Radio is being talked about: Joan Warner at #CRAconf

“It’s been a big year for radio,” said Joan Warner opening the CRA National Radio Conference in Melbourne.

She outlined a range of happenings this year that have got audiences and advertisers talking, such as the new ratings supplier, five years of successful DAB+ broadcasting, and the tightly fought battles between the big networks.

Following Warner’s opening comments, Senator Mitch Fifield, representing the communications minister, told delegates he once did work experience at 2UE and wanted to be a radio journalist, but was told to forget it and do something useful… so he became a politician (laughter).

Fifield disappointed the industry by sticking with Communications Minister Turnbull’s position that the radio industry and the PPCA should sort out their copyright dispute between themselves rather than seeking a ministerial ruling on the matter. “It will be decided by the tribunal if the parties can’t work it out between them,” he said.

Fifield says Radio has been unfairly considered to be a ‘legacy medium.’ “It was considered to be so innovative at its beginning, but over the past years I have had a fear that the importance of radio would be lost. But my fears were misplaced. In this new world there is still a strong and lingering affection to radio…. in this era audiences are tuning in to radio as much as ever before.
 
“Radio has storng listenership and a strong economic base, but it will have to continually innovate to continue to adapt to the digital environment,” said Fifield.
 

 

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