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ftm Radio Page - week ending November 15, 2019

Public broadcaster plans deep cuts to staff, studios and DAB
"does have a plan"

Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE announced (November 7) its decision to shutter several DAB-only channels and the national DAB multiplex it operates. There was an audible gasp, figuratively, from DAB (digital audio broadcasting) supporters this past week. RTE cited in need for cost savings.

Indeed, the reductions announced are deep, €60 million over the next three years. In addition to exiting DAB-only channels RTE jr, RTE Pulse, RTE 2XM, RTE Radio 1 Extra, RTE Gold and the national multiplex, 200 staff members will go, the Limerick studio will close and the executive board fees will be cut 10%. The RTE National Symphony Orchestra will be transferred to the National Concert Hall. (See more about digital radio here)

“The challenges before us are real,” said RTE Director-General Dee Forbes, quoted by Irish radio news portal radiotoday.ie (November 7). “But RTÉ does have a plan, which we are confident can address many of the challenges we face and bring Ireland’s national public broadcaster to stability.” That means, she explained, getting Ireland’s government on-board with an overhaul of the household license fee.

Immediately, Radio Nova chief executive Kevin Branigan made noises about “taking over” the RTE financed national DAB multiplex, Ireland Mux1. Radio Nova is licensed to serve the greater Dublin commuter belt, distributed on the FM platform. The rock music station is principally owned by Bay Broadcasting and Vienna Investments. It was issued a 10-year broadcasting license in 2010, meaning it expires next year.

Media regulator Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and telecom regulator Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) have not embraced an FM switch-off policy or, arguably, licensing a second DAB multiplex beyond a temporary Dublin-area installation.

Music programmers: here's the holiday data you need right now
ho, ho, ho

Around this time of year radio programmers in many parts of the year wrestle with a weighty question. Knowing that their managers will demand justifications, more often than not they turn to audience research. What they need to decide is when to begin playing Christmas music and, then, when to stop.

Thankfully, Austrian daily Kleine Zeitung reporters Michael Sommer and Daniel Hadler have provided (November 8) some answers. Perusing the vast data capture of streaming service Spotify, they discovered a range of good starting and stopping dates. Depending on country, some broadcasters should have already started, many to follow over the next two weeks.

To reach the conclusions, the Christmas music loving Austrians tracked, fair enough, the download popularity of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” voted THE most downloaded Christmas song ever, anywhere. Actually, Wham’s “Last Christmas” is probably a favorite of music radio programmers but, said the authors, its popularity has waned in recent years.

So, Christmas music fans in Iceland and Denmark have the earliest interest in the Holiday tunes, almost as soon as November arrives. Canadians follow closely, then Americans. Notably, all the Christmas music fans in these countries want the theme to change, so to speak, the day after Christmas.

In almost all the rest of European countries, interest in hearing those Christmas favorites arrives by December 1st. They are joined by folks in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Notably, people in Spain wait on Christmas music until the middle of December. In Thailand, Mexico, El Salvador, Indonesia, Ecuador and Costa Rica Christmas music is popular just on Christmas Day and not one day longer.

Obviously, geography seems to affect interest in Christmas music; people in snow belt countries generally need that blast of Christmas music as soon as the snow falls, or threatens. In the tropics, it’s just another day at the beach. For reason yet to be explored, Belgians like their Christmas music favorites well into January.

Another clue from the Spotify data: the older the Christmas favorite, the better. Perhaps, it's the spirit of the times.

Fears close broadcaster spreading public health message
"We are in hiding"

Another tiny community radio station closes. Its purpose was to share critical information where no other voices get through. And that’s the reason it’s no longer on the air; those voices were heard and certain people didn’t like it.

Lwemba Community Radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) closed its service this week (November 11), citing continuing threats. A bit more than a week ago (November 2) program host Papy Mahamba was murdered, his wife injured and his house burned down. Shortly before the incident, he had finished a call-in show in which listeners could ask questions about the Ebola virus pandemic.

Several radio stations have curtailed service in the eastern DRC Mambasa territory in recent weeks, reported AFP (November 11). There is “hostility” in certain remote regions to medical efforts to fight Ebola, some viewing the virus as a hoax, resisting prevention measures and vaccinations, even safe burial measures. In the long list of frightening medical emergencies at large, the presence of the Ebola virus in Africa has been catastrophic. (See more about media in Africa here)

“The killing of a community radio journalist because of his commitment to providing public service information on a deadly disease is a tragic illustration of the cost to society that violence against the media represents,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. The murder coincided with the UN recognized International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The “militias” attacked Papy Mahamba with machetes; two persons have been detained, reported the DRC Health Ministry and the UN, in a joint statement, quoted by mediacongo.net (November 8).

"We can not stress enough the vital role played by community radios in informing communities and in the fight against Ebola,” said UN Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator David Grassley, announcing the opening of Radio Okapi in Butembo two days after the murder. “We are very pleased to have this new antenna that broadcasts in three languages: Kinande, Kiwahili and French which will help reach even more people.” The Radio Okapi network, operating in DRC for several years, devotes considerable air-time to the Ebola crisis.

“They promised to come back to kill any journalist who talks about Ebola on the radio here in Lwemba," said a Lwemba radio broadcaster, anonymously, to news portal interview.cd (November 11). "We are in hiding.”

Radio Page week ending November 8, 2019
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Radio Page week ending November 1, 2019
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Radio Page week ending October 25, 2019
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Radio Page week ending October 18, 2019
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Radio Page week ending October 11, 2019
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Radio Page week ending October 4, 2019
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Radio Page week ending September 27, 2019
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Radio Page week ending September 20, 2019
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Radio Page week ending September 6, 2019
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Radio Page week ending August 2, 2019
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Radio Page week ending July 26, 2019
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Radio Page week ending July 19, 2019
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Radio Page week ending July 12, 2019
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Radio Page week ending June 21, 2019
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