“Radio does have a life as part of the new digital technologies,” according to ABU Secretary General David Astley, who spoke at the opening of the 2010 RadioAsia Conference in Delhi. The conference, now in its fifth year, was held in Delhi for the first time. It addressed themes as diverse as digital radio, public service broadcasting, training and becoming top of the market.
The combination of commercial and public service broadcasters who attended the conference contributed to the rich interaction between speakers and delegates.
Secretary General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Dr Muppidi, told conference delegates, “the challenge is making radio economically viable” in most markets across the region. As a former All India Radio presenter, Muppidi said he is “stunned” by the growth of stations in India, which is expanding so rapidly.
BBC Executive and DRM Consortium Chairperson Ruxandra Obreja told the conference that traditional shortwave and medium wave broadcast platforms are losing audience and declining in quality, so broadcasters should extend the number of platforms they use to reach audiences who are consuming media in different ways now. The DRM Consortium, which offers new digital transmission solutions for broadcasters, was the major sponsor of the conference.
“The introduction of any new technology is a leap of faith,” said Obreja, who urged broadcasters not to wait to go digital but to take that leap sooner rather than later. Her message to embrace new technology ad “produce once and publish on many platforms,” was echoed many times by other presenters, developing an important theme across the conference.
Zohra Chatterji, from the Indian Broadcast Ministry, explained the explained that radio is extremely important in a country like India, where there is still a large proportion of people who are illiterate and cannot read a newspaper. She believes the move towards digital broadcasting is important for the long term survival of radio in India and said that the public broadcaster, All India Radio, has a vital role to play in taking the lead in the introduction of digital radio.
BBC Global News strategy head Mark Bunting said the BBC’s success can be attributed to a three pronged strategy which focused on “innovation at the transmission platform level, innovation at the receiver level and innovation at the service (content) level.” While mainstream radio listening is decreasing for the BBC, overall listening is increasing because BBC News is reaching out to listeners on many new platforms. Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Secretary General Elizabeth Smith echoed that opinion, saying “there’s bound to be audience decline when there are so many new competitors,” but she urged broadcasters to be clear on their mission and make sure they delivered their content in ways that remain relevant to changing audiences.
As an example of platform innovation, Kudsia Kahar, General Manager of AMP Networks in Malaysia, presented samples of MY FM’s innovative phone applications which stream audio, link to fun promotions and allow rewinding of up to 45 minutes. AMP’s various networks have around 15 apps for iPhones and are planning to extend them to the iPad when it comes to market. Search for them in your phone’s App Store to sample them and hear what is going in on in Malaysia.
Jochen Lukas, from European consultancy company Broadcast Partner, talked about tactics and the need to map the different segments of your audience to become top of market. He also urged stations to “ensure they have a creative animal” in the station who can spur staff on to new ideas, fun promotions and new ways of doing things.
AMP Malaysia’s Dato’ Borhanuddin Osman gave sage advice to programmers in competitive markets. “Be first or be better,” he told delegates, then explained that finding a unique position (USP) for your station is an important strategy, as is branding, which must be in line with what the product on air actually sounds like. Even successful stations must not be afraid to “challenge themselves” and must keep reinventing themselves to remain fresh and avoid complacency.
All India Radio’s Vijay Laxmi Chabra, who admitted she has had “a passionate affair with radio” all her life, spoke with passion about the contribution AIR has made to the people of India during its history. She says her stations intend to compete actively with the newly launched commercial stations, but that “all stations can co-exist,” with the appropriate amount of healthy competition and co-operation.
Like Chabra, Radio Mirchi’s chief programmer Tapas Sen said “passion keeps radio alive, and the people in it.” He urged stations to sometimes disrespect listeners, make them angry and make them cry to prod them into full blooded engagement with the radio station. Parni Hardi, the President of Indonesia’s RRI network, also spoke about passion and initiative, saying that if staff at his civil service network did not have both they faced the chop unless they could change.
Hugh Chiverton, from RTHK Hong Kong, told the conference how his network remained successful and that the success was “a vote of confidence for public service broadcasting.”
The three day conference made a significant contribution to radio industry development in the region and will take place in another Asian city in 2011.