SMALL RADIO STATIONS: SERVING BETTER AUDIENCES? By Nawiyah Che Lah, PhD Radio Television Malaysia 1
Content: Introduction and overview Media Consumption New media/broadband Culture and impact on radio Malaysian Scenario Strategies adopted by successful radio stations Summary 2 2
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Significant Milestone Development of radio 1893 1 st radio began in St. Louis, Missouri, USA 1922 Local radio began in London, UK by BBC (SW & MW) 1960s expansion of radio to FM 2002 Digital radio 4 4
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RADIO STATIONS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES 2013 COUNTRY NO. OF RADIO STATIONS NO. OF RADIO ONLINE RATIO OF RADIO STATIONS PER POPULATIONS POPULATIONS (millions) United States 15,196 7,934 1:20,880 317.3 United Kingdom 1,804 882 1:34,894 62.9 Japan 351 183 1:359,829 126.3 Indonesia 73 48 1:3,383,561 247.0 Malaysia 56 17 1:530,357 29.7 7 Source : http://www.geohive.com/earth/population_now.aspx www.surfmusic.de/country/indonesia.html http://streamingkita.com/ http://streema.com/radios/country/united_states http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/radio/stations.htm http://tunein.com/radio/japan-r101255/?other=true http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.htm http://www.shoutcast.com/radio/japanese http://www.tune.com/radio/japanese-music-g151/ 7
MEDIA USAGE IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES 2013 MEDIA COUNTRY TV (%) RADIO (%) NEWSPAPER (%) INTERNET (%) United States 69.0 36.3 17.8 65.6 United Kingdom 48.5 26.8 30.4 63.9 Japan 67.7 94.3 56.3 68.9 Indonesia 91.7 18.6 17.7 24.2 Malaysia 36.4 36.7 7.4 53.4 8 Source : http://www.nationmaster.com www.bps.go 8
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Exposure to media Sources : Television Asia 10 10
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14 New Media/Broadband Culture Change of lifestyle Gain in productivity Catalyst for increased efficiency in existing economic activities Generates new services Spurs new innovations New dimension of entertainment and social networking 14
15 Advantages of Broadband TV Live TV, VOD and Interactive Watch what u want, anytime u want Interactive channels for useful info and social media such as facebook and U-tube A variety of program in HD Crystal clear transmission regardless of the weather How does this impact the radio?? 15
How do we determine or categorize big or small radio stations? population? the market? the area? operational costs? 15 programming formats? 16
MALAYSIAN SCENARIO RADIO STATIONS IN MALAYSIA Govt./National Govt./Local Private 6 27 23 17 Total number 56 21 are considered as small stations
DOMINATING RADIO PLAYERS IN MALAYSIA 18 18
STATE RADIO STATIONS IN MALAYSIA STATE STATIONS No. of STAFF OPERATION COST USD (mill.) POP. (mill) ADVERTISING INCOME in USD (2012) Mutiarafm 84 1.093 1.56 146,103 Perlisfm 43 0.882 0.23 57,225 KEDAHfm 63 1.303 1.95 577,419 Perakfm 72 1.556 2.35 468,560 Terengganufm 81 1.502 1.04 353,365 Pahangfm 77 1.588 1.50 268,395 KELANTANfm 63 1.432 1.54 979,094 Selangorfm 28 0.712 5.46 148,342 Johorfm 106 1.218 3.35 170,877 Negerifm 50 1.325 1.02 108,299 Melakafm 62 1.042 0.82 230,631 19
LOCAL RADIO STATIONS IN MALAYSIA STATE STATIONS No. of STAFF OPERATION COST USD (mill.) POP. (mill) ADVERTISING INCOME in USD (2012) SandakanFM TawauFM KeningauFM 25 33 11 0.033 0.033 0.027 0.37 0.40 0.17 35,008 34,724 7,981 LIMBANGfm Sri AmanFM (RasaFM) SibuFM MiriFM LabuanFM LangkawiFM Source : 62 59 74 64 44 29 0.569 0.560 0.668 0.563 0.876 0.623 0.05 0.06 0.24 0.29 0.09 0.09 3,411 3,295 11,709 12,211 25,670 24,772 http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_population/files/population/05jadual_mukim_negeri/mukim_sarawak.pdf http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_population/files/population/05jadual_mukim_negeri/mukim_sabah.pdf 20
KELANTANfm SUCCESS Consistently top 10 among all the radio stations (include national radio) Top advertising income earners among state / local RTM stations Listeners loyalty (especially afternoon program) 21 Strong promotion on the air and on the ground with program Location Radio 21
STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY SUCCESSFUL RADIO STATIONS 22 22
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF SMALL LOCAL STATIONS: 23 Lower Operational Costs Productivity more productive and creative than the average radio stations Advertising Income rely on local advertising, rather than national advertising Advertising Sales direct selling 23
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS Programming 24 clear formats (rather than variety format) music selection that suits the target audience local news strong local orientation & emphasis on local activity 24
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS Promotion attendance & promotion at local activities on-air promotion 25 25
SUMMARY Radio audiences tend to be fickle. They rotate stations in much the same way as television viewers. One big challenge in radio programming, besides identifying and targeting an audience, is maintaining that audience. Small radio stations either local or community can serve audience better if they focus on the audience needs. 26
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