The study on the radio and television sector in Italy, drawn up by Confindustria Radio Televisioni, examines 40 national and 691 local radio and television operators, of which 287 television and 404 radio Source
The Confindustria Radio Televisioni association has published the “Economic study of the private radio and television sector“, which from 2020 presents in a single volume the national and local radio and television operators (previously two publications were prepared). The study examines the financial statements filed with the Chambers of Commerce by joint-stock companies (thus excluding community broadcasters, which are not required to publish them), providing a pictureof the most structured part of the radio and television industry, within which very different companies coexist. The sector is in a stabilization phase, after two economic crises (2008 and 2012), the entry of some reforms (including that of the fee and contributions to local broadcasting) and a changed competitive environment, due to the rise of OTT platforms that (like Netflix) distribute content via the internet. The financial statements are for 2018, as it was necessary to wait until a fair number were available for the study to be representative.
A summary of key trends can be read here, while the full volume can be downloaded here.
BBC ad alerts listeners to medium-wave shutdown and shows how to inquire about listening alternatives Source
Between May and June 2021 the British public broadcaster will switch off the medium-wave transmitters of another ten local radio stations, because the installations on this frequency range “no longer offer an advantageous quality-price ratio for British citizens”. The migration to digital had been announced ten years ago (in 2011): the first closures began in 2018, followed in 2020 by further deactivations in Scotland, Wales and England. Today, all BBC local radio is receivable on digital terrestrial TV and local DAB multiplexes, on FM or online (via smartphones, computers or smart speakers). Abandoning amplitude modulation will be: BBC Essex; BBC Radio Cambridgeshire; BBC Radio Devon; BBC Radio Leeds; BBC Radio Sheffield; BBC Hereford & Worcester; BBC Radio Stoke; BBC Radio Lancashire; BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle. Two other stations, however, will reduce their coverage area: Radio Wales and Radio Gloucestershire. Listeners are provided with a website https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/ with alternative listening options, a help line and a telephone for listening advice.
Schlager Radio can be received on FM, via DAB+, via cable, via satellite. As well as being available on the web, via a dedicated app, and can be listened to on smart speakers Source
Berlin-based Schlager Radio has announced the launch of its own visual radio station, which will be receivable via satellite on Astra and with a smart TV connected to the internet. The station’s intention is to offer additional information, such as displaying the title of the song being broadcast. “The aim”, says press spokesman Heiner Harke, “is to offer our listeners visual added value without being a TV programme“.
Boom in Italy
In Italy, on the other hand, live video broadcasts from radio stations are almost like television programmes and are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, around 19 million Italians now follow them on a screen (TV, smartphone or PC), 11 million of whom use TV. And according to the Censis research “La transizione verso la radiovisione” (“The transition towards radiovision”) “visual radio is strongly in tune with the expectations of Italians: 52% declare that they would like to have more and more the possibility to enjoy radio contents on different devices also in video format. And 50% of those who follow radiovision find it pleasant, 27.5% engaging, 24% innovative”.
In Italy, the forerunner was RTL 102.5, which has 1.1 million listeners of its video version (1.8 million during lockdown). Many local radio stations followed. SourceRai has also inaugurated live video broadcasts from September 2020 on Radio2. In 2021 it will be the turn of Radio1 and, progressively, other channels of the public broadcaster Source
Public radio also adapts in Switzerland
Switzerland’s Rete Uno began broadcasting in April 2021, announcing it in a statement on its Facebook account Source
The news of Selecta FM’s closure was spread by the journalists’ union in two tweets. Source
The repression of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime has claimed another victim: Selecta FM, which operated on 102.7 MHz from Machiques, in the state of Zulia, in the northwest of the South American country. It was deactivated by Conatel (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones) officials, who seized the equipment on the evening of Friday, 5 March 2021. This was reported by the SNTP (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa), which wrote on Twitter that the station had already been intimidated on 26 February, when its premises were attacked during an interview with an opposition leader. More details in the Swissinfo.ch article.
Selecta continues broadcasting on the web
On the radio station’s website, you can see to the right of the station’s name the words “online”. But if you scroll down the page you see the image of the app for Android smartphones which still mentions the FM frequency (in the following image). Source
Access to the resources is equitable and will be distributed among 58 community broadcasters identified as eligible Source
To support Mexican community radio stations, new legislation requires government institutions, states and municipalities to spend one per cent of the budget allocated to social communication by purchasing advertising space on community radio stations (Article 89, Section VII of the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting). The first to implement the legal provision is the Federal Institute of Communications (IFT), which has created a special space on its Internet portal to make it transparent that access to resources is fair.
Support from Unesco for indigenous radios
In Mexico, there are 375 non-commercial radio stations, of which 72% are social, 23.7% community and 3.5% indigenous Source
Another support comes from Unesco, which with its ‘Design of public policies‘ project launched in 2020 seeks to bring indigenous content into public and commercial media. Funded by the European Union and the EU-Uesco Expert Bank, it aims to produce programmes in indigenous languages with content that reflects the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Strengthening them helps preserve indigenous languages, cultures and ancestral knowledge. Without forgetting that in the event of natural disasters, their role is irreplaceable, so it is necessary to remove the obstacles that prevent them from obtaining broadcasting authorisation.
Archbishop Thomas Luke Msusa (in the centre of the photo) is “impressed by the commitment of the team” that is carrying out the project of the new Catholic radio station. Source
Kuwala FM, a broadcaster of the Archdiocese of Blantyre, Malawi, was created to appeal to over 2 million listeners. It is the fourth regional radio of the Catholic Church in the country, after Radio Alinafe of the archdiocese of Lilongwe, Radio Tigabane of the diocese of Mzuzu and Tuntufye FM of the diocese of Karonga. The communications coordinator of the Archdiocese of Blantyre, Father Frank Mwinganyama, plans to go on air by the end of 2020. Radio Maria Malawi, Luntha Television and Montfort Media also operate in the diocese of Mangochi.
Happy 1st of December! Let’s bring the Christmas time on.
For this years anticipation to Christmas the RadioReporter community has created a special surprise for you! We have collected our favourite radio stations and put them in an online Advent Calendar for you.
We proudly present the RadioReporter Advent Calendar. Stay curious and explore a new radio station every day until Christmas. We hope you enjoy our special selection and share it with your loved ones.
The advent time is a Christian tradition and spans over the period before Christmas. It covers the four Sundays before the Christmas Eve (24th December), starting with the Sunday closest to 30th November, the feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle.
In the late 1800s the tradition of counting down the days til Christmas started in form of lighting candles or marking the days with chalk. “The first printed Advent calendar originated in Germany in the early 20th century with Gerhard Lang. When Gerhard was a little boy his mother made him a calendar with 24 small candies attached to cardboard, one for each day before Christmas.” (Source)
FM tuners showing the logo of the broadcasters are being used in the cars. For broadcasters who manage to make the most of technology, it is an opportunity to increase ratings. But some systems rely just on RDS, which was not designed for this purpose: This can create serious image damage to a broadcaster. But to eliminate them you can turn to the experts.
L’articolo (In Italiano)
Si diffondono sulle vetture i sintonizzatori FM che mostrano il logo delle emittenti. Un’opportunità gratuita che aiuta gli editori ad aumentare la notorietà e gli ascolti. E quando il marchio non appare o è sbagliato ci si può rivolgere agli esperti
Una Classe A con il sistema multimediale MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience). Presentato dalla casa tedesca al Consumer Electronic Show di Las Vegas nel 2017, usa l’intelligenza artificiale e attualmente è il sistema più evoluto Fonte
Nel 2013 sono apparse le prime autoradio che consentono di scegliere la stazione preferita in FM cliccando sui logo visualizzati sullo schermo. La funzione, ispirata dai sintonizzatori Dab (che mostrano i marchi delle radio ricevibili), rende l’impianto multimediale più accattivante e aumenta la sicurezza di guida, perché al conducente basta un colpo d’occhio per individuare la stazione preferita, e non è obbligato a distogliere lo sguardo dalla strada per leggere dall’RDS che radio ha sintonizzato.
Nel sistema multimediale della Volkswagen Golf il logo viene visualizzato a destra della mappa insieme ad altri comandi audio e per il telefono Fonte
Questa innovazione dà un vantaggio non indifferente agli editori, perché offre gratuitamente la possibilità di diffondere il proprio marchio e di farlo riconoscere (la brand awareness, uno degli indicatori che misurano il successo di un’azienda). Se il marchio è ben progettato, infatti, è facilmente riconoscibile e viene memorizzato con facilità. E se poi è accattivante, può attrarre l’attenzione e consentire di intercettare nuovi ascoltatori.
Un’immagine ad hoc per ogni sistema
Per sintonizzare una stazione si clicca su uno dei marchi che appaiono sullo schermo. Fonte
Per sfruttare al meglio queste opportunità, va tenuto conto che ogni sistema ha caratteristiche diverse, e alcuni parametri (come i colori dello sfondo) non devono essere trascurati nello studio della grafica. Occorre inoltre privilegiare la leggibilità, eliminando elementi che nelle dimensioni del piccolo schermo non risulterebbero decifrabili (come lo slogan o la frequenza, se scritte molto in piccolo). Meglio optare per un simbolo grafico o un disegno, purché stilizzato e ben riconoscibile.
E se il logo non appare?
L’autoradio mostra solo l’RDS di TSN di Sondrio (Tele Sondrio News) ma non il logo, come per le altre emittenti Fonte
Alcuni sistemi, pur essendo molto diffusi (come quelli montati sulle vetture del gruppo Volkswagen, che comprende le vetture Porsche, Seat, Skoda e le Audi prodotte fino al settembre del 2019), sono soggetti a dei problemi tecnici che possono penalizzare gli editori. Le anomalie in genere dipendono dal fatto che questi apparecchi non utilizzano il Gps (o appositi algoritmi, previsti negli apparati più evoluti) per evitare i conflitti tra le emittenti. Non sono rari anche gli errori dovuti all’aggiornamento del database: come quando non viene visualizzato il marchio dell’emittente o ne viene mostrato uno ormai datato.
Per chi non c’è è un serio danno d’immagine
Sintonizzando Radio Sound di Piacenza, viene visualizzato l’RDS ma appare il logo di Radio City di Paternò, località in provincia di Catania Fonte
Ma l’anomalia più grave si verifica quando lo schermo mostra l’RDS dell’emittente abbinandolo al logo di un’altra stazione. Un problema serio, perché l’ascoltatore può essere indotto in errore: potrebbe pensare che la radio non sia ricevibile e orientare la propria scelta su un’altra. Per cercare la radio preferita e memorizzarla dovrà ricorrere alla sintonia manuale della frequenza, e comunque vedrà sempre il marchio di una radio concorrente al posto di quella che ha scelto. Questa incompatibilità si può eliminare, ma non può prescindere da un’analisi preventiva dei database della vettura dove si verifica per individuarne la causa e le soluzioni.
Il supporto degli esperti
Sulla piattaforma Etermin sono disponibili le varie tipologie di servizi offerti per risolvere i problemi con i logo Fonte
Per eliminare le incompatibilità ci si può rivolgere a un gruppo di esperti. Radio Data Center, società tedesca leader nel settore, con otto marchi automobilistici supportati, su richiesta di diversi editori che volevano limitare i danni di immagine, ha analizzato il problema dei sistemi Volkswagen (che non assiste direttamente). Gli editori che notano dei problemi (direttamente o attraverso le segnalazioni degli ascoltatori) dei problemi, hanno la possibilità di chiedere una consulenza breve, un’analisi approfondita delle problematiche e l’individuazione delle soluzioni. Per farlo possono accedere alla piattaforma Etermin, dove è possibile prenotare ciascun servizio all’indirizzo E-Termin Radio Data Center GmbH.
The volume is expected to arrive in the bookshop before Christmas. The cover price is € 10,- Credits
In the history of radio there have been important female figures, even if the story almost always recalls the male protagonists. Umberto Alunni, a former manager of the banking sector (he has been director of important credit institutions, but has always cultivated the passion of a collector of antique radios and a divulger) has reconstructed in the book “Le donne della radio” the biographies of ten characters. From Annie Jameson, Marconi’s mother, to the anonymous steno-typist of the steamship Lusitania, to Lisa Glauber, the only living protagonist, daughter of the owner of the Unda Radio factory. Alunni thus gives back to the female gender the role of protagonist that it deserves.
Radio Liberty was founded in 1951 and merged with Radio Free Europe in 1975. Funded by the American Congress, the two radio stations were downsized at the end of the Cold War. The original Hungarian service, “Szabad Europa Radio”, operated from Munich and was closed in 1993. Source
After 27 yearsRadio Liberty returns to speak to Hungarian citizens: on 08th September 2020 it opened an editorial office in Budapest, given the political involution in the country. Premier Viktor Orbán has put more and more stress on democracy and has plunged Hungary into 89th place in the press freedom index produced by Reporters sans Frontières. But things are not simple: the American ambassador (President Donald Trump is in ideological harmony with Orbán) has asked the broadcaster (who declares not to be pressured) to be sympathetic to the Hungarian premier. More info here and here.
