ASIA

MBC LOUD FM, Saudi Arabia’s first English commercial radio station by MBC GROUP, celebrated its first birthday in the capital, Riyadh.To celebrate, in the run up to its birthday bash, the station featured a whole host of special programming, announcements, and giveaways, including recaps of the station’s impressive accomplishments so far. Loyal fans were also able to catch up on special shout-outs and testimonials from listeners and key personalities.Featuring a live performance by Saudi singer Tam Tam – during which she performed her new single, “Liars Can’t Hide” – the birthday bash was hosted by MBC LOUD FM’s Station Head and presenter, Alex Agishev, and featured several special guests and influencers.30 MBC LOUD FM listeners were invited to the event, who got to meet and interact with the likes of Byron Cooke, Sana Kothari, Andrew Harrison, Jay R, and Danah.Ziad Hamza, Group Director of Audio, Music and Radio at MBC GROUP, commented: “Today, MBC LOUD FM enters confidently into its second year, as it continues to switch up radio and podcast consumption patterns in the Kingdom. We’re grateful to have earned the trust of major brands targeting English-language speakers, and we have sparked unprecedented engagement among young listeners who crave a fresh contemporary hit radio [CHR] format.” […]

Radiodays Asia, the leading radio and podcasting conference in the Asia-Pacific, has announced more speakers for its 2024 edition.Mediha Mamood, CEO, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of MalaysiaMediha Mahmood is a legal and regulatory professional with more than 20 years of post-qualified experience in top legal firms and public listed companies. Adept at navigating regulatory landscapes, shaping policies and managing strategic collaborations, she has established a solid reputation as a policy-maker and strategic communicator.Shuka Muranishi, Podcast Inventory Manager, Otonal Inc., JapanShuka Muranishi is a Podcast Inventory Manager at Otonal, a leader in the Japanese audio advertising market.  Shuka has been involved in campaign management, having helped popular Japanese podcasters monetize their content and connect them with domestic and international advertisers across various industries.  Shuka looks forward to sharing the latest trends in the Japanese podcast market on the day.Simon Lee, APAC Audio Marketplace Operations Director, Triton Digital, MalaysiaIn his current role to connect audio, audience, and advertising, Simon works closely with broadcasters, music services, and podcasters to maximize their revenue. He engages with programmatic DSPs, agencies, and trading desks to provide strategic and tactical guidance for digital advertising campaigns. Simon is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and has prior experience in broadcast technology, sales, and operations.The event will be held 2-4 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Register for the conference here. […]

French radio journalist Sebastien Farcis said he was leaving India after more than 13 years, as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused to renew his work permit.He is the second French national in four months to have been denied work permit and the third foreign journalist reportedly forced to leave the country this year.Farcis had served as the South Asia correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Radio France, Liberation and the Swiss and Belgian public radios.He is married to an Indian woman and has Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, which allows him to live and work in the country but requires a special permit for missionary activities, mountaineering or journalism.He said that no reason had been provided “despite formal and repeated requests” and that he had applied for a new work permit.Farcis, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), said the MHA had notified the denial on March 7 this year, not allowing him to cover the country’s recently concluded general elections.Describing the decision as an act of “incomprehensible censorship.“, Farcis wrote on X:“After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country,”

“It was communicated to me on the eve of the Indian general elections, the largest democratic elections in the world, which I was hence forbidden to cover. This appeared to me as an incomprehensible censorship,”“This denial comes in a worrying context of increasing restrictions on the work of foreign journalists: after Vanessa Dougnac I am the second French journalist in four months having to leave India under these conditions. At least five OCI [Overseas Citizen of India] foreign correspondents have been banned from working as journalists in less than two years,” he added.In February, French journalist Vanessa Dougnac left the country after the government revoked her OCI card. Dougnac, a contributor to several French-language publications, including the weekly magazine Le Point, came to India as a student 23 years ago, worked as a journalist, married and raised a son.Vanessa revealed that the Ministry of Home Affairs sent her a notice in January, stating her work was “inimical” to national interests, leading to the cancellation of her permanent residency.Two months later, Avani Dias, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), said she had been forced to leave India on April 19, the day the general elections started, after the government objected to her reporting on the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.The ABC had said Dias was informed of the decision by an official from the Ministry of External Affairs, who said her most recent Foreign Correspondent episode on Nijjar “crossed a line.” […]

Lytus Technologies Holdings PTV. Ltd., which operates as a platform services company in India, has  launched a regional Indian audio streaming platform called Radio Room.Radio Room will offer an array of audio dramas that encompass a variety of genres such as classic literature, crime thrillers, romance, and children’s stories, all tailored for the Indian diaspora worldwide.The platform aims to become a pivotal player in the audio streaming sector, which delivers content directly over the internet to consumers (“over-the-top” or OTT), bypassing traditional distribution.Lytus plans to rapidly scale up operations of the newly launched platform, targeting four million subscribers in its first year.By leveraging Lytus’ existing customer base, Radio Room is poised to accelerate its growth and extend its reach across numerous Indian regional languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Eezha Tamil.Additionally, efforts are underway to expand into other regional Indian languages such as Marathi and Bengali, as well as international languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and German.Dharmesh Pandya, CEO of Lytus, stated: “Launching Radio Room underscores our mission to leverage cutting-edge technology to enhance user experiences. We are confident that Radio Room will redefine the audio OTT landscape and transform how audiences connect with audio content. Lytus management’s strategic support, large user base, and industry expertise will enable Radio Room to fundamentally transform the audio OTT space, offering a rich tapestry of engaging content that resonates with listeners worldwide.” […]

StreamGuys announced that Dick Broadcasting, which owns and operates 19 radio stations across three southeastern US states, has quintupled its monthly advertising revenue since transitioning to StreamGuys ad insertion services. Dick Broadcasting has amplified its revenue generation through StreamGuys’ programmatic ad services, which automatically fills unsold inventory in ad breaks for live streams and podcasts.StreamGuys has also diversified Dick Broadcasting’s advertising strategy by adding midroll placements to the mix, which required a structural change to how ads were distributed.“Nielsen had long required Dick Broadcasting to faithfully simulcast their over-the-air streams due to how they reported FM ratings in their markets,” said Tyler Huggins, director of advertising, StreamGuys. “That limited the customer to preroll ads, which while effective also limits revenue opportunities for stream monetization. We effectively split their streams into in-market and out-of-market streams, which allowed us to insert midrolls within the latter.”Huggins says that StreamGuys offers a “waterfall system” that prioritizes direct sold campaigns first, then programmatic fulfillment from its network of advertisers. If neither has an impression to serve, StreamGuys returns the opportunity to Dick Broadcasting to place an unsold promo. StreamGuys manages the entire process, from server-side ad insertions to revenue payouts. “Dick Broadcasting communicates open inventory, and we manage all campaigns, advertisers and invoices,” he said. “We also work with their app developer and web team to pinpoint geographic data, which helps us precisely pinpoint where listeners are located. That finite data helps us make decisions on whether a listener is inside or outside the market, and which ads to serve.”Dick Broadcasting also uses StreamGuys’ SGrecast service to create podcasts and side streams from live radio shows, which StreamGuys also automatically inserts ads within. StreamGuys also hosts and delivers all of Dick Broadcasting’s streaming content, using StreamGuys’ enterprise CDN to deliver live and on-demand content to websites, apps and smart speakers among other consumer receive points. The result is a turnkey streaming service that has reduced costs, streamlined internal labor, and increased revenue.“We are lucky to have very dedicated audiences for our streams, many of which live outside our geographic FM footprints,” said Taylor Dick, Vice President of Finance and Strategic Analysis, Dick Broadcasting Company. “We found that we were carrying substantial costs to operate our streaming infrastructure and serving ads that were meaningless to many of our listeners. StreamGuys reduced the costs of our streaming infrastructure while effectively creating zones that allow us to serve ads of interest to out-of-market listeners. We can now offer a better listening experience for our entire streaming audience while substantially increasing our revenue through a programmatic service that requires no heavy lifting from within. StreamGuys has helped us to a much better job of managing, monetizing and growing our streaming business.” […]

GatesAir, a Thomson Broadcast subsidiary dedicated to wireless content delivery, announced the launch of GatesAir Care, an enhanced managed services program that addresses the urgent need for skilled RF resources and services in the global broadcast industry. Available immediately, the GatesAir Care program offers defined service level agreements across three-tiered support plans (Elite, Signature, Standard) that collectively aim to fill widening gaps in engineering skillsets as long time RF engineers approach retirement.The number of services included escalates with each tier, beginning with simple extended warranties, discounted spare parts, and preventative maintenance visits to keep transmitters and associated RF systems in excellent operating condition. Additional services are available with each tier, which can include installation and commissioning, 24/7 remote maintenance and monitoring, and live, onsite technical support for major broadcast events.“Most young engineers coming into the business today possess a strong IT skillset but have limited to no RF expertise,” said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “We developed GatesAir Care to alleviate concerns about finding skilled engineers to take care of RF systems and plants as veteran TV and radio engineers reduce hours and ultimately retire.”All three program tiers can also scale to the size of the broadcaster, including dedicated services in smaller markets that are especially light on engineering resources. GatesAir Care will also offer options for crisis team deployment and disaster recovery services in the event of severe weather or other unanticipated events that require immediate attention.Mark Goins, Vice President, Global Sales for GatesAir, adds that the GatesAir Care program ultimately aligns with the broadcast model’s increasing emphasis on operational efficiency. “Changes in the global RF engineering fleet are unfolding at a very swift pace over the past 12-18 months,” said Goins. “The GatesAir Care program will help broadcasters maintain their focus on operational efficiency with the peace of mind that our experienced, dedicated support staff will provide consistent, proactive and responsive service tailored to each customer’s needs.”GatesAir will also offer beginning and advanced RF training courses in alignment with the GatesAir Care program to help younger broadcast engineers strengthen their RF skillsets. More information on all three GatesAir Care tiers, service options and pricing are available at https://www.gatesair.com/services/gatesair-care. […]