Fourth International Radio Forum, May 16
-17, 2012 – Zibakenar, Iran
16th MAY 9.00 a.m.
Session - Radio in the Age of Digital Media
Opening Speech of the 4th IRF
2012
Radio and Virtual Media
by
Biju Mathew, All India Radio, India
Dignitaries on and off the dais;
radio professionals from around the world; colleagues and dear brothers and
sisters of Iran. Good morning to you all
- sobh be’kheyr
I am indeed happy to be here at
the Fourth International Radio Forum organised by ABU and IRIB. The topic of discussion in this morning
session is Radio in the age of Digital media and I will be sharing some views
with you on Radio and Virtual Media.
The traditional radio medium has
seen significant changes in recent years with the current global shift toward
multimedia content, with both digital and FM making momentous use of new
technologies, including mobile communications and the Internet. I would like to
focus on the important role these new technologies play—and will play as radio
continues to evolve.
The Gutenberg era is over. A new digital
communications technology has emerged. An electronic superhighway is beginning
to girdle the globe; as voice, video and data- converge, bringing in their wake
a new basket of digital, multimedia and interactive communication technologies.
But it is not just the technologies that concern
us. It is the social change that accompanies the technologies that must be our
prime concern. The new technologies are doing much more. They are changing the
way we live-the way we work, relax, manage our money, trade and communicate
with each other. The new technologies are changing the way we perceive people,
cultures, countries and our expectations of them and also our expectations of
ourselves.
With blurring of geographical boundaries, thanks to
the distance insensitive Internet, majority of business and individual are
becoming part of a high-speed networking fabric which will enable secure
digital communication of voice, data, and video to or from anyone, anywhere and
anytime.
Till recently, it would have sounded like science
fiction; fortunately, the technology now
exists to deliver it. Customers now want to pick and chose from narrowcast and
broadcast. In other words, this means the availability of multiple technology
choices to fulfil the customer's desire for anytime access to people,
information, and entertainment.
But convergence does not necessarily sound the
death knell of age-old-technologies. In fact, it leaves enough room for many
technologies to co-exist and one will not replace the other outright. This is
because no one technology can meet all the requirements of the market-place.
Hence, each technology will find its niche and redefine new and old classes of
service and user terminals. In this context one can safely assume that there
will be a rash of new user terminals that will let us communicate in ways we
dream. 'Convergence ' has become a cliche of the information age.
I am coming from a country which is considered as
an emerging nation - India. All India
Radio is the national broadcaster with a rich tradition and a vast network of
stations covering 97 percent of the country geographically and catering to 99
percent of the country’s population.
FM radio listener ship in India has grown over four
times in the last three years. A study conducted by ORG-MARG’s Indian Listener
ship Track (ILT) reveals that FM radio listener ship in Mumbai and Delhi
reached 34 per cent each from 8 and 19 per cent, respectively, in 2000. Another
research by comScore says that
India has the world's youngest
internet population with 75 per cent of all users under the age of 35 years.
Let us look at the
latest trend; that is smart phones. Studies say that Indian smart phone users are
way smarter than their Western counterparts. And they are heavier users of
social networking sites too.
Fifty-six per cent of
Indian smart phone users go online multiple times a day (more than thrice)
compared to 53% in the west. In fact, 94% of Indians connect to the Internet at
least once a day compared to 88 per cent elsewhere. The survey had a few
surprises in store revealing that the usage of smart phone in the age group of
18- 29 is the highest. Further, a third of India's total online population
is between 15 to 24 years.
In comparison to India, the world's average of
under 35-year users stood at 52 per cent and 55 per cent in Asia Pacific
region. This shows that the case with most nations is similar. The
reality is that young people today live their lives online and on digital
platforms. These platforms represent powerful avenues for us to connect with
our audience, inform them, amplifying their voices and empower them.
Thus I must say that a Radio 2 movement
is the need of the hour. By this I mean the convergence of radio and virtual
media.
Culturally, even beyond
the well-educated, mainstream people are technology curious and device savvy.
We believe that the Internet, like telephony did, is making the leap from wired
internet to mobile, and hundreds of millions of youngsters will go online on
their mobile devices.
There lies the catch -
as most of them depend on the FM service available on their mobiles for
entertainment too. So if we converges our traditional medium with the modern
technology we can develop our listener base considerably, thus bringing the
medium the most sought after one. Thus I say a RADIO 2 movement is the need of
the hour.
Gadget makers are
also coming up with radio integrated ideas. Soon Zune owners will be able to
download a new version of the software that will allow users to tag songs heard
on the device’s FM tuner for purchase in the Zune store. Such facilities are
coming up just because they could smell the possibility of Radio 2. We should
also take advantage of this milieu to upgrade and deliver the needed.
Apple has offered a
similar feature through HD radios, allowing users to tag songs from bookshelf
systems like the Polk Audio I- Sonic Entertainment System 2. Apple most recently announced the addition of
an FM receiver in the fifth generation of the iPod nano. In response to this
announcement, Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan stated, "Apple clearly
recognizes that Radio is the number one source for new music acquisition and
has made it simpler and easier for today's listeners to access the audio
entertainment they value so highly.” The ability to bring a live listening
experience together with digitally stored music will have a dramatic impact on
listener involvement.
Another example of is the
success of Radioplayer. The BBC worked closely with commercial radio to develop
the technology that enables audiences to access content from hundreds of UK
radio stations in a single player. And they succeeded in that venture. As a
next step BBC Online, is
trying to develop a Radio and Music Product that will improve their prominence
on all digital devices. It will bring all BBC Radio together in one place,
available on all mobile, tablets, desktop computers, digital radio and digital
TV. This can definitely be taken as a model for all broadcasting networks.
The impact of digital
technology on radio is becoming clearer. Radio is thriving in the digital world
because it offers unique and unmatched content and works hard to take advantage
of digital opportunities. I firmly
believe that Radio 2 should make this medium an agent of change.
The radio industry
finds itself in a familiar yet uncertain position today — traditional revenues
are sustainable enough to continue with decent returns, but to strive forward
and win more listeners and revenue, virtual media convergence is essential. The
result is that the emerging trends will not be revolutionary as much as
evolutionary, and the key will be finding those points where traditional
methodologies and digital extensions converge most effectively.
As you all know, Radio
these days is not just in your vehicle or in your room. More than ever before,
radio is available everywhere, whether it be on your cell phone or online. So Radio
stations are also adapting to the times by renovating their facilities and
providing much of their content through different mediums.
As such a Radio 2.0 is
the need of the hour. It is heartening to note that such a movement continues
to gain momentum around the world with a number of inspiring people, projects
& ideas rising to prominence over the last year or so.
Radio programmes should
converge with social media networking platforms and provide speedy, trendy and
innovative options before their listeners. People in the radio industry always
lament of youth moving away from radio. By making our radio trendy and techno
savvy, by making it accessible to more young listeners through their handhelds
and internet, by converging it with popular SNPs (Social networking platforms),
the so called divide can be bridged.
Many radio stations
have already established their presence on internet with live streaming and
archived podcasts. I feel that all stations should follow suit. Stations should
be regular bloggers. Their pages on the social media networks should be packed
with posts of latest information about their programmes. The interactive pages
on SNPs should serve as an active feedback forum.
For all these, the
world’s most popular and useful SNPs can be used. We can integrate with
platforms like SeeClikFix, Ushahidi, Last.fm etc with other similar interactive
social media networks.
We all know that in
times of crisis radio is the most dependable medium. At such situations crowd
mapping sites can be integrated with radio programmes. Ushahidi crowd mapping
site has proved to be radio friendly when BBC successfully used it in 2010
during the tube strike and also when ABC used it successfully during the 2011
January Queensland Floods.
Broadcast organisations
can take up community services integrated with virtual media as part of their
social responsibility. A good example for this is Singapore based
Mediacorp’s ilovebooks initiative. Here,
visiting their exclusive ilovebooks site you can download ebooks and ebook reading apps. Kalyani project of
India is also doing wonders in the field of rural health development. In fact
we can compare this with seeClickFix initiative.
The question still
hovers around. Does radio have a future in today’s society? The answer is yes.
Radio has reinvented itself before and it will do it again, it certainly has a
future. This time converging with the state of the art technology, catching the
attention of young listeners.
Thank you, Khoda hafez
Biju Mathew, All India
Radio, India.
bijumathewbiju@gmail.com
अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय रेडियो फेस्टिवल में पिछले कर्इ वर्षों से आकाशवाणी के कार्यक्रम लगातार पुरस्कृत होते रहे हैं। हम लोगों को खुशी थी कि यह परम्परा इस वर्ष भी बरकरार रही। अगर देखा जाये तो मीडिया की दुनिया में रेडियो सबसे लोकतांत्रिक माध्यम है। यह सीधे जन-जन से जुड़ा होता है और अन्य माध्यमों के मुकाबले, रेडियो में आम जनता की भागीदारी सबसे अधिक होती है। र्इरान में प्रतिवर्ष सम्पन्न होने वाला अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय रेडियो फेस्टिवल, दुनिया भर में रेडियो की वर्तमान सिथति को बड़े ही खूबसूरत तरीके से एक मंच पर प्रस्तुत करता है। इससे अगर यह पता चलता है कि कोरिया जैसे देश में विजुअल रेडियो बहुत लोकप्रिय है (विजुअल रेडियो अर्थात ऐसा रेडियो सेट जिसकी स्क्रीन छोटे टेलिविजन सेट की तरह होती है और जिसपर आप स्टूडियो में चल रही गतिविधियों को बखूबी देख भी सकते हैं) तो यह भी पता चलता है कि कैसे ब्रिटेन और अन्य विकसित देशों में आज कम्युनिटी रेडियो बड़ी संख्या में असितत्व में हैं और कैसे विविध किस्म के रेडियो कार्यक्रम अलग-अलग कम्युनिटी रेडियो स्टेशनों के मार्फत प्रसारित होते हैं। 
