MULTIMEDIA MEETS RADIO

Re-thinking radio's digital future

2007-12-04T18:07:06+01:00

British consumers have bought six million DAB radios because they want to listen to services which are not available on either AM or FM. It is a familiar argument and one that has become the mantra of countless analysts, consultants, broadcasters, regulators and journalists.

I have spread the same message through conference speeches, articles, e-mails and blog posts. But now we are all being asked to think again, as France questions whether listeners really do want more choice.

Although DMB audio is less efficient than DAB+, this is only a problem if your objective is to extend choice. But the GRN believes that French listeners are already well served.

"Significantly increased programme offering is not a strong consumer demand," says Radio France's Sylvain Anichini. "In France, there is already a very diverse offering in most places."

In Paris alone, listeners can tune into around 50 FM stations.

Anichini's comments come as France appears poised to adopt T-DMB technology for digital radio services, even though it was designed for mobile TV. It is an audacious move backed by the Groupement pour la Radio Numérique (Association for Digital Radio), a group of broadcasters whose members have more than 95 per cent of France's domestic audience.

GRN members have already started trial services in Paris, with a nationwide commercial launch planned for Christmas 2008. The French authorities will provide frequencies in the VHF (Band III) and Band L range.

The GRN is plumping for T-DMB, rather than DAB+, because its members believe that multimedia services will play an important part in the future of radio. Unless radio becomes interactive and adds pictures, they say, it will die a slow, but inevitable death.

"Digital radio cannot only be digital sound - it needs to have the right functionalities to compete with other digital offerings," says Anichini. These include a screen, rich data, synchronization between data and sound and high audio quality.

French broadcasters are worried they are failing to reach younger audiences, who prefer the Internet - Anichini claims that young people find radio "dumb" and "one-dimensional." It is a common concern across Europe, for both radio and TV.

Indeed, the situation may even be worse for TV since radio’s unique advantage is that you can listen to it whilst doing other things. The challenge facing mobile TV, in contrast, is to convince consumers that it is not a “sit-back” medium.

Nevertheless, the GRN perceives mobile TV as a real threat. For this reason, they argue not only that radio needs to be interactive and able to offer video, but also that it must be available in DMB-equipped mobile phones.

The GRN says that because T-DMB is part of the DAB family, the new French phones will be backwards compatible with DAB and DAB+. However, the inverse is not true.

Samsung will provide the phones. However, Nokia, which prefers the rival DVB-H technology, is unlikely to follow suit.

Instead, the Finnish giant is offering a free Internet Radio download for all Nokia phones running the Series 60 operating system. The service, which allows users to browse for radio programmes by genre, language, country, or name, will be installed on new phones.

The fact that GRN broadcasters are demanding more bits for DMB services will further restrict competition. However, Nokia's Internet Radio could have a significant Long Tail effect by allowing small stations squeezed out by the GRN a real opportunity to reach new audiences.

This leads us to the other question mark against the French strategy: is multimedia really the future of radio? Despite massive investment, commercial broadcasters in the UK have so far failed to launch any truly successful services.

Multimedia is undoubtedly a sexy addition to radio, but can it really compete with the sophisticated services already available on the Internet?

Many outside France, including foreign regulators and receiver manufacturers, have condemned the GRN’s controversial decision to adopt T-DMB for radio services. But different countries may have different needs.

In terms of the upper layers and legacy equipment, if you build a network capable of transmitting DMB audio, it is easy to convert it to deliver DMB video. However, if you build a DAB+ network, there is no migration path to "something better than radio" which includes video.

In the real world, there is no migration path from a multiplex which provides 50 DAB+ channels to one that gives you 50 T-DMB channels. Either you would have to drop some of the services, or you would have to build a new multiplex.

Although T-DMB is less spectrum efficient than DAB+, that is only a problem if you plan to launch new stations. In addition, French radio will require still more bits to provide the kind of interactive and video services being planned.

In the end, though, I suspect this is a question of culture and the depth of existing analogue services, rather than technology. Different choices - T-DMB or DAB+ - may be appropriate in different countries. Some countries may decide to complement "standard" DAB+ services with premium services on T-DMB.

[All changes to original text in Italics.]

Blogging about the cricket

2007-11-22T17:52:25+01:00

We are a masochistic lot here at the EBU. Every few months, several of us volunteer to keep co-workers away from their lunch for 30 minutes while we brief them on a topic of special interest. Next Wednesday, I will share the floor with my colleagues David Wood and Nicoletta Iacobacci to talk about blogging.

The plan is that David will explain how member organizations do it, Nicoletta will provide some examples of successful media blogs and I will say a few words about why broadcasters are bothering.

The first point I will make is that our Radio and TV Members approach blogging in different ways because of the diverse natures of their media. TV is a “sit back medium” that requires the complete attention of its audience, while radio allows people to do other things, such as surfing the blogosphere, while they listen.

I heard a good example of this at a recent conference in Copenhagen. BBC Radio Five Live’s Brett Spencer told delegates how a rather large insect had gate crashed a commentary position during last year's Cricket World Cup, in Guyana.

One of the commentators told listeners he had taken a picture of the creepy-crawly with his mobile phone and was uploading it onto a BBC blog. He invited budding entomologists to visit the blog and advise the commentary team whether or not they needed to worry about the six-legged intruder.

Many people took up the invitation and posted comments on the blog while continuing to follow the cricket (the game, not the insect) on the radio. The match commentary was interspersed with remarks about the alarming entomological advice that was arriving on the weblog.

That level of “sit up interactivity” would be more difficult to achieve on a TV show. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not really what the telly is about.

In its way, Brett’s cricket story also illustrates what Jay Rosen calls "users know more than we do" journalism. The idea is that if members of an audience have expert knowledge in a particular field, it can be exploited to enrich programme content.

Blogs bring audiences closer to presenters, journalists and other programme-makers, which not only builds brand loyalty, but also makes public service broadcasters more accountable.

Ian Dickens leaves DRDB

2007-11-09T17:07:52+01:00

Hats off to Ian Dickens, who is stepping down today as Chief Executive of the Digital Radio Development Bureau. Over the past five years, Ian has overseen the success of DAB digital radio in the UK and provided a model for other countries to follow.

The DRDB is a consortium of public service and commercial broadcasters. Under Ian's guidance, they worked together as a team to collate market intelligence and provide support to retailers and manufacturers, as well as to extol the advantages of digital radio to consumers.

When Ian joined the DRDB in June 2002, digital radio had very little traction in the UK. The few available DAB receivers were expensive and only stocked by specialist retailers.

As we approach the end of 2007, there are well over 8000 shops in the UK selling more than 300 DAB products. More than 70 per cent of the population is aware of DAB and well over six million sets will be sold by Christmas.

That growth has been built on a successful marketing and communication strategy which has placed the consumer centre stage. As Ian told the EBU in June, “technologies, services, products, and retailers live or die by the consumer’s hand.”

Gore blimey

2007-10-27T01:54:11+02:00

"Al Gore's carbon footprint would have cost us $250,000 and three first-class air tickets."

Veteran News Xchange producer John Owen on why Al Gore wasn't taking part in the session on climate change.

GooTube rules out editorial partnerships

2007-10-27T01:44:27+02:00

GooTube has ruled out an editorial partnership with broadcast news organizations. Patrick Walker, Head of Content Partnerships for Google Video, told delegates at News Xchange that YouTube would continue to rely on ordinary users to flag offensive or inaccurate content.

Julien Pain of the rolling news channel France 24 had urged the video-sharing giant to find new ways of working with professional journalists. Pain said that newsroom editors were relying increasingly on user-generated video to plug the gaps on the AP or Reuters wires.

But he complained that it was extremely difficult and time-consuming to check the authenticity of citizen video. Pain cited the example of a video purporting to show two bodies crushed by a jeep in the recent military crackdown against pro-democracy protestors in Myanmar.

Comments posted on a blog later revealed that the footage was more than a year old and unrelated to the current turmoil.

Andrew Keen, author of a vitriolic attack against Web 2.0 and citizen journalism, claimed that YouTube had become a media company and should assume the responsibilities.

Walker retorted that allowing users to screen content was proving effective. In addition, YouTube users only had to click on a button to contact whoever had posted a video.

Walker reminded delegates that professionals also made mistakes. When he was a journalist in Phnom Penh, a colleague had filmed the body of a man shot in the head and left lying in the street.

Mainstream media organizations had used the video to illustrate stories about political violence in Cambodia, although in reality the victim had been shot by a bandit who had stolen his motorbike.

Sam Feist of CNN stressed there would always be a gate-keeping role for journalists to vet user-generated content. He described YouTube as the best of both worlds because the pros had access to previously unavailable content.

The fact that anybody armed with a computer and an idea could participate in the brave new media landscape was making broadcasters more reliant on UGC.

To illustrate the point, delegates watched films posted on the Internet of what was said to be Egyptian police torturing a man in custody, Moroccan police extorting motorists and the alleged flight paths of members of President Ben Ali’s family going on shopping trips to Europe. Presumably, somebody had checked the videos beforehand.

Feist said that people did not go to YouTube for news. It was simply a transmission mechanism that allowed CNN to bolster content and enrich news coverage.

CNN was currently relying on amateur footage of the forest fires in California, but it had also used YouTube in more innovative ways. For example, CNN had hosted a political debate on YouTube, where the public was allowed to post video questions for US presidential candidates.

Far from threatening mainstream media, YouTube was an ally. Al-Jazeera, for example, was only available to US audiences via its website or a YouTube branded channel.

YouTube and other content sharing systems were above all enabling broadcasters to reach the elusive 18-25 demographic group that was longer watching the news on TV.

Public service broadcasting in India

2007-06-22T16:35:36+02:00

All India Radio (AIR) is facing an uncertain future, according to Abhijit Bora, a media analyst and lecturer at Gauhati University, in Assam. Speaking at the RadioAsia conference in Singapore, he said that AIR was struggling in the face of stiff competition from commercial rivals and an indifferent government.

The government controlled AIR was the chief provider of news and information to Indians for almost 70 years. It has a near 100 per cent penetration of the country and broadcasts in 21 local languages and 146 Indian dialects.

The landscape changed dramatically, though, in 1995, when the Supreme Court of India ruled that the airwaves were public property. The Court’s decision implied that the government should not be allowed to monopolize radio.

The ruling opened the floodgates and requests have come pouring in from private companies and community groups alike for FM licences. Even foreign broadcasters have joined in, with the BBC alone acquiring seven licences.

They will be joined by many more, as the government is preparing to accept bids for another 340 FM stations. Under Indian legislation, none of the private, foreign-owned or community stations will be allowed to carry news bulletins.

Abhijit Bora expressed concern that the liberalization of the airwaves could affect national unity, as well as depriving hundreds of millions of people of an important source of education. He said that from its earliest days, in the 1930s, AIR had not only brought Indians closer together, but also “played an important role as an Open University for people in rural areas.”

Around 70 per cent of Indians live in remote areas, while 60 per cent are illiterate. Poverty and other factors prevent many adults from acquiring a formal education.

Abhijit Bora said that commercial broadcasters were interested only in playing Bollywood songs, while community and educational stations did not have the resources or backing to assume AIR’s mantle. Several speakers had earlier accused the private FM stations of lacking imagination and of all sounding the same.

Abhijit Bora complained that the government had turned its back on radio, in favour of aiding the expansion of cable TV.

The government was withdrawing funding for radio to encourage AIR to generate its own revenues. However, Abhijit Bora claimed that AIR lacked both the experience and the know-how needed to exploit business opportunities and attract advertisers.

He suggested the situation was further complicated because despite everything, the government still relied on AIR to reach voters in remote areas. The irony was that AIR continued to suffer from its image as a government mouthpiece, which made finding its own feet harder still.

Public service broadcasting in India, concluded Abhijit Bora, "was not an encouraging scenario."

DAB sales hit five million mark

2007-06-14T10:51:20+02:00

Sales of DAB receivers in the UK have just passed the five million mark. The announcement was made by Ian Dickens, the CEO of Britain's Digital Radio Development Board, at the EBU Digital Radio Conference, in Geneva.

At the same event, Dominic Strowbridge of BT Movio suggested that EBU members should lobby EC Commissioner Viviane Reding about the commucation on mobile broadcasting, which is due in July. Dominic urged delegates to insist that the communication calls for digital radio to be included in any 'harmonised European mobile broadcasting receiver,' or whatever is the official name for whatever they are trying to acheive.

Why Kate Adie hates blogs

2007-06-14T09:25:00+02:00

A gloriously sunny day in Stockholm was drawing to an end and I was enjoying dinner on a restaurant ship cruising to the historic Royal Palace at Drottningholm. I spent the evening admiring the scenery, enjying the food and arguing with Kate Adie about the merits of blogging.

Kate is instantly recognisable to most Brits and a household name. The only way I can think of describing her is as a sort of cross between Dan Rather and Dame Flora Robson as Lady Bracknell.

During her quarter of a century as the BBC’s chief correspondent, Kate reported from many of the world’s trouble spots.

There used to be a joke among British servicemen that when Kate arrived in town, they knew something serious was happening. To TV viewers she became famous as much for her steely gaze and no nonsense style of questioning, as the trademark flak jacket she wore when filing from war zones.

There I was tucking into my shrimp salad and listening to one of my heroes, a living icon of broadcast journalism in Britain, dismissing my blog as “egotistical nonsense.” She didn’t actually mention my blog, of course, but that is how it felt.

Emboldened perhaps by the Chardonnay, I pointed out that although my audience can be measured in the dozens, there is interest nonetheless in what I have to say. I know I have an audience because they post comments on my blog and send me e-mails.

Tools like Statcounter tell me where my audience is based, how long they spend on the site and whether they come back again.

By the time our pudding arrived, Kate had admitted that what she really objected to was not so much weblogs, as the idea that journalists should spend their "precious time" writing about how they obtained their stories:

“You are blogging to a peer group - that's all right - I can understand there is a demand for that. But journalists shouldn't have any time to blog - there are too many stories waiting to be told!”

The other thing that Kate objects to is BBC managers who blog during working hours. Their weblogs, she maintains, are proof they have nothing better to do.

I am not mentioning any names.

The one thing Kate and I did agree on was that radio is having, in her words, “a wonderful resurgence.” As the audiences for TV news tumble, the numbers turning to the radio for in-depth analysis are growing.

Kate told me that in the early 1980s, something like 15 million viewers watched the BBC’s flagship evening news bulletin. Nowadays, the figure is closer to three million.

DRC07: radio in 2015

2007-06-04T16:31:38+02:00

How will people listen to the radio in 2015? That’s the question that a group of academics put to more than 40 media ‘experts’ in Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and the UK.

The interviewees told the DRACE (Digital Radio Cultures in Europe) group that by 2015 most Europeans would have digital terrestrial radio. The DRACE report says DAB will be a strong option in the UK and Denmark, but supplemented with Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and DMB.

However, those interviewed stress that DAB coverage patterns do not match the needs of commercial or community stations, for whom DAB is “an expensive and uneconomic system.”

DRM emerges as the favourite secondary system in Europe. Most see DRM and DAB as complementary systems.

Nevertheless, by 2015, Finns are likely to be using the DVB-H technology developed by Nokia, while Canadians will have IBOC, DAB and satellite radio. (Not really sure why the Canadians are in this survey.)

Most respondents to the DRACE questionnaire believe that a TV-style digital switchover for radio is very unlikely. They also predict that given existing market penetration, FM radio will continue to play a significant role in both Europe and Canada.

The interviewees say Internet radio and audio services will continue to grow. That is good news if, like me, you have forked out recently for a WiFi radio.

The survey finds no consensus about the dominant European way of delivering radio in 2015: most respondents predict there will be distinct national solutions. Differences in national regulation and frequency administration will fragment the digital radio landscape.

On the content front, the report highlights two main points.

Firstly, respondents predict there will be an increase in personalized and on-demand radio, with more listener sovereignty, personalization options and the gradual disappearance of schedules. Radio will be available when and where listeners want it.

They believe that more content will be produced by the audience and that some user-generated content may be broadcast without editing. After all, this is the era of YouTube and MySpace.

The report also says that different types of content could be linked to different platforms.

The second point is that traditional broadcast radio will continue to play an important role in people’s lives. This is attributed to the strengths of linear radio, including mobility, ease of access and localism, as well as powerful journalistic and artistic content.

Two of the co-authors of the DRACE report, Marko Ala-Fossi and Helen Shaw, will be attending the EBU digital radio conference, DRC07, on 14th and 15th June.