In Search of Dialogue
Michael Hedges - September 2005 - February 2006
The intrepid  reporter's mission to learn about the audiovisual sector in the 10 new EU Member States...
Editors note: Michael Hedges traveled through the new EU Member States, September 2005 through February 2006, surveying the audiovisual sector for European Commission Social Dialogue committee. The reports for ftm are his own observations and do not reflect the positions of the European Commission or any of the members of the Social Dialogue committee.
It has been a wise choice to resume the interviews with media people in the new EU Member States with the Czech Republic. Within the media sector, as much as other regions of life, similiarities with other new Member States are obvious; regulatory turmoil, expanding ad business, jittery public broadcasters. One difference, largely in degree, is independence.
This was the message from Michal Zelenka, president of APSV, the Czech private radio broadcasters association. With great pride he freely discusses the continuing financial successes. In 2005 Czech radio advertising passes the 2 b KR mark. Radio's share of all advertising in 2005 climbed to 9.4% - compared with 7.3% in a decade ago. "It may be the highest in Eastern Europe," he says. Of course, it is.
The independence seems endemic. "We prefer to do it our way," he says, again, stating the obvious. Zelenka works with ad sales, and his target now is local sales since "all but two stations are represented nationally." APSV, led by Zelenka, works with local sales people and managers.
Czech radio broadcasters looked at electronic measurement earlier than most. The plan had been to adopt, after testing, the Radiocontrol watch. Things changed. Now a Czech supplier has been found. "It saves us two thirds of the cost," says Zelenka.
Czech radio broadcasters were the highlight of the 2002 NAB Radio Conference in their capital city. Zelenka secured funding to subsidize costs and over 200 Czech broadcasters attended and put a particular - in famously interesting - spin on the conference. When Zelenka hears that many conference attendees rank the Prague NAB as the best among recent conferences because of the dynamic - and independent - presentation of Czech broadcasters, he simply says "I've heard that one before."
There's little doubt he's looking forward and not backward.
The media trajectories in the new EU Member States are each somewhat different yet highly reflective of the civic path. "Former Soviet orbit" is one cliche, as meaningless as "States in transition."
Slovenia is different. Socialist background, yes, but at odds with and not attached to the former Soviet Union: far more "market-liberal." But media watchers in the capital Ljubljana were stunned when the law governing Slovenia's public service broadcasting was turned on its head in September, through a referendum supported by the current governing coalition. Media watchers outside Slovenia were also stunned but they, mostly, don't count.
The new law will, on January 1st, effectively return Slovenias' well respected public broadcaster to state broadcasters status.
One of not-so-shocking proposals is the launching of a "parliamentary channel" giving lawmakers ample opportunity to preen before cameras, even if nobody watches. Who pays? Budget cuts at RTVSLO, of course.
In the words of one journalist, watching out for the job cuts, "Nobody realized transitions could go both ways."
More about this and a look at the private sector broadcasters after tomorrow's visits. Wednesday, it's on to Bratislava.
ps: the government took a 20% (or so) stake in a major newspaper last week.
pps: Ever wondered why foreign media companies seem to shy away from Slovenia, one of the fastest growing consumer economies of the new Member States?
Day two at Comdays is about television but Swiss ComCom President Marc Furrer opened the morning wrapping up the IT day saying the same principles for the free movement of labor - anytime, anywhere, apply to the "coming together" of television and the internet. The technology, he says, will go beyond VoIP to "all over IP."
He bowed, as everybody at ComDays had, to Mrs Redings speech from the day before. "Viviane," he said, "will really stand up to the Americans." He referred to the spat with the US of internet addresses saying that the ICAAN could "simply turn off dot ch." He seemed less concerned that the French could simply turn off dot com, or all non-French content.
I walked into the auditorium, late of course, to find myself in the midst of a reality TV show. The contrast with the NAB Radio conference in Athens couldn't be greater. Lights, music, TV cameras and 700 in the audience all put together to talk about IT and TV. There were far fewer folks in blue-jeans and far more CEOs.
Ewan Sutherland of the International Telecom User Group was speaking as I arrived and it took me a few minutes to reorient myself from the endless sales pitches at the NAB to think-tank talk. The title of his presentation was "Consumers - with alll the new technologies, who think's about them?" Who, indeed? He seemed to be saying that consumers will always be backward and technology must trample them. Why, I wondered, would anybody want a gigabyte in their mobile phone?
Then came Yuri Grin from the Russian Federation Ministry of Information Technology. 72 million mobile phone users in 2004, 110 million in 2005.
Then, the star of the show: DG Info Commissioner Viviane Reding...
All to often, people criticize mature products merely for being mature. Media, by its very nature, hates being mature. Entrepreneurs, too, hate being mature. Put them together and there is constant visceral grappling to avoid the appearance of being headed for the bin.
The NAB European Radio conference is a mature product, thus endangered. Twelve annual events have passed. Few of those gathered in Athens attended that first event, wherever that was. This rolling venue, venturing more often into southern Europe, encourages a regional flavor, sometimes, and that further divides those coming to sell their products and services from those eager to pick out that one juicy bit of insider gossip or that “one good quote” to take back to the office.
But the quotes are now old and the same. Everybody talks about the relationship between cheeseburgers and creativity, now a sarcastic icon for everything wrong with this conference. Every “session” – seemingly – is a sales pitch. US$1000 plus hotel and airfare is a high price to pay for such stellar advice as “make a lot of sales calls”, “be good to your listener” and, the best, “we did great in Australia.” Want more? Pay up.
One keen observer, to whom this addled insight was posed, said with a smirk, “That’s the high price of playing in this game.” Maybe so, but ouch!
Europe’s commercial radio has gone big, big time. NRJ Group’s Marc Pallian said HD radio is the next big thing and the entire conference was atwitter…for two hours. Then something else, and something else. It’s part of the fun. But, too, there’s that risk of confusing vertical motion for progress.
Mssrs Smulyan and Mansfield put an end to that from the very start. The good news, very good news was the jolt from very well respected broadcasters saying, essentially, give up the blue sky stories, this is a new business. Instead of taking up the challenge more than a few in the crowd asked why, indeed, go to this conference again.
Have you ever heard the expression: “lead, follow or get out of the way?”
NAB Europe drew about 600 people and, as usual, about one third of them selling something. Ending last Saturday night in Berlin the Prix Europa show drew 1000, all from public broadcasting. OK, it’s comparing apples and oranges and Prix Europa was a programming awards presentation for TV and radio. Compared to the public sector broadcasters, the commercial sector in Europe, limos and G4s aside, is smaller. And the two speak not the same language.
Fortunately for listeners, viewers, surfers and podcasters the yield is extraordinary. More content is available, competing now through every possible platform. Too many in Athens, unfortunately, couldn’t hear it for the noise.
Next stop on the grand media tour...the Biel Bienne Communications Days to hear Mrs Reding explain where we're going.
Typical for the NAB radio conference are the keynote speeches by one or more industry leader. Not typical is placing two well known CEOs in front of the group. Testing this new format this morning, hopefully a permanent feature, were Jeff Smulyan and David Mansfield, Emmis Communications and GCap Media, respectively.
Smulyan, the American, brought cheers from the room introducing himself as one of the “almost extinct” American liberal Democrats. He then introduced the topic of challenges facing the radio industry quoting NY Times columnist Tom Friedman's recent book “The World is Flat.”
His comments politely warned of technology steering the radio industry away from serving consumers. One of his best lines was “A lot of technology is a cure for no known disease.” Bingo! And he warned “no one knows where our customers will lead us.”
Mansfield echoed, strongly and with emphasis, Smulyan’s comments about radio’s customer, the listener: “Power has shifted, listeners are in control.” And, like Smulyan, he talked about the radio industry being “focused on the wrong things,” though referring more to focus groups and music testing than technology. GCap has, as he mentioned, long been a leader in digital radio in the UK.
Both talked about business models and how they need to change. Mansfield is not the first to observe that “everything is going digital.” Smulyan noted that the “free distribution model” is not a business and “nobody has made and money in pay radio.”
More to follow...
The NAB European Radio Conference opens in Athens tomorrow with radio people arriving by the dozens. It's an annual event organized by the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and largely viewed as an opportunity for American service and product suppliers to pitch products and services to European broadcasters. Most recently years European suppliers have come to pitch their products and services, too.
But, still, it's a very "American" event, drawing overall praise for organization and durability and some criticism for not giving European speakers dominent billing.
The conference opens Sunday at the Athens Hilton with the usual cocktail party. Monday's key-note speaker is Emmis Communications chairman Jeff Smulyan. The international division of Smulyan's company announced the purchase of its latest European radio operation last week.
Intrepid reporter is watching closely.
Unofficial hotel sources indicate a room sell-out for the event.
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The European Union’s main policy experts, regulators, broadcasters, legislators along with industry and employees associations will gather in Liverpool to “facilitate expert discussion of the revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive.”
No need to wind-up about country of origin or cultural exclusions for audiovisual services. The Bolkestein Directive on services is DAB (No, not that one. Dead And Buried)
Council of Europe Ministers and NGOs met in the Ukraine capital exploring all the ills of big media and bad governments.
On 1 May 2004, in one giant stroke, 10 nations, 74 million people and more than 800 radio stations joined the European Union
The Green Paper on the BBC’s Royal Charter recommends continuing the license fee for another 10 years but suggests an end in sight.
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Welcome to Sport Year 2006. Nothing will top it. There’s the Winter Olympic Games coming right up. Then, like the 900-pound gorilla, the football World Cup blocks out all else for millions of listeners, viewers and internet cruisers. Already plans are being set for all day, all week or all month football attention.
Public broadcaster Cesky Rozhlas (Czech Radio - CRo) launched Radio Wave (CRo4) January 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) at 13:13 aimed at 15 to 25 year old listeners.
Public service television in the new Member States struggles still with painful transition. Inheriting bloated operations in place since - and protected by - previous regimes many attempted to leave State broadcasting behind but not the structures. Slovak Television (SVT) had a different set of challenges. It didn’t exist before 1993.
In a very large white house on the outskirts of Ljubljana sits RadioHit, the top rated privately owned station in Slovenia. Recently, after operating three months in the basement, they started moving into new but not quite finished studios. Today they’re still busy.
There is an old music industry expression - Too Not Not to Cool Down. It’s meant as a warning to those hotter than hot new stars. It’s a concept not lost on media people in Poland. And the effect is being felt throughout the sector.
The fundamental question of trust opened a wide ranging discussion with radio advertising specialists from Eastern Europe in Budapest.
Budapest is busy. The buzz is all about the film industry, although skeptical. A major sound stage development has been announced, with Hollywood backing. The Hungarian film industry says more major productions want to come here but there's a lack of capacity. With so many "big ideas" announced in the last decade, Hungarians have adopted a "wait and see" attitude toward plans trumpeted about Budapest becoming the European Hollywood.
Estonian public broadcasters have their own financing dilemma. At the first of this year advertising was removed from both Estonian Radio and Estonian TV. Funding is now from the state budget. The two commercial television stations pay a fee, intended to support public broadcasting but it stops at the Estonian state general budget first, where it might find other uses. And the fee amount is about one-fifth as large as the ad revenue had been. The deficit now made up, more or less, by the State.
Russian influence in both Latvia and Estonia should not be underestimated. Both countries have substantial Russian speaking communities that maintain strong attachment to the Russian language and centricity to Russia. Broadcasters in both countries, public and private, radio and TV, offer Russian language channels. And Russian cable TV channels are numerous.
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