Multiplatform content will increase at ABC Radio: Linda Bracken

Triple j manager Linda Bracken has been appointed as Head Multi-Platform & Content Development at ABC Radio. Her role is to develop the strategic framework for the division’s extensive multi-platform activities and to foster innovative content creation. With triple j’s ground breaking Unearthed website now featuring 20,000 artists and playing to 9 million listeners, she has a track record of success in this area. Bracken speaks to radioinfo this week about radio and multi-media content and the many new jobs it will create at ABC radio stations.

radioinfo: This appointment presumably follows on from your significant work in developing the functionality of the triple j website plus the online presence of Unearthed. What is your thinking on those websites?

Bracken: The thinking around those websites came from a wider philosophy of what triple j should actually be. My view very early on was that triple j needed to be ‘more than a radio station,’ and that became a benchmark for all of our activities. Even 7 years ago when I started at triple j, which seems a lifetime ago in the digital and online media space, it was obvious to me that to remain relevant to young Australians, triple j had to be wherever they are, on whatever platform our audience wished to access us.

I think it’s a great indicator of the strength of the brand and the willingness of the people who work there to keep reinventing the station that even after 34 years, triple j is more relevant today than ever.

The triple j website was one of the first ABC websites to pull together content from across the Television and Radio Division under one brand. That is now seen as a standard approach for many ABC Online activities, but back then it was quite groundbreaking – but absolutely necessary.

triplejunearthed.com is one of the projects I’m most proud of. Building on the incredibly successful Unearthed competition, it was about bringing that competition into the modern age and opening the door for our audience to be part of this great initiative that has changed the way new Australian music is discovered. And while there have been many copy-cat unsigned upload sites, triplejunearthed.com remains the most successful and the most credible. For us it’s all about giving young Australian artists the exposure and a leg up into the industry. Other sites ask artists to sign over their publishing or copyright to them, so you have to ask who has the site actually been created for?

I’m really pleased that in addition to the airplay on triple j, exposure on triple j tv and in jmag, we are able to create real world outcomes for unearthed artists such as winning a spot at the Homebake festival and be paid to do it. The statistics of the site never fail to impress me with over 9 million streams since launch and over 20 thousand artists featured.

radioinfo: Do you have any first thoughts on what you will do in this larger role across all networks?

Bracken: I think one of the reasons that Kate Dundas, Director of Radio appointed me to this position was to look at all of our networks and their potential to reach audiences across various platforms, as we did pretty successfully at triple j. There are some real opportunities for our Networks to enhance the way they currently engage with their existing audience, and attract new audiences. I read a great phrase recently, ‘Digital Darwinism,’ the need for organisations like ours to evolve and adapt to the new ways our audiences wish to access us or to become extinct. We also have a need to create a coherent narrative and approach to our online and multiplatform offerings.

We are currently working with each network to set their multiplatform priorities for 2010. For some areas, this is about forging new, ground breaking projects and for others it’s about playing catch up to bring them up to the kind of standard of online experience our audience expects and deserves. There’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s exciting work.

radioinfo: How important is multi-platform content to ABC Radio?

Bracken: The fact that Kate Dundas created this role and its seniority within the Radio Division, gives an indication of how important multiplatform content is to our future plans.

The success of podcasting for Radio National is just one example of how multiplatform content can extend the reach of the existing network. We have just finalised the 3 year Strategic Plan for the Radio Division. Multiplatform engagement forms a key foundation of this plan, not just us putting our content on various platforms, but also opening the way for our audience to share their content with us.

radioinfo: Why did the ABC get special funding for its regional content development? What needs to be done?

Bracken: ABC Radio has an unparalleled record of serving and connecting with regional Australia. ABC Local Radio has over 50 stations throughout regional Australia. These will be the basis for us to transform these radio stations into multimedia hubs to increase the amount of local online content we make for, and increasingly with, our audiences. I don’t believe that there is any other organisation that commands the level of trust and engagement with those audiences. To paraphrase our Managing Director, Mark Scott we are the town square to those communities.

Over the next three years we will be employing a significant number of people throughout regional Australia to work alongside their communities to capture the stories and the issues of regional Australia. There will be a heavy emphasis on working with local people to help them participate in creating much of this content themselves.

radioinfo: Do you have an opinion on the possibilities of online radio in comparison to digital radio?

Bracken: I’ve read the recent digital v online debate that seems to be around at the moment. I think that while it’s interesting, in the end it’s the content offering that counts for a lot as well. It doesn’t matter what device you are broadcasting on, if the content isn’t compelling and relevant to your life, you won’t engage with it.

Of course there continue to be technical challenges for both Digital and online radio. Digital at this stage can only being heard in capital cities and there’s expense and current constraints to consumers of internet streaming. I think that the clever approach is to use the two to complement each other and that’s what you will see more of in the future from ABC Radio. Additionally, all of the new ABC Digital Radio offerings have extensive websites to complement the on air stations – a great example of this is abc.net.au/digmusic.

The possibilities of both Digital and online radio will be both invigorating but also challenging to the Australian radio market.

radioinfo: Any other thoughts about changes in today’s media?

Bracken: These are defining days for not just radio, but the whole media landscape. For ABC Radio, we too need to think of what our place is in this changing environment, how we remain relevant in a world full of infinite content choices. We need to become increasingly agile, be prepared to make bold decisions and importantly, remember that the audience is at the centre of everything we do. Wish me luck !

As she mentioned, Bracken also has responsibility for the delivery of the ABC Radios Regional Broadband Content Initiative which received $15.3 million over three years from the Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy in this year_s Federal Budget. This project, to launch early 2010, will focus on developing multimedia content on ABC sites relevant to Australians living in regional and remote areas.

Prior to joining triple j, Linda worked in a variety of roles for ABC Radio in regional and metropolitan areas as a reporter, producer, presenter and Program Director.

The role of triple j Manager will be advertised shortly, look for the ad on this website.

Meanwhile, ABC Managing Director Mark Scott has also been commenting on the digital world. He used a speech this week to counter comments by Rupert Murdoch urging payment for web content, against the views of most of the world’s larger public broadcasters:

“Believing that because you once set the rules you can do so again, acting on the assumption that you still have the power that befits the emperor. You can almost hear the other proprietors urging Murdoch on, assuring him that they are right behind him, as they then scurry away to be free to pick up the traffic that flees the sites that now want payment for access…

“We cannot hope to compete with the audience. We need to team up with them. They have the time, the opportunity and particularly now with that powerful instant publishing double act, twitter and twitpic, they have the numbers.”

For a full report on Mark Scott’s comments, see the ABC Radio AM story at the link below.