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ftm Radio Page - March 18, 2016

The future is smartphones, it’s where the people are
“reach even more people”

Every gathering of radio broadcasters since late last century has featured sales pitches for digital radio. In Europe that meant brass bands urging broadcasters to march along with “The Future Is Digital” and sign up for DAB (digital audio broadcasting). Some did and some didn’t. Consumers, as they are wont to do, interpreted the tune differently and bought smartphones.

As the media access point of choice for millions, smartphone sales outstrips all other consumer electronics devices. In Germany last year, for example, nearly 10 million were sold, according to a GfK industry market report (March 10), more than double TV set sales. Crunching those numbers a bit differently, German private broadcasters association VPRT estimated sales of all FM-enabled devices, other than automobiles, at 6.7 million, barely changing from 2014. Just over a million (1.02) internet radio devices were sold, up 22% year on year, and 950,000 digital broadcast receivers left the stores, up 32%. The big winner was Bluetooth-enabled speaker systems, up 66% year on year to 2.9 million units. (See VPRT presser here - in German)

Digital radio supporters have, more or less, given up attempts at forcing changes in consumer behavior with lobbying for FM broadcasting shut-down, applying the gentler approach of providing exclusive (and compelling) radio channels on the digital platforms. And successes have appeared. (See more about digital radio here)

But getting DAB or DAB+ chips into smartphones has been something of a challenge. Manufacturers have resisted, largely because radio isn’t their game and DAB/DAB+ chips have been both power and data hogs. Some of those concerns have been overcome as digital broadcasting support group IDAG and South Korea’s LG Electronics unveiled the new LG Stylus 2 smartphone with a DAB+ chip and a clever app to help folks tune-in soon.

“This breakthrough will allow broadcasters to reach even more people with their content,” said EBU radio chief Graham Dixon in a statement, coinciding with the RadioDays Europe conference and expo. Public broadcasting association EBU (European Broadcasting Union) has long championed the DAB cause, being invested in the intellectual property. (See EBU statement here) The LG Stylus 2 is a smart looking smartphone and will come at a “mid-tier price.”

Ill winds from the East blow across the radio dial
“real life suggests otherwise”

State control of broadcasting is no longer a relic of past sins. Authoritarian governments in Hungary and, more recently, Poland have dusted off old icons to obstruct public broadcasting and threaten private broadcasting. Politicians in the Russian Federation and Turkey have done their share. The expressed reasoning - support for “culture” or “the free-market” - intends to obscure the obvious: state control.

The chill is coming to the UK, said BBC Radio director Helen Boaden at the annual RadioDays Europe broadcasting conference in Paris (March 14). "In some European countries, a change of government heralds a changing of the guard at public service broadcasters as well. Public service broadcasting subjected to undue political interference over a sustained period becomes state broadcasting. I don’t believe that is what our audiences want.” (See more about the BBC here)

UK Culture Minister John Whittingdale, stalwart of the Conservative Party, has called in recent days for BBC Radio channels to exit middle-adult audience targets (25 to 49 year olds), clear off shows that are “too popular,” and, remarkably, have sports channel BBC Radio Five Live to drop live sports broadcasts. Chasing radio listeners away from those “too popular” BBC channels and shows, he’s said, will benefit under-performing commercial competitors. He also favors ending the BBC Trust, which buffers the public broadcaster from the politicians. (See more about media in Poland here and media in Hungary here)

"It has also been suggested that our stations should not be so popular; that we should deliberately turn away audiences who want our range and distinctiveness,” said Ms Boaden. The argument is that if we made BBC Radio less appealing… those listeners would flock to commercial radio. Real life suggests otherwise.”

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