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ftm Radio Page - March 5, 2010

The Bird Is Still The Word
Media technologies always take leaps. Sometimes it’s a leap into the stardust. Sometimes it’s off to the abyss. Satellite radio has been both places.

 

 

 

New radio listeners added
Bigger is better

Top line figures from the German AG.MA radio figures, released this week (March 3), show a slight recovery in time spent listening, 4 minutes per day over the same period last year. Some of that increase could be due to another little change in the research sample.

In 2008 the sample was changed to include “EU foreigners,” making trend analysis impossible. (More on changes to AG.MA survey here) The sample has been changed again and now includes “non-EU foreigners.” This has increased the sample population universe from 69.9 million to 73.7 million people. Within that population, about 2.9 million more people are listening to radio.

Details from the MA 2010/I audience survey will be released next week (March 10) along with all customary broadcaster press releases.

Public radio chief resigns, board crippled
Health and timing

Czech public radio director Richard Medek resigned last week (February 24), citing health reasons. He’d been in the position since last September. His predecessor was also a short-timer.

Nothing, arguably, is easy in public broadcasting these days. If it isn’t public opinion it’s the politicians. If it isn’t funding, it’s the future. Breakdowns would seem inevitable.

The CRo Board would, normally, graciously accept a director’s decision and name a replacement. But these are not normal times. The terms of three members of the CRo Board expired at the end of February and the Parliamentary Committee of Deputies can’t name successors until after elections, perhaps in six months. This leaves five members of the CRo Board, one member short for naming a permanent radio director.

Less than two weeks before stepping down, Medek brought forward a restructuring plan that involved cutting services and jobs. The CRo Board approved a new organizational chart but not much else.

"This is a sensitive issue,” said Medek’s predecessor Vaclav Kasic to Tyden (February 25), “because the current board can not work together." Less than a month after taking the post of CRo director Medek was hospitalized for a month. The timing of his resignation, as the terms of board members expired, raised eye-brows. Medek’s contract stipulates 10 months severance pay in return for a 10 month non-compete clause.

None of this – or not much – is related to the most recent radio ratings, which showed significant declines for several CRo channels. (See recent Czech radio audience chart here)

 

 

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