ASIA

VICE Media Group has signed its first content partnership with Spotify in Southeast Asia, producing a series of five Spotify Original Video podcasts that reflect Indonesia’s vibrant and diverse music, youth and cultural scenes.This series of five Spotify Original Video podcasts, created and produced locally by VICE Media’s team in Jakarta, will include three daily and two weekly video podcasts. Hosted by some of the best in the industry, these video podcasts will cover a myriad of today’s hottest topics, such as current and emerging Indonesian musicians, artists and movie stars; the latest music news and trends and a look at what young Indonesians think of their country today and their place in society.The VICE 2022 Indonesia Census shows nearly one in two Indonesians regularly listen to podcasts, with one in three looking for people they trust and admire to curate content for them.  Indonesia ranks in the top ten countries globally for podcast consumption on Spotify as of November 2022.Nilesh Zaveri, managing director, VICE Media Group APAC said: “VICE is trusted by young audiences to cut through the noise to deliver a distinct perspective on today’s music and culture as well as what’s coming next. This exclusive partnership with Spotify represents a significant opportunity to create distinctive video podcast content for Indonesia’s youth, and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities to bring the VICE brand to more audiences, across media platforms, throughout Asia Pacific.” “2022 has been an amazing year of growth for us in Indonesia. We introduced new format innovations such as video podcasts, amongst others to further build upon the podcast ecosystem in Indonesia, whilst also expanding on the podcast experience on Spotify for our creators and users to enjoy,” said Carl Zuzarte, head of studios for Southeast Asia at Spotify. “Also, we’re always on the lookout for top content creators to work with to deliver best-in-class content for our users to enjoy. That is why we’re excited to partner with VICE Media Group to present this stellar slate of five Video podcasts featuring collaborations with Indonesia’s most current and popular cultural creators, artists and musicians.”The VICE Spotify Original Video podcast series will be amplified across VICE’s extensive social and editorial network, which has 10 million monthly unique users in Indonesia and 3.3 million combined followers. More than 86 percent are aged between 16 and 34 with 63 percent living in urban areas with top cities including Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Makassar and Depok.VICE daily Spotify Original Video Podcasts include:

The Daily Fix, hosted by Indonesian hip hop artist, Laze, is a music focused daily quick hit covering the latest music news and updates, with a hint of nostalgic moments from Indonesian music that can’t be missed.

WTF (Wow Ternyata Faktual) showcases real life factual stories from VICE’s editorial team, that no matter how seemingly absurd, are all true. The series is hosted by influencer, singer and model, Sailormoney.

Sound Check, hosted by rapper Basboi, is a daily recommendation of the newest Indonesian artists and bands that are tailored to various topics and moods. No matter your situation, Sound Check has a playlist for it.

VICE’s weekly Spotify Original Video Podcasts include:

Census Nusantara where Indonesia’s youth share what they think about the country they live in and who they are as people. The video podcast is hosted by content creator and singer Fathia Izzati and Raka Ibrahim.

Indo-Pop, hosted by renowned local artist Basboi, this video podcast features artists and prominent figures from Indonesia’s pop culture scene. Indie superstars to movie stars share what inspired their last releases, what their top five albums of all time are, and which artists shaped them. […]

Astro Radio’s GEGAR won the ‘Best in Consumer Satisfaction’ award at the MCMC Star Rating Awards 2021, on December 21, 2022 for radio category.MCMC Star Rating Awards were first introduced in 2016, recognising outstanding services provided bytelecommunication companies to consumers as well as to instill a culture of quality excellence and createa healthy competitive environment between the service providers.The winners were chosen based on the important role played by the industry players in providing excellent services through three main sectors including telecommunications, broadcasting and courier industries.The award was presented by YB Fahmi Fadzil, Minister, Communications and Digital, Datuk SeriMohammad Mentek, Secretary General, Communications and Digital and Datuk Mohd Ali HanafiahMohd Yunus, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.Raja Nadia Raja Hisham, Content Manager, GEGAR, who received the award for the brand’s outstanding achievement in consumer satisfaction said: “We thank all Malaysians for their support and look forward tocontinue pioneering the best services in the local radio landscape, especially to our listeners in the EastCoast Malaysia.” […]

GatesAir, a Thomson Broadcast subsidiary dedicated to wireless content delivery, has won a substantial contract to modernize Radio Nacional de Angola’s national FM infrastructure.The Angola Radio Signal Expansion and Studio Modernization Project, as it is officially called, is being financed by EXIM, the Export-Import Bank of the United States. EXIM has recognized the project with a “Deal of the Year” Award at its 2022 Annual Conference.GatesAir will supply 168 Flexiva FM transmitters as part of a turnkey deal for phase one of the transition that also includes the supply and installation of antennas, towers, auxiliary RF systems and studio digitization across the country. The updated transmission infrastructure will bring robust FM signal coverage to the Angolan populationThe contract represents a strong commitment by the government of the Republic of Angola to improve coverage and audio quality for the Angolan people, ensuring effective communications throughout the Southern African nation. […]

Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd net profit plunged 94.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to RM5.8 million in its third quarter (Q3) ended Oct 31, 2022 (FY23) from RM105.92 million in the same period last year.In its filing with Bursa Malaysia, Astro said Q3 revenue fell 9.4% to RM926.2 million from RM1.02 billion a year earlier on a decrease in subscription revenue and merchandise sales, but offset by an increase in advertising revenue.The radio segment was one of few positives as Q3 revenue was higher by RM19.8 million or 60.9% compared with the corresponding quarter last year, benefiting from recovery momentum in the transition to the endemic phase.Favourable radio revenue growth contributed to a 164% rise in Ebitda, or by RM14.1 million, compared with the corresponding quarter last year.Astro group CEO Henry Tan said that going forward, the company would continuously invest in transformation for long-term and sustainable growth, focusing on content, broadband, streaming, customer experience, data, addressable advertising and technology to better serve customers. […]

In radio, like many businesses, people rise through the ranks to finally be promoted into leadership positions. You started out on air, then added on an assistant programming role and finally became a Program/Content Director. Then perhaps your role expanded to Group Programming.But along the way, you probably had no formal training on how to become an effective leader.Not everyone makes a good leader. Some people in formal leadership positions are poor leaders and many people exercising leadership have no formal authority.McKinsey & Company recently published an article titled “What is Leadership?”.Here are a few salient points from the article.“All leaders, to a certain degree, do the same thing. Whether you’re talking about an executive, manager, sports coach, or schoolteacher, leadership is about guiding and impacting outcomes, enabling groups of people to work together to accomplish what they couldn’t do working individually. In this sense, leadership is something you do, not something you are.What’s more, leadership is not something people are born with—it is a skill you can learn. Just as for leadership more broadly, today’s environment requires CEOs to lead very differently. Recent research indicates that one-third to one-half of new CEOs fail within 18 months.There are many contexts and ways in which leadership is exercised. But, according to McKinsey analysis of academic literature as well as a survey of nearly 200,000 people in 81 organizations all over the world, there are four types of behavior that account for 89 percent of leadership effectivenes:
Being supportive
Operating with a strong results orientation
Seeking different perspectives
Solving problems effectively
Effective leaders know that what works in one situation will not necessarily work every time. Leadership strategies must reflect each organization’s context and stage of evolution.How is leadership evolving?In the past, leadership was called “management,” with an emphasis on providing technical expertise and direction.What are the limits of traditional management styles?Traditional management was revolutionary in its day and enormously effective in building large-scale global enterprises that have materially improved lives over the past 200 years. However, with the advent of the 21st century, this approach is reaching its limits.For one thing, this approach doesn’t guarantee happy or loyal managers or workers. Indeed, a large portion of American workers—56 percent— claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic , while 75 percent say dealing with their manager is the most stressful part of their workday.For 21st-century organizations operating in today’s complex business environment, a fundamentally new and more effective approach to leadership is emerging.What is the emerging new approach to leadership?This new approach to leadership is sometimes described as “servant leadership.” While there has been some criticism of the nomenclature, the idea itself is simple: rather than being a manager directing and controlling people, a more effective approach is for leaders to be in service of the people they lead. The focus is on how leaders can make the lives of their team members easier— physically, cognitively, and emotionally.How can leaders communicate effectively?Good, clear communication is a leadership hallmark. Fundamental tools of effective communication include:
Defining and pointing to long-term goals
Listening to and understanding stakeholders
Creating openings for dialogue communicating proactively
And in times of uncertainty, these things are important for crisis communicators:
Give people what they need, when they need it
Communicate clearly, simply, and frequently
Choose candour over charisma
Revitalize a spirit of resilience
Distil meaning from chaos
Support people, teams, and organizations to build the capability for self-sufficiency
As McKinsey points out, like many things, leadership as a concept is evolving, especially as a result of the pandemic. If you’re in a leadership position at a radio station, ensure your style fits with what is required in 2022…. not 2002.By David Kidd, BPR […]

The National Press Club has partnered with the New York Festivals® 2023 Radio Awards to create an exclusive new award, The National Press Club Award.The National Press Club Award will go to the highest scoring news program across the Best Coverage Of Breaking News Story, Best Coverage Of Ongoing News Story, Best Nonfiction Series and News Podcast categories.  The inaugural winner will be announced during the New York Festivals 2023 Storytellers Gala on April 18th.The National Press Club is the World’s Leading Professional Organization for Journalists™. It serves its members through professional development activities that bolster their skills, through services that meet the changing needs of the global communications profession and through social activities that build a vital media community in Washington and around the world. The Club is where news happens in the nation’s capital and is a vigorous advocate of press freedom worldwide.“We are grateful to New York Festivals for recognizing the great work being done in journalism today and so honored to now have an NYF storytelling award named after The National Press Club,” said Jen Judson, President, National Press Club.“Journalists today are finding new ways to keep listeners informed in our ever-changing and interconnected world.  With the National Press Club Award, the Radio Awards shines a spotlight on the audio journalists and reporters who are committed to using their talents to tell the stories that matter,” said Rose Anderson, VP, Executive Director, New York Festivals Radio AwardsThe New York Festivals Radio Awards 65-year legacy provides a showcase to celebrate world-class storytellers from around the globe.  Since 1957 the competition has celebrated innovation and excellence in broadcast audio content across all genres and platforms keeping pace with industry developments and global trends.  All entries within the competition are judged by international panels of award-winning creative professionals who are respected creative professionals within the broadcast industry.The entry deadline for the 2023 Radio Awards competition is January 31, 2023. To enter please visit: HERE.All 2023 award winners will be celebrated at the NYF Storytellers Gala taking place on April 18th at the 2023 NAB Show Centennial in Las Vegas. This is the 13th year of New York Festivals strategic partnership with NAB.To view the 2022 NYF Radio Award winners showcase, visit: HERE. […]