ASIA

Content from BPROne of Radio’s unique benefits is localism…. local branding and local focus. Radio stations named after local landmarks, cities and regions are often lost in the rush to adopt corporate branding. The most important part of this is whether the gain for the corporation is greater than the loss of the local relationship.Like many industries, the evolution and growth of media and radio follows a fairly predictable pattern.

Starting from small beginnings, a single station in a single market builds relationships, brand value and an audience. At some point along this journey, the company focusses on a path to growth building a stronger brand joined together by listener and advertiser loyalty.Because the entry point for Radio and television ownership is limited by regulation – licenses approved or bought subject to regulatory approvals. Over time, strict ownership regulations have been relaxed and industries move from a highly regulated stage to an unregulated one.Deregulation often sees the emergence of companies whose primary goal is to build scale through acquisition.Building business via acquisition has enormous appeal – one of which is to enjoy economies of scale (sharing resources in making products and selling them) – we see this working in industries like hotels, travel, airlines banking, brewing and media… the consolidated business enjoys the simplicity of a single brand that can be accessed almost everywhere. Think Sheraton Hotels, etc.In some case’s corporate brewing owners have retained local brand affiliations, VB (Victoria Bitter) Castlemaine XXXX (Queensland) and Swan (a West Australian beer brewed in South Australia!). Despite these brands being retained, locally focused craft beer increasingly attracts local loyalties.Radio has its own examples where the corporate need has undermined listener connection – in this process, personal connection is replaced by corporate ‘product-isation’…  as an example, in 2015 iconic contemporary music station B105, (where the B stands for Brisbane) became Hit 105 broadly coinciding with loss of market leadership …. In 2020 B105 was brought back. More recently Sea FM on the Gold Coast has re-appeared.In the UK ‘local’ radio station names were superseded by National brands – locally named stations becoming Capital or Heart, Hits or Greatest Hits. Good for national revenue but bad for local listener connections. According to a recent Ofcom report, consumption of broadcast radio continues to decline in the UK, are these connected?There are many examples just like these where the relationship is lost sometimes forever and often for dubious corporate gain. So, before you take a decision to drop, change or modify successful branding that could change the relationship between you, your brand (and your career) stop for a moment and consider whether there is a benefit to your listeners that will be clear and beneficial.By Peter Don, BPR […]

Content from BPRInterviews have long played a part in radio programs. Interviews are commonplace on news/talk formats and many breakfast programs consider interviews with experts and celebrities to be important. However, we often over-estimate the value of interviews and the amount of interest that they generate with the listening audience. Interviews are popular because they give presenters something to talk about and someone with whom they can talk. However, all interviews are not equal. Many of them are tune-outs.Recently, Perry Michael Simon, Vice President News, Talk and Sports at AllAccess.com wrote a column about interviews that was so compelling, we just had to share it with you.

Here are some excerpts from that column:I hear so many interviews that leave me asking why they bothered. It’s not just that many of the guests aren’t that interesting, or it’s a topic that I don’t care about, or that some guests are there primarily to sell something. It’s also the way hosts handle interviews, and that goes for talk radio and for podcasts. Here, then, is a little free advice…
Before you book an interview, ask yourself who would be interested in this guest. Time-filling isn’t a good reason to do an interview. “But it’s a celebrity” is not a good reason, unless we’re talking A+++-list, someone you’re sure your audience would tune in to hear even if they were reading the proverbial phone book.
Prepare. Do not go into an interview without a strong idea of where you want to go with it. Do your research — don’t delegate this to your producer, do it yourself — and try to develop questions that will elicit unique, even newsworthy responses.
Establish, right out of the box, why your audience should be interested in the interview. Unless the guest is a major name/household word to your audience, you need to let them (the listeners) know who your guest is and why the listeners should care.
Ask smart questions that display the fact that you did your research. The other day, I heard a host turn to a guest and say “your thoughts.” That’s not a question. That’s also allowing the guest, if they indeed have thoughts, to determine the direction of the interview, which can lead to all kinds of trouble. If you find yourself asking a guest for “your thoughts,” don’t. Just no. Have an actual question that you’re reasonably certain will lead someplace. And if you’re interviewing a politician, please, I beg you, do not fawn over them. Ask tough questions, even of someone with whom you generally agree. You’re not a public relations spokesperson. You represent the audience, and, ideally, you’re asking the questions they’d like to ask if they had the access you have. Don’t fan. Be a pro.
If an interview is not what you’d hoped it would be, do not prolong the listeners’ agony, or yours. If you’re on the radio, end the interview whenever you feel like it’s gone on long enough. Don’t worry about hurting anyone’s feelings; just politely thank the guest and move on. (Always prepare more than enough material to fill the time in case an interview falls flat.) It’s your show, your audience, your decision. If something doesn’t work, don’t try to force the issue. Dump it and move on.
Don’t you wish that every interviewer would follow these simple rules? If these rules are followed, your audience will be very grateful.By Andy Beaubien, BPR […]

India’s Big FM network has ventured into the social commerce space with their latest offering – BIG Living, a platform for those who care for themselves and the environment and want to live a sustainable life.It connects the consumers to an array of like-minded brands, artisans and designers who share a similar philosophy of sustainable living. Each product is specially selected by the network’s presenters.‘Health & Wellness’ section will have a specially selected range of products for a sound and soothing mind and body. The ‘Giving Back’ section will help you bring smiles and joy to someone’s life. ‘Locally Made’ category is to encourage all local businesses and boost their products through the platform. Adding more, its ‘Workshop’ category will have a selection of sessions for personal growth and upskilling. It will also showcase the best of talents from the heartland and their magnificent creation through their ‘Artisans and Designers’ section.

Abraham Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited, said: “With our strong digital footprint expanding rapidly, it is a natural progression to foray into social commerce to build consideration and brand salience thereby venturing into an alternative revenue stream. Sustainable living is the future and we at BIG FM are doing our part to be conscious and protective of the environment we live in. Today’s generation is looking up to their credible set of influencers while making their purchasing decisions and we are proud to present a platform to our audience who they can trust for their authentic purchases.”Sunil Kumaran, Country Head, Product, Marketing and THWINK BIG, Big FM, said: “To bring about a positive change, it is the small everyday choices one makes that matters. This very thought is at the core of our offering with BIG Living. We have built a one-stop shop that offers sustainable products and modern-day services to the users. Through this platform, we are offering organic products, supporting local businesses and artisans, and offering creative workshops that add value to the user’s life. BIG Living leverages our strengths in the area of digitalization and state of the art production capabilities to bring a powerful platform helping brands and consumers to connect.” […]

Adthos Creative Studio launched this year, bringing with it a world first: the ability to create high-quality audio advertising on the go using innovative text to speech and synthetic voice technology.Using Creative Studio, broadcasters and advertisers are not only able to create, produce and playout their ads in record time, they also have access to a suite of pre-produced adverts covering various kinds of businesses or services which can be quickly and easily customized to their needs.And right now, Adthos Creative Studio has created a readymade campaign for radio stations focused on encouraging vaccine uptake which can be downloaded and used for free, with promos covering 6,500 cities in 40 countries, and in 70 languages and dialects. For the United States it includes the top 1,000 largest cities.With more than 13,000 creatives, and supported on its release by stations with a total of more than 250 million weekly listeners, it’s the largest audio ad campaign in history.The company says: “In a time where fake news and misinformation is rife, we believe that radio – which remains one of the most trusted forms of media – has an important role to play in contributing positively to the world. And in the midst of an evolving public health crisis, the ability to create powerful targeted messaging quickly and easily to be rolled out in multiple locations offers big advantages. We also see this as a positive use for AI technology that benefits humanity”Visit the Adthos Responsible AI for Humanity webpage to experience it for yourself. […]

The GfK Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAM) Wave 2, 2021 revealed a new high for Malaysian radio as it reached a high of almost 96% of individuals in Peninsular Malaysia, equivalent to 21.1 million weekly radio listeners, reflecting an increase of 469,000.From this, Astro Radio grew its market share to 15.6 million weekly listeners or 74% of 21.1 million available radio listeners, cementing its position as the radio operator with the highest number of listeners locally.Astro Radio’s increased reach in radio listenership was made possible by 312.6 million monthly average digital and video streams, 24.1 million social media followers, and 103 million monthly average Facebook page reach.Astro Radio brands continued to rank No. 1 across all languages: ERA, the No. 1 Malay brand; HITZ, the No. 1 English brand; MY, the No. 1 Chinese brand; and RAAGA, the No. 1 Tamil brand.
ERA continued to achieve Malaysia’s highest weekly reach amongst young Malay listeners between the ages of 10 to 29, with 2.9 million listeners.
SINAR remained Malaysia’s second most-listened-to brand with a weekly listenership of 4.6 million.
GEGAR, Malaysia’s No. 1 radio brand in the East Coast reached 2.3 million weekly listeners.
With an increase to 2.6 million weekly listeners, HITZ also achieved the highest ‘Exclusive Audience’ for English brands at 328,000 listeners, the Highest Breakfast for English brands with 1.2 million listeners and the Highest Drive for English brands with 1.3 million listeners.
MIX recorded an increase to 1.2 million weekly listeners, with the Breakfast and Drive segment increasing to 519,000 listeners and 584,000 listeners respectively, which marks increases of almost 115,000 (Breakfast) and 150,000 (Drive).
LITE saw an increase in its weekly listeners to 937,000 with its Drive segment now reaching 432,000 listeners and an increase in Exclusive Audience to 108,000 listeners.
Weekly listenership on MY increased by 300,000 growing to 2.5 million, while the Breakfast and Drive segments achieved the highest number of listeners for Chinese brands with 1.6million for each of the segments.
RAAGA increased its weekly listeners to 1.5 million. This increase was also reflected in the Breakfast segment with a high of 1 million listeners, and an increase of more than 120,000 in the Drive segment to 936,000 listeners. RAAGA also recorded an increase in Exclusive Audience by 43,000 to 622,000.
The survey was carried out over 6 weeks with a mix of traditional radio diaries (75%) and e-diaries (25%) distributed to 6,000 unique individuals across Peninsular Malaysia to capture their listening habits. 20 commercial radio brands subscribed to this wave and Astro Radio secured 6 positions in the Top 10 brands ranking.Data source: GfK Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), Wave 2 2021 | Facebook Page Reach: Facebook Insights (July – Sept 2021) | Digital Streams: Radioactive (July – Sept 2021) | Website Unique Visitors/Page Views: Google Analytics (July – Sept 2021) | Video Views: Facebook Creator Studio, CrowdTangle, YouTube (July – Sept 2021) | Total Social Media Followers: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube (July – Sept 2021) […]

The 2022 New York Festivals® Radio Awards competition is now open for entries.New York Festivals Radio Awards honors storytellers from around the globe. Since 1957 NYF has celebrated excellence and innovation across all genres and platforms, keeping pace with industry-wide developments and global trends.“When we added nine categories for social justice content last year, radio producers and the global audio storytelling community responded with thought-provoking work,” said Rose Anderson, VP/Executive Director, New York Festivals Radio Awards. “This year, we are thrilled to announce the debut of our new trophy, the iconic NYF Tower in hand-polished Gold, Silver, and Bronze.” 2021 Social Justice medal winners included “Birds Eye View” (StoryProjects), “Racism Within” (SBS Australia), “Say Their Name” (DCP Entertainment), and “Bioneers Radio Series” (Bioneers). To view the complete roster of 2022 Radio Awards categories, visit HERE.2021 NYF Radio Grand Awards were “I’m Not A Monster” from BBC Panorama & FRONTLINE (BBC), “The Hobbit”, By J.R.R. Tolkien, Read by Andy Serkis (HarperCollins Publishers) and “Weightless” (DMC Studio Argentina). To view all the 2021 Radio Awards winners, visit HERE.Molly Solomon, Executive Producer & President of NBC Olympics Production and Executive Producer for the Golf Channel received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.The BBC earned the Broadcaster of the Year Award and TBI Media UK earned the title of Production Company of the Year.Although the 2021 in-person NAB Show was cancelled due to pandemic quarantine restrictions, NYF pivoted with a 90-minute virtual ceremony Storytellers Gala featuring highlights and acceptances from 100 winning teams of men and women coming from their homes in 40+ countries.The 2022 Storytellers Gala will take place at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 26, 2022. This is the 12th year of NYF’s strategic partnership with NAB Show. All NYF Radio Award winners have access to the multi-day event which is the world’s largest global gathering for the media and entertainment industry.For the second year in a row, New York Festivals welcomes JusticeAid, an organization that promotes justice through the arts and public engagement, as a partner.The NYF Radio Awards receives entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe. The mission of the competition is to honor the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community. To view the 2021 winner’s Gallery, visit: HERE.New York Festivals invites award-winning industry leaders from around the world to become members of their world-class Radio Awards Grand Jury. The 2022 Grand jury will be set in the coming months. Those jurors will include some of the most world’s recognizable voices and captivating content producers in the radio industry. Entries are judged on production values, organization, 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 of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe. 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 please visit: HERE, for additional information visit: Rules and Regulations. […]