MULTIMEDIA MEETS RADIO

The long tail and international broadcasting

How do Swissinfo and other international broadcasters survive in a media jungle dominated by 900 pound gorillas like the BBC World Service? The answer is a strategy that takes full advantage of the "long tail".

Originally, the term was used to describe statistical distributions, such as the frequency with which different words occur.

For example, if you were to draw a chart based on the occurrence of words in the English language, the high end would be dominated by short and frequently used words like "the" and "have". Moving along the chart, you would see a long tail of increasingly obscure words that occur less frequently.

But it was Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson who first used the "long tail" to explain the success of Internet-based businesses such as Amazon.com. The idea is that the length of the tail can make niche products as lucrative as top sellers.

Music download services, for instance, make much more money from their entire catalogue than from just the top 100 bestselling titles. As demand increases for niche products, they become more profitable.

This is the argument behind Anderson's new book "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More".

I believe the same thing is happening in broadcasting, where more platforms are increasing choice and fragmenting audiences. Thanks to Internet radio, podcasting and DAB, more broadcasters are able to cater to minority tastes.

Traditionally, international broadcasters have reached their target audiences via analogue shortwave radio, which is very much a hit and miss affair. Listeners tend to remain loyal to one brand name, such as the BBC WS or Deutsche Welle, because the radio dial is quite possibly the worst interface ever invented.

This is likely to change. Digital Radio Mondiale has the potential to bring the long tail model to shortwave broadcasting by making it easier for users to find new stations.

But let's get back to Swissinfo.

A few years ago, Swiss Radio International/Swissinfo provided a 24/7 world news service on shortwave. They had state-of-the-art studios and good journalists compiling very respectable news and current affairs programmes.

The only problem was a lack of evidence that anyone was actually listening. At least, that is what the Swiss authorities told SRI in 1997, when they hinted they might withdraw their half of the station's budget.

In the end, Swissinfo saved its lard/Speck/pancetta by going online and adopting a strategy of "Swissness". This meant no more international news and a back-to-basics mission of presenting Switzerland to the outside world.

The Internet did for Swissinfo what it had already done for Amazon: it enabled the Berne-based broadcaster to slash distribution costs and win a completely new audience. The focus on Switzerland means they are part of the long tail, providing a specialist news service that not even the BBC or CNN can match.

As Anderson argues in his book, a shift is taking place from mass markets to niche markets as Internet search engines aggregate less popular products and make them profitable.

The challenge for broadcasters is to ensure that their content is not too far down the tail and difficult to find. For websites, SEO is essential and is certainly a cornerstone of Swissinfo's strategy.

Elsewhere, other international broadcasters, including RFI, Radio Netherlands and Radio Prague are now getting together to look at ways of aggregating their content. Ideas under discussion include the creation of a common web portal.

I believe that the future of international broadcasters will depend on their success in driving demand down the long tail by making their content easier to find. Collaborative projects and cross-promotion will play a key part in this.

Multimedia meets international broadcasting

Radio retains a vital role at the heart of international broadcasting, but other forms of delivery are gaining importance. That was the message from this year's international broadcasting conference, which took place high above Amsterdam in the Ij-Toren building - one of the Dutch city's few skyscrapers.

A number of factors have forced international broadcasters to re-think their content and distribution strategies. These include funding problems and fragmenting audiences because of increased competition from traditional and non-traditional players.

Denmark's domestic public service broadcaster, DR, obtained a large international audience for its Mozart anniversary podcasts. Newspapers are also offering podcasts, as well as on-demand video.

It is against this backdrop that a handful of broadcasters, including Swissinfo, are moving away from radio in favour of text-based news portals. At the other end of the spectrum - pardon the pun - Voice of Russia is expanding its radio offering, snapping up FM frequencies and moving onto DAB.

But VOR is also producing an ambitious multimedia encyclopaedia to showcase Russia's rich culture and history.   

RFI, Radio Prague and Vatican Radio have either launched, or re-launched websites recently. A strong online presence helps stations to complete geographical coverage or to address niche segments.

Most are now using the internet to provide on-demand audio and video services, such as podcasting. This is helping to win over new listeners as audiences discover compelling and relevant content that previously had been hidden away in schedules. 

Deutsche-Welle and the BBC World Service host weblogs and actively encourage users to generate content. Both broadcasters have successful websites, as well as TV stations.

Last November, BBC World Service cut 10 language services in order to fund its venture into TV with a new Arabic channel.

The pace of change has been extraordinary over recent years.

The Radio Netherlands chief, Jan Hoek, said that when he joined the station, in the early 1990s, they were using eight transmitters and two satellites. Now, said Jan, they were running a network operation centre connecting radio and TV content on more than 30 satellites.

Radio with pictures

I told a conference at the IBC last autumn that the future looked rosy for radio: listening was (is) on the increase and a host of platforms were (are) giving users real choices about what, where and when they listened.

There is no doubt that radio is living a special moment, but am I being complacent? What I did not say in Amsterdam was that in many countries listening among young people is declining. The same is true for TV.

Broadcasters do not need to be told that they must find ways of reversing this trend. It is what  Mark Thompson is trying to do at the BBC with his Creative Futures strategy.

A lot of hope is resting on personal broadcasting and it really irks me when I hear this referred to as "mobile TV". The trials currently underway around Europe are as much about radio as they are television.

For those countries that have already embraced DAB, making radio mobile via DMB, or DAB-IP, offers a unique opportunity to woo a younger demographic. Mobile phones with integrated FM radios are already a hit and DMB can build on this by offering listners not only DAB channels, but also interactivity and multimedia content.

(Of course, where a DAB infrastructure does not exist, DMB will be competing with 3G and the Nokia-driven mobile phone standard, DVB-H.)

Let's not forget that DMB is based on a radio broadcasting standard and can offer the industry some measure of control. It is cost-effective and can deliver good picture quality, as well as offering opportunities for earning revenue.

The challenge for broadcasters will be to avoid creating cheap, pseudo-TV. They must find ways of capitalising on the potential for interactivity while retaining the soul and substance of radio.

Secrets of success - results of recent endeavours

IB Specialized Meeting: Amsterdam, 14-15 June

"A new generation of media consumers has risen, demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it." The words belong to Rupert Murdoch, who told a meeting in London earlier this year that podcasting was the future.

Whatever else you might say about the Australian media mogul, he seldom, if ever, backs the wrong horse. The results of podcasting trials certainly add substance to Mr Murdoch's remarks.

In two days, last July, there were one million subscriptions on iTunes; Swedish Radio reports an average 40,000 downloads a month; in three months, there were more than one million downloads of Danish Radio's Mozart special; the BBC podcasting trials are generating more than one and three quarter million downloads a month.

Nor is there any evidence of a slow-down. A report on the British market, by the research firm BMRB, suggests that in the next six months nearly eight million people will go in search of a podcast.

The International Broadcasting Conference will look at how programme concepts are working and explore the avenues open to broadcasters wishing to take full advantage of the opportunities.

Mr Murdoch says media is becoming like fast food: people will consume it on the go, watching news, sport and film clips on mobiles or handheld wireless devices like Sony's PSP. This represents a massive opportunity for broadcasters and the challenge will be to create a multiplatform strategy that can provide consumers with bespoke content.

Co-productions is one way of meeting the demand and in recent months, several radio members have taken part in bilateral ventures, while other have joined in an EBU coordinated European health project. The producers will show the Conference what they have delivered and share their views on how best to build on recent achievements.

There is an old joke that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. The co-productions session aims to find out whether the combined synergies produced better programmes, or whether there were inevitable compromises.

Multimedia strategies also offer international broadcasters the potential to enhance output, while more efficient distribution channels can reign in soaring costs. On the menu in Amsterdam will be broadcasting to mobile phones, Internet radio, Digital Radio Mondiale and peer-to-peer streaming.

Blogging will also feature prominently as the EBU offers its own weblog and Deutsche Welle tells delegates how it plans to grow its BOB awards into the Blogosphere's equivalent of the Oscars. The Conference will look at how blogging can help broadcasters build communities, especially when it is part of a social media strategy like the BBC's Creative Futures.

Some broadcasters have concluded that implementing effective broadcasting strategies for the 21st century requires a sea change in corporate culture. We look at the importance of organizational structure through two case studies and assess whether the lessons could be useful for other broadcasters.

But above all the Amsterdam conference is an opportunity for broadcasters to come together to share ideas and forge new partnerships to provide content on radio, TV, the web, iPods, mobile phones and laptops.

Learning the lessons of the tsunami

Natural disasters will dominate the headlines and then gradually slip down the news agenda until they fall into oblivion. The media seldoms shows any interest in the long term consequences or the efforts made by survivors to recover and rebuild their livelihoods.

Delegates at MMR have heard how Radio Netherlands and Radio France have bucked the trend with two very different projects.

Radio in a box

Radio often plays a crucial role in the aftermath of a catastrophe like the tsunami of December 2004. It is not only a vitally important means of communication, but also a major source of information for listeners.

It was with this in mind that Radio Netherlands shipped three mobile radio stations to Banda Aceh, in March 2005. The objective was to enable local stations obliterated by the catastrophe to resume their broadcasts.

One of those involved in the project was Henry Sandee of Radio Netherland's Indonesian Service. He identified the need to reconcile short- and long-term goals as one of the chief challenges.

Short-term objectives for the local broadcasters include bringing families together, facilitating search operations and the prevention of epidemic diseases. In the longer-term, issues like sustainability, ownership and training become more important, while the need for the stations to generate revenue should never be overlooked.

Henry stressed that lives could be saved in the future if broadcasters learn the lessons of the tsunami. Above all, he said, radio must gain the skills to react more quickly.

Radio Netherlands is lending the "Radios in a Box" to the Indonesian stations until they are able to start using their own facilities again. Radio Netherlands will then deploy the mobile stations in other parts of the world and for other purposes, such as training.

A year in Hikkaduwa

Radio France sent a team of journalists to the Sri Lankan beach resort of Hikkaduwa, in the south west of the island, to record the rebuilding process. Dispatches were posted to a website, including pictures, maps and stories about the everyday struggles of ordinary folk, which atracted more than a thousand visitors a week.

"Hikkaduwa was chosen because the sea killed there more than a thousand people in a train and these images became a symbol of the catastrophe," explained Eric Chaverou of Radio France.

"We did this because our listeners always complain that we don't follow the action - we report the day of the tsunami, but do not go back afterwards. The internet has a very powerful thing that it will keep the story alive."

Hikkaduwa with its miles of golden sands and palm trees gently swaying in the wind is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth. The tourist industry it has spawned is also a vital source of income for thousands of people.