ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo to cease operations by June 30
Manila, Philippines – Media giant ABS-CBN has announced that will be shutting down ‘TeleRadyo’, a pay television channel under its ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs (ANC) arm. According to the company, the closure was brought by financial losses it had experienced since 2020.
“The company is deeply saddened by this closure and having to part ways with the many passionate and committed people who have made Teleradyo an important source of news and information for many Filipinos,” ABS-CBN said in a statement.
TeleRadyo was founded in 2007 as the television counterpart of the commercial news and radio channel DZMM Radyo Patrol. Following the cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to close its broadcasting activities, DZMM Radyo Patrol ceased operations alongside its other free broadcasting channels. They have then moved to TeleRadyo for continued reporting.
Following the TeleRadyo closure announcement, ABS-CBN has also announced a joint venture with Prime Media Holdings. Said venture will produce various programs, which will be supplied to broadcasters and other third party platforms including Philippine Collectivemedia Corporation.
Prime Media Holdings is the majority shareholder of the new venture, with ABS-CBN serving as a minority shareholder.
ABS-CBN also hopes that through its deal with Prime Media, they can help some of their former personnel a chance to find new job opportunities.
NOVA Entertainment takes after Queen’s album art to tease top three hosts now gracing one show
Australia – NOVA Entertainment, Australia’s radio broadcast network, is making some big exciting changes to its local marquee programs.
For its breakfast show, Nova 96.9’s Sydney breakfast show, its three mainstay hosts – Kate Ritchie and Fitzy & Wippa – will now be a single crew to bring fun and entertainment to viewers’ early morning rush.
Sydney audiences are used to seeing local comedic duo Fitzy & Wippa and Aussie actress Kate Ritchie separately in various Nova campaigns, and to mark the refreshing change, the network has whipped up an equally exciting teaser – in the style of the iconic music outfit Queen’s cover art for its album, The Miracle.
Developed by creative agency The Hallway, the visual concept saw all three faces of the radio hosts merged together – a true adaptation of the creative by Queen.
The collaterals ran alongside a ‘Coming Soon’ message as the main teaser message, and afterwards, under the headline ‘A new face for breakfast radio’ post-announcement.
Adam Johnson, NOVA Entertainment’s chief growth officer, spoke about the creative norm in radio show marketing where teasers usually take the form of an amusing image to give audiences a flavour of the upcoming show’s personality.
With the fan base of the three hosts, they couldn’t let the chance slip to deliver their share of such marketing direction – and make an even catchier and clever version.
“With somebody as loved and recognisable as Kate Ritchie joining such an established and successful show as Fitzy & Wippa, we knew we had to do something in the announcement stage to make people [sit up] and take notice to generate talkability. The image may be somewhat visually challenging, but it’s achieved its aim and we’re proud to have delivered something different to anything else in our sector,” said Johnson.
The Hallway CEO Jules Hall also commented, “Kate Ritchie joining Fitzy & Wippa on the breakfast show is huge for radio. Our job was to amplify the news which is a lot easier when you have brave clients willing to shake up category conventions. With the announcement out there and Kate on air, we now get to enjoy an even more entertaining start to our days!”
The network further shared that once the launch period for the new breakfast show is over, the campaign will move into a new phase to share a more traditional radio image that will be accompanied by the headline ‘Look who’s come to breakfast’.
Aside from Nova 96.9’s Sydney breakfast show, NOVA has also just announced that artist and broadcaster Ricki-Lee will officially join the network’s highly successful national drive show.
The campaign for its newly aligned national drive show
For the new show, NOVA has similarly cooked up a simple but clever campaign designed to highlight that listeners will continue to enjoy everything they love about the show – but with the addition of Ricki-Lee – who is set to deliver a whole new energy and tone.
The popular expression ‘Same, same but different’ was used as the main tagline to reinforce such new set-up, similarly laid to a striking show image that brings to life the individual personalities of the presenters.
Both campaigns for the two new shows will run nationally in digital large format sites, impulse screens, as well as transit megasides and showcase sides.
Ricki-Lee and Tim & Joel of the national drive show can be heard nationally from 4 pm to 6 pm, whilst the breakfast show featuring Fitzy & Wippa and Kate Ritchie airs weekdays on Nova 96.9 from 6 am to 9 am, and nationally on the Nova Network from 6 pm.
It was in November last year that The Hallway announced it has been tapped by NOVA Entertainment to manage the network’s brand strategy and creative business.
BBC Indonesia pulls the plug on radio broadcast to focus on digital
Jakarta, Indonesia – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Indonesia has announced that it has ceased its analogue radio operations in Indonesia on December 30, 2022, in favour of transitioning to digital broadcasting.
This marks the end of BBC Indonesia’s 73-year air streak, since it was first launched in 1949.
According to BBC News Indonesia editor Jerome Wirawan, this was done to save the broadcasting company around GPB 28.5m in expenses. This also follows ceasing radio operations of BBC Arabic, BBC Persian and BBC Chinese.
This was not the first time a government-funded broadcasting company has pulled the plug of its local radio operations. In 2012, The Netherlands’ Radio Netherlands ceased operations globally. Meanwhile, Germany’s Deutsche Welle pulled the plug on its Indonesian radio operations, alongside Bengali, Urdu, Dari/Pashtu, in 2011.
Despite radio operations ceasing, BBC Indonesia’s broadcasts will continue to air on digital platforms, including their local website, as well as listening on streaming platforms.
The BBC is the government-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Its Asia-Pacific presence includes Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Australia, and Taiwan.
Large chunk of Peninsular Malaysians still listen to radio weekly
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Around 97% of Malaysians living in Peninsula Malaysia still listen to radio, averaging to 21,573,000 radio listeners every week. This was according to the latest data from data intelligence company Growth from Knowledge (GfK) in partnership with Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM).
The data reveals that there are 6,694,000 listeners in a week amongst people aged 25 to 39 years old. It indicated an increase of 123,000 listeners as compared to the previous wave.
Moreover, the data notes that the highest radio listening location is in cars with 15,104,000 weekly listeners, followed closely by 14,755,000 of home listeners in a week. Workplace listeners accounted for 2,004,000 of weekly listeners.
Among the key languages in Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia stations are the most popular with 14,047,000 listeners every week. They are trailed by the Chinese stations with 4,949,000 listeners, followed by English stations at 4,320,000 listeners and Tamil stations at 1,831,000 listeners.
In terms of scheduling, the study also showed that the weekday breakfast shows (Monday to Friday, 6 am to 10 am) continue to be a hit attracting 15,378,000 listeners every week, while the weekday drive time shows (Monday to Friday, 4 pm to 8 pm) trailing closely behind, reaching 14,954,000 listeners in a week.
Loy Ekzan, vice president at Commercial Radio Malaysia, said, “As the country opens up, radio listening has come back stronger than ever. Its accessibility to drive a mass pool of listeners to on-ground events, radio broadcasters’ websites, mobile apps and social media pages has allowed it to grow and has proven itself to be quite a resilient medium. With a wide reach and immediate delivery, it is an effective medium for advertisers to get their message in front of across to their target consumers.”
Meanwhile, June Pang, media measurement lead for Malaysia at GfK, commented, “The Radio Audience Measurement Study conducted by GfK reveals that radio remains an influential and strong medium in Malaysia. With more people listening to the radio in the morning, it is evident that people across all age groups choose radio for their daily dose of music, relaxation and news updates during their commute to school and work.”
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia – Media Prima Audio (MPA), the radio platform of Malaysia-based media and entertainment company Media Prima, has announced a new slew of business revamps, including brand revamps and changes in content strategy implementation, following new leadership appointments set last June.
Two radio stations, namely Hot FM and Fly FM, are coming out with a “very new” and “very different” sound, complemented with refreshed logos, look and feel. Meanwhile, the other two radio stations, previously known as One FM and Kool FM, are now branded as 8FM and Buletin FM respectively.
According to Nazri Noran, chief executive officer at Media Prima Audio, this marks the company’s first holistic rebrand in over 15 years and it’s all about allowing them to reinvigorate and strengthen its standing as a leading radio station in the country.
“Today we kick it off with on-air programming, new radio talents, fresh logos, and branding across our assets including digital, social and mobile. We are also thrilled with this new journey as it is also being supported by an extensive marketing campaign across all Media Prima group platforms,” Noran stated.
He also added that there will be changes as well in the talent lineups for all the radio stations.
“Our mission is to drive positive and beneficial changes to the company. Thus, the changes of the talent lineup are a part of the new strategy for the brands to appear relevant and competitive in the market. There are lots in store from today onwards for Hot FM, Buletin FM, Fly FM, and 8FM. Malaysia’s radio fans can expect to be thrilled and fall in love with radio all over again with this master brand overhaul,” Noran concluded.
In addition to these changes, MPA also announced the launch of a new mobile app brand called Audio+ which will be the home for all radio, digital and social content such as live radio, podcasts, videos, and many more. Instead of downloading a separate app for each station, all of the brands will now be parked under one easy and fresh app, Audio+.
The app can be downloaded via Google Play, Apple App Store, and Huawei App Gallery.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed people into lockdown restrictions, making way for prolonged work-from-home setups and social distancing protocols, media consumption in Malaysians have seen some significant change, statistics from a recent study from marketing consultancy Entropia shows.
The report stated that radio, streaming media which includes audio and video, reading online news, watching television and checking social media are the ‘gainers’ from this newly-found media consumption, while out-of-home (OOH) media, cinemas, newspapers and physical events have downplayed to become the ‘losers’.
Spending more time on Facebook and Instagram ranked first in media activities to which respondents engaged in during the country’s movement control order (MCO) with 58.6% followed by listening to radio while at home and working (34.6%), watching YouTube while exercising (34.2%), and spending more time streaming on Netflix and watching with friends and family (26.7%).
In terms of age profiles and media behavior, the study noted that there has been an overall marked increase across age segments for Facebook and Instagram, with over 25% of all segments between 21 to 55 years indicating increased time spent on these platforms. A higher increase in radio consumption has been also among those over 45 years, while young adults under 24 years showed higher consumption of YouTube and Netflix. Meanwhile, those over 55 years showed the greatest increase in time spent on news channels.
The report said that increase of media consumption across all age groups can be attributed to increased need for news where viewers turn to channels they perceive as credible.
“As people around the world sought to remain updated on the rapidly changing crisis, consumers’ reliance on media also increased, resulting in a more captive audience. Here’s where media companies and advertisers can benefit most – the opportunity to leverage this enhanced engagement, grow their subscriber base, and expand their reach,” said Syahar Khalid, partner for integrated media at Entropia.
“Our clients’ universal objective is to make an impression on audiences and break through the clutter. Going forward, media strategy will require retaining consumers’ attention where they’re most likely to spend their time – be it for leisure, career, education or wellness,” added Khalid.
“The Malaysian government has just announced MCO 2.0 and with it, brands in some categories will again face challenges owing to adverse market forces. Some have already made significant moves towards continued investment in advertising, and we hope this study will provide some clarity on the media channels appealing to their specific target audiences,” Syahar concluded.
Australia – National radio and TV broadcasting company Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has appointed content executive and creative Jennifer Collins as inaugural Head of Factual & Culture within its Entertainment & Specialist (E&S) division. She will lead the development and production of innovative content across genres such as arts, religion, science, and education, and also health, history, and social affairs.
Collins returns to ABC from her most recent role as director of content at production network Fremantle Australia. She joined ABC in 1990, and held three different leadership roles in the company until 2013.
As ABC head of development for arts, entertainment, and comedy, from 2008-2009, she started initiatives with funding bodies and screen agencies to foster new talent and creative teams. Later on, she was tasked the responsibility of ABC head of factual, from 2009-2012, and then assumed the role of ABC’s head of entertainment from 2012-2013, where she oversaw the development, commissioning, and production of programming such as Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, The Checkout, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, Dirty Laundry Live and the Digital Emmy award-winning series #7 Days later.
The new ABC Factual & Culture team was announced in June as part of the company’s five-year plan, bringing together E&S Factual content makers into a single team across television, radio, and digital, including radio network Radio National, podcast creation hub Audio Studios, and flagship programs such as Compass, Catalyst as well as the ABC’s acclaimed arts documentaries.
Michael Carrington, ABC Director Entertainment & Specialist, welcomed Jennifer’s return to the national public broadcaster. “Jen is well known and respected by ABC people and partners alike and her unique skills across multiple platforms will help drive our transition towards digital content and services,” he said.
“Australians love and trust the ABC’s Factual content, from our feature-length arts programs to long-form audio documentaries. In a world of bombast and bluster, the values of creativity, clarity, and intellectual rigor are more important than ever. Jen’s experience and expertise will ensure the ABC remains the trusted home of big ideas and beautiful stories across multiple genres and platforms,” he added.
Jennifer said she was looking forward to delivering the ABC’s distinctive and engaging content across Factual & Culture. “I’ve always been deeply committed to public broadcasting and value the ABC’s unique contribution to Australia’s cultural life,” she said.
“I’m delighted to be back at the ABC to lead the Factual and Culture team, where I’ll be working with Australia’s best creative talent to deliver a rich and diverse slate of programming,” she added.
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