ASIA

John Huddle, Director, market Development, Asia, SES, presented a session on ‘Cloud Technology in Broadcasting’ at Broadcast Asia 2021 last week.
SES is a leader in global content connectivity solutions and a leading satellite operator.  SES has evolved to address content integration requirements seamlessly.
It has partnered with Microsoft enabling it to deliver the complete suite of capabilities to its broadcast customers via the cloud. The vision of this collaboration is to create the first broadcast-grade cloud.
Discussing the top cloud trends and broadcast industry challenges in Asia, where the pandemic has forced broadcasters to look at alternate revenue and cost models, and has also accelerated digital transformation of broadcasters.
There has been an explosive growth in direct-to-consumer offerings and a huge demand for compelling, relevant and new content. It has also led to broadcasters looking to take advantage of a hybrid distribution model, marrying traditional linear distribution with OTT distribution.
Cloud services can help generate some quick-to-market solutions. They provide broadcasters the ability to optimise content for different devices and user experiences. They also offer real scalability, providing a greater degree of flexibility and adaptability, making it easier to implement changes and react to market changes.
The potential for direct as well as opportunity cost savings offered by cloud-based workflows is huge due to the agility they offer.
SES has built a user interface called SES 360, where all of these workflows can be managed. Assuming that a broadcaster already has content in place, they can configure and launch a channel from this portal. It also has tools to help store and manage content, configure playlists and configure distribution. […]

Benztown and P1 Media Group will host a free webinar for radio professionals around the globe, titled “PD Summer School: The Best Advice Ever.” on July 15.
The webinar is 14th in the companies’ “Global Radio Ideas” webinar series from top radio experts from around the world.
The 30-minute webinar will be hosted by Andreas Sannemann, CEO, Benztown, and Ken Benson, Partner, P1 Media Group, and will feature Pat Holiday, Founder, Musicom Academy.
Over Holiday’s stellar 50-year radio career, he programmed monster AC and Hot AC stations including Lite in Detroit, Warm in Cincinnati, Mix in Montreal, and Mix Toronto, was GM for stations in Calgary and Toronto, and was head of programming for a major Canadian radio group and launched the Virgin Radio brand across Canada. Holiday was named Canadian PD of the Year and had Stations of the Year three times.
Holiday will field attendees’ questions and cover topics including:

A secret way to program you’ve never heard before
One easy step to turn a listener into a fan
5 quick things a jock can do to become great
Keys to leading creative people
How you should be programming ad breaks
Using your intuition to build a better station

Register at: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/GlobalRadio […]

SPH Radio’s Kiss92 is rolling out a new morning show titled ‘Wake Up and Go with Div and Jo’ on July 19.
The show will air from 6am to 10am on weekdays and will be anchored by incumbent morning show host Divian Nair together with actor and writer Jo Tan, who is making her radio debut.
Vocal and smart, Jo brings her own brand of humour to the show, with the cheeky and playful Divian her perfect foil.
Multifaceted and multi-disciplinary, Jo is a prolific theatre performer, television actress, singer, host and also a writer. She recently won Best Actress at the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2020 for her self-penned one-woman show Forked.
Kiss92’s current morning show DJ Maddy Barber will be leaving the team on July 16 to pursue personal interests while producer-presenter Andre Hoeden will be moving into the role of content strategist for SPH Radio’s English music stations, Kiss92 and ONE FM 91.3.
On her new gig as a radio DJ, Jo Tan said:  “I love communicating with people and telling stories, which is why I am an actor and playwright, was a journalist, and have recently become a streamer. Radio is a means of communication that I’ve always been happy to experience but never worked in, so now that I have the opportunity, I have to say I’m maybe too psyched. I’m going to have to play it cool on-air so that I don’t sound like I’m a chihuahua being fast forwarded.”
Divian, who is thrilled to have Jo as co-host, said: “Jo is one of the most talented people I know. I mean, how many people do you know who can write, sing, dance, act, have studied law and trained in a prestigious clown school? She is fiercely intelligent, kind, quirky and incredibly versatile. Jo and I share a vision that radio allows listeners from all walks of life to connect through stories, initiatives, laughter and tears. That’s what we want our show to be about.” 
Bernard Lim, Programme Director for SPH Radio’s English music stations, said: “Jo shares great chemistry with Divian, and her witty and offbeat personality is highly disarming. Div and Jo will bring new and interesting voices to our morning conversations and deliver a fresh entertaining show for our discerning audience, while providing our partners with an engaging platform to connect with their consumers.” […]

India’s Radio One network has switched over to International Music format in the southern city of Chennai.
The station, which has switched over from hit Tamil music, has also created a campaign called “Your Request our playlist”.
According to the company, it is India’s largest Music request campaign. It encourages and urges listeners to send in their list of music via an Instagram message on the official 94.3 Radio One page.
94.3 Radio One runs India’s largest International format radio network in Delhi, Mumbai , Bangalore and now in Chennai.
The brand has built communities around food, music, sports, travel and fitness backed by experiences of various celebrities and globally celebrated RJs like Ryan Seacrest and Casey Kasem.
Commenting on the launch, Ramesh Menon, CEO – Radio and Entertainment, HT Media Ltd and Next Mediaworks Ltd. Said: “Radio One International caters to a large diaspora of global audience with premium lifestyle. 58% of our audience belongs to NCCSA1 & NCCSA2 categories. Our brand promise of ‘upgrade to India’s only international radio network’ resonates very well with our upscale audience in all the cities and we look forward to amplifying our brand presence with the re- launch in Chennai to the international format.” […]

The DRM Consortium has just released a new corporate video focused on the user’s experience of digital radio and the many benefits offered by the open, all-bands Digital Radio Mondiale, DRM standard.
The DRM – User’s Experience video has been created specifically to introduce the many other extra benefits that digital radio DRM brings to listeners.
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The video uses an accessible and humoristic story to illustrate all the advantages and extra services available to listeners through DRM, on all bands and at no extra cost: better audio quality and more content choice, emergency warning functionality, public signage and radio schooling, by using Journaline, the advanced text application of DRM digital radio services, which provides access information on-demand without the need for internet or mobile networks and in many languages, as it is fully based on Unicode.
This is a sequel to the corporate video released recently, “DRM – From Studio to the Listener” which was addressing transmission and distribution issues and was mainly aimed at regulators, broadcasters and the industry. The energy efficiency of DRM transmissions explicitly highlighted in that video can now be individually checked by using the recently launched energy efficiency calculator.
Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium Chairman, invites all those familiar with DRM, or who want learn more about the standard, to travel to the imaginary country of Integria, maybe a bit like yours, to meet new friends “whom you can follow without restrictions for 24 hours. You will learn how DRM educates, entertains, enhances, and even saves, their lives. A couple of dedicated DRM Consortium members have tried to introduce these advantages imaginatively by presenting them in an easy and fun way. We urge you to watch, share and smile with DRM, while learning about its great potential to improve the lives of so many all over the world.” […]

Big news from us!
As of next week AsiaRadioToday will adopt its parent brand logo of radioinfo.
You will also be able to find us at a new web address, www.radioinfo.asia.
But don’t worry, if you have bookmarked this URL, it will automatically forward you to radioinfo.asia.
All your usual features will still be on the new site, and it will be faster and more responsive than the old one.
To celebrate the rebrand, we are offering all employers FREE JOB ADS on our jobs page for the next few months. If you are looking for any staff, just send us an email to [email protected] with all the details and ask for free placement on the Asia site.
Radioinfo began in Australia over 20 years ago and has been serving Australia and New Zealand since then. In 2014 we bought this site from its founder Nik Martin and have been operating it ever since. We have one full time reporter based in India and freelancers all around Asia.
We welcome all contributions and media releases about radio, podcasting, and audio products from everywhere around our region. They can be sent to [email protected]. For now, emails sent to the old editor email address will also be received, but eventually we will close that address.
You can sign up to our twice-weekly email newsletter about the radio industry, podcasting and audio technology here.
We hope you like our new look and name.
Please take our survey to let us know your thoughts about our coverage. […]