ASIA

Inovonics has promoted Mukesh Chaudhary to Regional Sales Manager for Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East-Africa (MEA). In addition to his current responsibility for South Asia, Chaudhary will work to engage channels in numerous new international markets.In collaboration with Inovonics headquarters in Felton, California, Chaudhary will help implement the company´s mission “to expand worldwide sales so more and more customers can use, experience and enjoy Inovonics products.”“As Regional Sales Manager for APAC and MEA, Mukesh can capitalize on his extensive professional experience to explore additional international markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” said Sales and Marketing Manager Gary Luhrman. “Located in Delhi, Mukesh is ideally suited to represent Inovonics and introduce our products to new dealers and radio broadcasters in these parts of the world.”Chaudhary continues to report to Luhrman, who is based at the company´s headquarters. International customers that are presently managed by Luhrman will continue to work with him directly as before. Both Luhrman and Chaudhary work together in a collaborative fashion to ensure good communications with Inovonics’ international customers.Photo: LinkedIn […]

The Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) has shut down the private radio station Kawoon Ghag, which has been operating in the in eastern Laghman province for about two decades, claiming that it is “property of the government”, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC).On June 13, Laghman Provincial Intelligence Department members entered the station’s office in the presence of representatives from the local administration and the Information and Culture Department and took it off the air, according to a local source.The station’s managing director Inqilabi Yousefzai has filed a complaint with the Taliban-run Ministry of Information and Culture, but it has not produced any results.According to Yousefzai the station was established in 2005 in Mehtarlam, the capital of eastern Laghman province, with financial support from InterNews , and in accordance with an agreement with the local administration, a piece of land was allocated for it and a one-story building was constructed.He said that the radio holds licenses from the Ministries of Information and Culture, Communications and Information Technology, and Industry and Commerce. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s investment license is issued in the name of Yousafzai, and the Ministry of Communications’ license categorizes the radio as “private”. Yousafzai confirmed that taxes have been paid continuously based on these licenses. However, the license issued by the Ministry of Information and Culture in 2016 lists the Laghman Scientific and Cultural Association as the owner, with Inqilabi Yousefzai serving as the managing director.Article 4 of the Afghanistan Media Law, stipulates that no natural or legal person can prevent, sanction, censor, or restrict the free activities of news or information media, or interfere in their affairs and publications.AFJC condemned the shutting down of Kawoon Ghag radio as a clear violation of press freedom and  urged the local Taliban authorities in Laghman to promptly allow for its immediate and unconditional reopening.The Media Complaints and Violations Commission, led by Khairullah Khairkhah, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Information and Culture, is scheduled to investigate the matter this week. […]

A new one-off fund for arts and culture podcasts has been announced in New Zealand.Creative New Zealand, NZ On Air and RNZ are working together to support the development of new podcasts in response to research that shows a deficit in media coverage about arts and culture in Aotearoa.The New Mirrors research, undertaken by Rosabel Tan and James Wenley, shows a lack of arts and culture media across New Zealand, while also outlining ways to address the problem; in response, the three agencies have created a one-off fund to generate new arts media opportunities.Tracey Monastra, Creative New Zealand’s Manager, Advocacy, says the research shows a need for new ways to develop coverage of the arts.“We want to see a stronger and more visible arts sector, where artists’ voices are reflected across our media landscape. The New Mirrors research highlighted the deficit in coverage across the sector broadly and the need for better arts and culture coverage in the regions, for ngā toi Māori, Pasifika arts and a need to strengthen our reviewing culture,” Monastra says.The fund, which opens on 22 July, will support the development of up to four podcasts, exploring New Zealand arts and culture from new and inventive perspectives, that cater to audiences and artforms that are not well served by the current arts media.“As an agency that funds diverse, high-quality content for Aotearoa audiences, we lament the scarcity of arts-focused stories,” says NZ On Air Acting Co-Head of Funding, Kelly Davis.“Working in partnership with other agencies who also want to see more coverage of the arts in our media, is one way we can support and stimulate this so more of our distinct and unique arts and culture stories can be told,” says Davis.

Strong media coverage of arts and culture is essential for the creative sector to thrive. The media acts as a crucial bridge between artists and the public—giving artists a platform to amplify their stories.RNZ’s Māori Commissioner, Jana Te Nahu Owen, will work as a strategic advisor alongside Rosabel Tan to support podcast makers, says she hopes for a wide range of applications from artists and content creators that reflect our diverse arts and culture sector in Aotearoa.“This fund gives producers and artists creative license to come up with fresh and innovative approaches to the podcast medium. By working collaboratively on this mahi, we will strengthen our ability to tautoko the arts community and open up more pathways for ngā toi Māori, Pasifika artists and all creatives from across the motu. We want all your whakaaro and hope to see applications that cover a raft of issues and topics from different perspectives,” she says.“RNZ’s award winning podcast and audio teams are available to manaaki the projects and produce high quality audio programmes that address the key points of the New Mirrors report,” says Te Nahu Owen.Applications will be assessed by representatives from CNZ, NZ On Air and RNZ.Learn more about the arts and culture podcast co-fund: https://creativenz.govt.nz/funding-and-support/all-opportunities/arts-and-culture-podcast-co-fund […]

Sumana Jayathilaka, a distinguished radio journalist and former Additional Director General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), has passed away.Jayathilaka was renowned as the inaugural presenter of the highly acclaimed “Handa Mama” programme on SLBC, where she was fondly known as Handa Nanda.Her career in broadcasting began in 1963 when she joined SLBC as an announcer and rose to the position of Additional Director General before retiring in 1984.She also acted as the Programme Manager of regional radio services such as Ruhunu Sevaya and Mahanuwara Sevaya.Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said that Jayathilaka was a courageous woman who fulfilled a national mission by working with foresight to prepare the Sri Lankan future generation with great potentials to transform society for the better.“When I was the education minister, she gave us a lot of strength as a consultant on children’s programmes and children’s affairs,” he said. […]

Radiodays Asia, the leading radio and podcasting conference in the Asia-Pacific, has announced more speakers for its 2024 edition.Siddhanta Pinto, Founder, Ofspin, IndiaSiddhanta founded OfSpin 20 years ago and it has been a part of India’s audio industry ever since. Be it FM radio, Satellite radio, Internet radio, Corporate radio, and recently since 2016 everything digital – Audiobooks, Podcasts, richly produced Audio series, and Audio Ads, OfSpin’s growth has mirrored that of the industry. Business models and monetization in Audio are also a keen focus for Siddhanta, as OfSpin experiments with distribution and ads for Audiobooks.Deb Hishon, Media Measurement Director, ANZ, GfK, AustraliaDeb is an experienced media professional and has been working on Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) contracts for 20 years and in media research for almost 25. During this time, she has acquired a deep knowledge of the media and radio industries in Australia, New Zealand and worldwide. As GfK’s Media Measurement Director ANZ, Deb works closely with the industry joint committee, Commercial Radio & Audio, and ensures contractual requirements are met, KPIs are delivered and new opportunities are explored within the scope of the contract, including the Measurement Innovation Program in Australia and more recently the development and successful launch of Radio360, a true hybrid RAM system.Mike Russell, Founder, Creator Magic, UKWith over 25 years of experience in traditional radio, podcasting, audio production, and content creation, Mike’s popular YouTube channel has been instrumental in educating hundreds of thousands of audio producers, voice-over artists, and radio professionals worldwide since 2010.  Mike is now also an AI educator and the founder of Creator Magic, a platform exploring the fusion of artificial intelligence and creativity in audio and video creations, as well as practical workflows for everyday use.  Mike also serves as the Creative Director at Music Radio Creative, where his international team continues to create radio imaging, voice-overs, and productions for over 4,000 clients annually in 20+ different languages for customers in 120+ countries worldwide, making it the largest professional voice-over agency.Radiodays Asia will be held 2-4 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Register for the conference here. […]

Your invitation from Steve Ahern. More information about Early Bird prices and our special readers discount at the bottom of this article.When Anders Held and I founded the first RadioDays Asia conference in 2019, our aim was to bring the energy and positive vibe of RadioDays Europe to Asia.Talking with broadcasters all across Asia as I travelled through the region delivering training and consultancy, they told me there was no Asia wide event where the radio broadcast and audio production industries could get together to swap ideas, learn from each other and be exposed to the newest ideas from around the world.We succeeded.Not only did broadcasters attend, but Regulators from across Asia and the Pacific also came, to learn about the changing media landscape and how public policy should adapt to the changes. In one session I hosted in the second conference regulators refused to end their animated discussion between each other and carried it over into the lunch break, they left with new ideas and renewed motivation to work together across borders to respond to emerging trends in the audio industry.

Last year we added more innovations by partnering with James Cridland to add longer sessions about Podcasting to the conference. That stream of the conference also brought more audio professionals to Kuala Lumpur who wanted to be exposed to the newest podcast production ideas and techniques.After the conference last year, Anders, James and myself sat at the Helipad Bar just a few blocks away from the conference venue and began planning for this year’s event. That’s us below, and the main photo above shows the Helipad rooftop bar’s amazing view of KL by night just a few hours later.We enjoyed the success of the 2023 event with some friends and also did some work… yes, really we did… really.Some things we planned to add for this year are an expansion of the Asia Podcast Awards (they’re open now), more examples of Asian podcasts, a focus on how Artificial Intelligence will affect broadcasters and the best AI Tools to use in our work.Thanks to the international RadioDays team, which includes Peter Niegel from Danish Radio, Rosie Smith and Nessa McGann we formed a program committee comprised of CEOs of various Asian radio companies who have  worked together to craft this year’s program lineup. See the program as it is taking shape here.If you would like to exhibit at the technology section of the conference, contact Michael White and Rosie Smith for more information.Radioinfo readers get a discount of 10% on the conference ticket price. Put in this code at the checkout INFO23Here’s a tip… the Early Bird price ends next week, on 8 June, so hurry if you want tickets at the best price, then add our extra 10% discount. REGISTER HERETickets will still be on sale after next week, they will just cost more.If you want to stay at the conference venue, it is the Royale Chulan Hotel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.About the authorSteve Ahern is the founding editor of radioinfo. He recently left the position of Manager ABC Radio Sydney to rejoin AMT Pty Ltd as CEO. AMT is the parent company of this and other broadcast industry trade publications.Steve’s old job at the ABC is being advertised on our jobs page, check it out here.Previous coverage of the Radiodays Asia Conferences here.
Very inspiring… I feel like I’m graduating from Radio University: Radiodays Asia 2019 wraps up […]