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ftm Radio Page - week ending October 11, 2019

Streaming service mixes it up, chases radio listeners
no weather yet

Big streaming audio brand Spotify has migrated its Daily Drive thread to Germany. The pitch is sure to make radio broadcasters crazy; personalized music playlist, news, talk and relevance, relevance, relevance. This past June Your Daily Drive was introduced in the US. Obviously, this stream is made for commuters attached to mobile phones, radio listeners bored with algo-curated, music-only playlists.

For German users, there will be news updates and features from 3 to ten minutes in duration from public broadcasters Deutschland and Südwestrundfunk (SWR, for climate/environment news) as well as audio material from magazines Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, Bavarian newspaper Süddeutscher Zeitung and business publisher Handelsblatt. There is a feature for adding other podcast material as well as personalized music playlists. “Spotify is the first streaming service where users can find and create playlists with a mix of podcasts and music,” said Spotify Central Europe managing director Michael Krause in a statement, quoted by media news portal meedia.de (October 8). (See more about streaming media here)

Ahead of the US launch Spotify dug deeper into automobile audio usage with market research tool Car Thing. The US version takes podcast material updated daily from NRP, Public Radio International and the Wall Street Journal. No weather or traffic information so far. A few weeks later users could pull up podcast material of their choice.

Over the last year Spotify has acquired several prolific podcast producers and cut access deals with others.

Dirt keeps flying at public broadcaster
"unprecedented"

Bulgarian media regulator Council for Electronic Media (CEM) has begun proceedings to remove public radio Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) director general Svetoslav Kostov. He will be given a week to mount a defense. He has refused to resign. Three CEM members voted for the sanction, all aligned with the majority political party GERB, reports capital.bg (October 9). The two other members, also political appointees, abstained. The CEM elected long serving BNR employee Mr. Kostov to a three-year term in June.

The harsh sanction came about from his “unprecedented” taking main news and current affairs channel Horizont off the air for five hours in mid-September. The CEM cited Bulgarian media law guaranteeing the right to information. Last week the regulator imposed fines on BNR for violating the program license. An investigation by the CEM and prosecutor’s office found no reason for suspending the broadcast. Allegedly, BNR technical director Plamen Kostov made the decision after “misleading” the director general. (See more about media in Bulgaria here)

All of this is related to a lead anchor on Horizont - Silvia Velikova - being suspended by news director Nikolay Krastev, also newly appointed, for urging listeners to join street protests against the quite controversial appointment of Ivan Geshev as Chief Public Prosecutor. The next day (September 13) Horizont mysteriously went quiet during prime morning hours. Prime minister Boyko Borisov ordered Ms Velikova reinstated. Mr. Krastev resigned.

BNR operates two national channels, Horizont and arts and culture channel Hristo Botev, and nine regional channels.

Those new platforms are an opportunity
"in particular, smart speakers"

The future is an obsession. Broadcasters, advertisers and regulators gaze deeply into crystal balls looking for, well, something. This is normal: there are plans to be made. Outside the clairvoyant fringe, the real world is here and now. And to complete the saga, the past is irrelevant.

Market researcher DVJ Insights released data this week showing strong growth for online and podcast listening in the Netherlands over the last year, quoted by Dutch radio news portal radiofreak.nl (October 7). Listening to streaming services increased 39% and podcasts slightly more. Traditional linear radio listening dropped 15%, further among 13 to 29 year olds. The results were released ahead of the Online Radio Day at the Dutch Media Week and contrast with NLO AudioMonitor, which has showed traditional radio listening holding steady. But, another survey showed Dutch radio listening falling. (See more about Dutch media here)

Also this week came a report on digital audio transition from the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Authority (MABB). The MABB oversees private-sector broadcasting in the two adjacent German Federal States and, as such, has a large interest in what those services might become. From the report, that means non-linear audio services.

“Online audio is a platform business,” said MABB director Anja Zimmer, quoted by infosat.de (October 7). “It is important to ensure that content is accessible and discoverable on the platforms in an equal and non-discriminatory manner. In particular, smart speakers such as Amazon Echo, will play an increasingly important role for radio broadcasters in the medium term.” (See more about media in Germany here)

Details in the report are mixed, meaning folks in Berlin and Brandenburg mix their audio platforms. Two-thirds in Berlin and four-fifths in Brandenburg are regular FM radio listeners. More than one-third in Berlin (37%) access audio content through the various streaming services, highest in Germany. Half of that are podcasts. The podcast audience in Brandenburg is roughly half that of Berlin.

Radio Page week ending October 4, 2019
digital radio, radio in Switzerland, local radio, FM switch-off, DAB

Radio Page week ending September 27, 2019
radio in Norway, pop-up radio, Christmas Radio, Bauer Media, NRK, podcasts, podcasting, BBC StoryWorks, German Radio Prize, NPR

Radio Page week ending September 20, 2019
radio in France, Mediametrie, radio audience, summer radio listening, RTL, France Inter, France Bleu

Radio Page week ending September 13, 2019
radio in Poland, Radio Track Kantar, radio audience, RMF FM, Radio Zet, Polskie Radio, radio in Germany, digital radio, digital transition, Vaunet

Radio Page week ending September 6, 2019
radio in the UK, RAJAR, BBC Radio, public broadcasting, commercial radio, Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio 1, Five Live, Magic, LBC, Heart, Classic FM, Kisstory, Smooth, digital transition, smart speakers, radio in Italy, radio audience, RadioTER, RTL 102.5, Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana, RAI, Radiofreccia, Virgin Radio

Radio Page week ending August 2, 2019
radio in the UK, RAJAR, BBC Radio, public broadcasting, commercial radio, Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio 1, Five Live, Magic, LBC, Heart, Classic FM, Kisstory, Smooth, digital transition, smart speakers, radio in Italy, radio audience, RadioTER, RTL 102.5, Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana, RAI, Radiofreccia, Virgin Radio

Radio Page week ending July 26, 2019
radio in France, Paris radio audience, FIP, Mediametrie, radio audience, RTL, Radio France, France Inter, NRJ, Nostalgie, RMC, Europe 1, Lagardere

Radio Page week ending July 19, 2019
radio in the Czech Republic, RRTV, Active Radio, Radio Zet, seznam.cz, Radio Expres, Radio CAS, radio in Germany, radio audience, Media-Analyse, Radio NRW, Bayern 1, WDR 2, Antenne Bayern, SWR 3, Spotify

Radio Page week ending July 12, 2019
radio in Switzerland, Mediapulse, radio audience, public radio, SRF, RTS, RSI

Radio Page week ending July 5, 2019
radio in Spain, radio audience, EGM, Cadena SER, Cadena Cope, Los 40 Principales, Los 40 Classic, RNE

Radio Page week ending June 28, 2019
radio advertising, Cannes Lions, GenZ, radio in Germany, digital transitions, DAB+, 5G

Radio Page week ending June 21, 2019
radio in Poland, Eurozet, Agora Group, mergers and acquisitions, radio in the Czech Republic, Radio Zet, Czech Media Invest, Lagardere Active Radio, Media Bohemia

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