followthemedia.com - a knowledge base for media professionals
Lingua Franca

Radio Day celebrates the past, looks forward

In most every country a Radio Day is organized. Most are a mix of professional discussions, networking and social events. Very few are nationally recognized, complete with parades.

Radio Day paradeRussia has celebrated Radio Day on May 7th as a national professional holiday for a very long time. The day itself, May 7th, is set aside specially to commemorate Alexander Popov’s 1895 presentation to a scientific society describing a radio receiver. Ever the academic, Popov didn’t apply for a patent. The rest is history.

So, this years’ Radio Day is Russia also commemorates the 150th anniversary of Popov’s birth, making it more special for radio historians. In 1925 the USSR established an official Radio Day. This year, Popov’s name was attached to TV towers and a GSM satellite.

Mostly, Russian radio professionals celebrated Radio Day with social gatherings, fun stuff. A group in St. Petersburg held a bowling tournament. About a thousand students from Ural State Technical University in Ekaterinburg paraded through the city’s main street up to the Popov memorial. All was freshly painted, alas not for Radio Day or Alexander Popov but for the Saturday Victory Day parades.

No Radio Day is complete without an awards ceremony. At the AS Popov museum in St. Petersburg awards in more than a dozen categories, Popov laureates, were given to DJs, show hosts and producers.  

Russia’s Radio Day certainly celebrated the historical. But, too, Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS) Executive Director Andrei Stepanov noted more recent changes. “Over the past three years,” he said, “we replaced the entire fleet of analogue television and radio transmitters. A significant number of new stations and channels have come on in the last three years.” RTRS is the State owned transmitter and tower company established in 2001 by then Russian Federation President Vladmir Putin to overhaul broadcasting infrastructure.

“Radio will live,” said Europa Plus General Director Alexander Polesitsky, interviewed ahead of Radio Day by RIA Novosti (May 6). “I’m not sure the future of radio is only digital broadcasting. The experience of other countries shows that in the transition to higher quality digital broadcasting analogue radio doesn’t die.” Europa Plus, owned by French media company Lagardere, was the first private commercial radio channel in Russia, launched in 1991.

“If we talk about radio as a component of show business,” mused Echo of Moscow General Director Yuri Fedutinov, ”I am not worried because all the stations that create have contributed to expanding the radio audience.”

But, always Russian, Polesitsky tipped to the historical. Radio’s future, he said, “will be returning to the past. In Soviet times there was the audio network covering the entire country. Much of that (wired) network was lost for various reasons. The wires disappeared but not the network.”

And for Alexander Popov’s contribution, said Fedutinov, every innovation yields more innovation. “Had Popov not invented the radio, there was a Marconi. If not a Marconi, a thousand others were there. And each one improved the product.” 

 

 


related ftm content:

Media Consolidation, Russian Style
Shareholders of two big Russian broadcasting companies merged their interests into a bigger broadcasting company. Consolidation can have a negative effect on media companies, not to forget media markets. But in Russia, it’s the only way to go.

Avtoradio – the First Car Radio Station
To be big in a market a radio station needs that special lure – a hook, raison d’etre. To be big in a big market, it is essential. Russia’s AvtoRadio has it, a solid radio brand.

Russian Digital Radio Station Opens With Classical Music and a New Business Model
Given Russian music tradition one would think classical music would be all over the radio dials…even the new ones. Radio Classic Radio opened to the public September 1st , multi-platform, commercial-free.


advertisement

Media in Spain - Diverse and Challenged – new

Media in Spain is steeped in tradition. yet challenged by diversity. Publishers hold great influence, broadcasters competing. New media has been slow to rise and business models for all are under stress. Rich in language and culture, Spain's media is reaching into the future and finding more than expected. 123 pages, PDF. January 2018

Order here

The Campaign Is On - Elections and Media

Elections campaigns are big media events. Candidates and issues are presented, analyzed and criticized in broadcast and print. Media is now more of a participant in elections than ever. This ftm Knowledge file reports on news coverage, advertising, endorsements and their effect on democracy at work. 84 pages. PDF (September 2017)

Order here

Fake News, Hate Speech and Propaganda

The institutional threat of fake news, hate speech and propaganda is testing the mettle of those who toil in news media. Those three related evils are not new, by any means, but taken together have put the truth and those reporting it on the back foot. Words matter. This ftm Knowledge file explores that light. 48 pages, PDF (March 2017)

Order here

More ftm Knowledge files here

Become an ftm Individual or Corporate Member to order Knowledge Files at no charge. JOIN HERE!

ftm resources


ftm followup & comments

no followup as of May 13, 2009

copyright ©2004-2009 ftm partners, unless otherwise noted Contact UsSponsor ftm