, presentation of information, creativity and use of the medium.All entries in the 2022 competition will be judged online by NYF’s Radio Awards Grand Jury. Award-winning entries will be showcased on the Radio Awards winners gallery.To view the 2021 winner’s gallery, visit HERE.The deadline to enter the 2022 Radio Awards competition is February 9, 2022.To enter, visit: HERE, for additional information visit: Rules and Regulations.New York Festivals ®Celebrating the World’s Best Work since 1957 […]

At the end of December 2021, the DRM Consortium was invited to give a comprehensive presentation at the annual Indonesia ICT Standardization Forum, this time with the theme “ICT Standardization for Accelerating Digital Transformation”.The event was organised by the Indonesian regulator, Kominfo, on December 28 and the DRM presenter, Sharad Sadhu reports:“At this event, DRM shared the platform with diverse industry players, all focussing on how standardisation of digital technologies pushes digital transformation in the associated industries such as in mobile communications (5G, IoT, ORAN, AIML) and in broadcasting technologies.

The well-organised Standardisation Forum event provided information and expertise to the 250 attendees. Industry experts made presentations on aspects of digital transformation of mobile devices, 5G devices in Indonesia, device controlling for Public Protection, ICT Trends at the ITU and mobile broadband technology trends.The DRM Consortium presentation addressed the topic of Digital Broadcasting Technology Trends, focussing on the theme “DRM Smart Radio Accessible to All”.  Introducing the DRM system as the digital radio broadcasting system of choice in all bands of radio broadcasting, the presentation focussed on the main aspects of DRM digital radio in the FM band, as applicable to Indonesia; use of current FM spectrum through RF slot insertion, multiple audio and multimedia services, Journaline and derived services such as Emergency Warning, Radio Schooling, Highway services and public signage. Very favourable Capex and Opex cost benefits accrued by using the DRM system were highlighted leading to an analysis of why Indonesia should consider using the DRM system. A flavour of the DRM receivers in the market and ‘DRM Around the World’ concluded the presentation.In the Q&A session, questions were asked on the versatility of DRM radio for covering the cities, villages, islands, valleys, and hills of Indonesia and about the need for affordable receivers. These were replied to at length and the participants were satisfied with the answers.The DRM Consortium trust that the authorities in Indonesia will consider these aspects of the DRM system and rollout the digitisation of radio broadcasting in Indonesia using the versatile and flexible DRM.” […]

Launched at the end of 2020, the WorldDAB Asia-Pacific Technical Group concluded the year by holding its 4th meeting on 9th December.The WorldDAB Asia-Pacific Technical Group is a forum dedicated to assisting broadcast radio industry stakeholders in the Asia Pacific region implement DAB+. The Group offers participants the opportunity to discuss, learn and collaborate on all technical aspects of DAB+ digital radio, with information tailored specifically to the APAC region.Throughout 2021 the WorldDAB APAC Technical Group grew from strength to strength, with membership of the group growing to over 60 radio industry representatives from over 20 countries from across the Asia Pacific Region, and with virtually all Southeast Asian countries being represented.

The meetings focused a range of topics around the “DAB adoption process” covering topics from Trials and Experimentation to DAB requirements and Allotment planning.The WorldDAB presentations were supported by a range of invited industry presenters who covered a broad range of topics that included multiplexing systems, DAB emergency warning features, systems and examples, DAB in cars, why DAB is green technology, hybrid DAB radio and country advances, example implementations and details of ongoing trials.A highlight of the December meeting was a presentation from Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) announcing the regional expansion of DAB+ in Thailand, with plans for an additional 10 sites to be implemented between 2022 and 2024. The new sites will include both national and local multiplex layers.Chairman of the Group, Dr. Les Sabel, said: “The Technical Group meetings are set to continue in 2022 with a further three meetings being planned which will explore transmission and network planning before discussing marketing and rollout activities. They will be accompanied by topical presentations from leading industry representatives as well as other topics of interest to the group.” […]