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All that’s converged must be good
New media order
Coincident with the annual IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin this past week, broadcasters held their own events to remind the techie tribe that gadgets are nothing without content. German private sector broadcasters talked about “the new media order” as public broadcasters celebrated new TV formats. Convergence, though, is now the spectacle.
German private broadcasters association VPRT held their Summerfest for members and guests Berlin’s English Garden. Broadcasters are “driving” the content industry through “their radio and television programs,” said VPRT chairman Tobias Schmidt, and have “initiated…a new media order.” (See VPRT presser here – in German)
“Copyright is the foundation of the creative economy, the third largest in Europe,” said RTL Group Co-CEO Anke Schäferkordt getting down to brass tacks, so to speak. “The split between the worlds of broadcasting and non-broadcasting is meaningless in the face of convergence.”
Public broadcaster association EBU held its annual Eurovision TV conference and, as no broadcaster meeting is complete without an awards ceremony, used its Creative Forum to highlight new television formats. Several of the highlighted show formats featured, reality-style, regular people doing irregular things. (See EBU presser here) Eurovision TV chief Bettina Brinkmann congratulated “everyone who has been through the development process, resulting in some fine examples of fresh television formats.”
This year’s IFA gave attention to the great (huge TVs) and the small (smartwatches), all with Twitter accounts other convergent effects. Convention goers have now migrated to Amsterdam for the very techie IBC show. (JMH)
Many partners for democracy building radio
On the air now
Media projects in transitional regions are challenging in the best of situations. Many organizations with specialized skills apply their talents every day. In the west African nation of Mali, plagued by armed conflict for the last 18 months, these specialists are creating partnerships to provide a unique and positive addition to a difficult media landscape.
Swiss-based Fondation Hirondelle, long associated with media development projects in Africa, has developed a news and information radio service in Mali – Studio Tamani – that provides programming to radio stations in the URTEL network. Financial support comes from the European Union through peacebuilding NGO Interpeace, also based in Switzerland. (See Fondation Hirondelle presser here – in French) Managing the Studio Tamani project in Mali, training for local journalists and technicians, is former Swiss-French public radio chief Gérard Tschopp. The first programs were heard in mid-August on 24 partner radio stations. (See more on media in Africa here)
Another partner is Fondation Passerelle, set up by Malian singer Rokia Traoré, which has contributed special production music. (JMH)
License fee exemptions saved
Computer error
Like many European public broadcasters, Portugal’s RTP receives funding from a household license fee, which is collected monthly (€2.39) on electricity bills. Exempt are households using less the 400 kW annually and certain agricultural installations.
With deregulation of energy markets, Portuguese consumers have the possibility to switch suppliers. The result, in some cases, has caused households exempt from the license fee to lose that exemption. Energy regulator ERSE has addressed the problem, reports Meios & Publicidade (September 11), saying it’s a computer error. Suppliers have six months to fix it.
The Portuguese government continues to debate RTP’s future, though a privatization plan has been shelved. Raising the household license fee seems to be off the table, too. Some government ministers have proposed raising the commercial content on television channels from six to 12 minutes per hour. Unsurprisingly, private sector broadcasters are objecting. (JMH)
Digital plan from digital man, radio plan from radio man
Last chance?
There’s a spotty record for the youth-oriented radio channels from European public broadcasters. And most have one. Some are hugely successful, many modestly so. The rest either never gained traction or succumbed to the advantages of private commercial stations.
French public radio channel Le Mouv’ has just about hit bottom. Audience estimates are so low Médiamétrie can’t find them. Still, Radio France president Jean-Luc Hees has hope. “Le Mouv’ is the most beautiful project of Radio France,” he said in May, “but it remains unproven.” After the last Médiamétrie audience figures were released he said the channel needed to be “resuscitated.”
Hired to direct Le Mouv’ is Joel Ronez, for two years head of new media at Radio France. And his background is definitely digital but not necessarily radio. The mission, said M Hees, is to create a “total digital radio.” Of course, this will be within the general remit; it’s a rock music channel targeting 18 to 30 year olds. And it has a huge French music content quota. “This is clearly a new challenge,” he said to Les Echos (September 10), “but we can afford to take risks.”
Others in the French radio scene have offered suggestions for Le Mouv’. Oui FM owner Arthur suggested that Le Mouv’ could broadcast Oui FM, a Paris-based station that could certainly benefit from national FM coverage. “Oui FM has twice the audience of Le Mouv’ with six times fewer FM frequencies,” he told Les Echos (September 5). “We are the only rock radio station in France.” Arthur has appealed to media regulator CSA for a joint venture with Radio France “to save Le Mouv’” (JMH)
TV news channel to launch with major partner
Private equity plus CNN
Cable and pay-TV company United Group announced the launch of a TV news channel to serve the Balkans region. Kanal N1 will operate principally from from Zagreb with studios in Sarajevo and Belgrade, presumably in the appropriate languages, and has an “affiliate and consultancy agreement” with CNN International. It is already seen competing with Al-Jazeera Balkans, which was launched in Sarajevo in November 2011.
United Group owns Serbia Broadband (SBB), pay-TV platform Total TV, cable operators Telemach in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia and scattered smaller operators. London-based private equity firm Mid Europa Partners and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are United Groups’ principal investors. The company acquired the Telemach cable operations in BiH and Slovenia from Liberty Global in April and began operating as United Group May 1st. Dragan Solak, from SBB, is company CEO. Former career US diplomat Cameron Manter is a special advisor to the board.
CNN International will be providing video to the news channel and staff training. Former CNN Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler is Kanal N1’s programming director. (JMH)
Broadcaster allowed to re-brand
Name tricks?
Branding and re-branding are established journeys for media operators. Radio broadcasters, particularly in the private sector, immerse themselves in a constant search for new marketing tricks to entice listeners and advertisers. But, as all have hopefully learned, branding is more than finding a new name.
Austria’s Antenne Wien could be changing its name to oe24. The adult contemporary station operates in Vienna and the Tyrol and is owned by the Fellner family, newspaper and web news portal publisher. The name change to oe24 has been rumored for several months, anticipating common branding with the news portal. The Austrian Media Authority recently said it has no objection, reported der Standard (September 5).
In the fifteen years since privately owned radio has been allowed, several operators have pushed their brands against the formidable power of Austria’s public broadcaster ORF. Until recently, it’s seemed like pushing a boulder through the Alps. The first half 2013 radio audience estimates, released in July, showed the first signs of cracks in ORF’s branding armor. (See Austria – Radio Broadcasters – in Resources here)
ORF brands almost all of its radio channels the same: Ö1, Ö2 and Ö3, using the German letter with umlaut as in “Österreich” (Austria). Anglicized, which is necessary for website names, it becomes “oe”.
Good luck to all. (JMH)
Insider chosen to head international broadcaster
Steady as she goes
The agency governing US government funded international broadcasting, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), selected Washington insider Kevin Klose as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) CEO. Since January Mr. Klose has been acting CEO since the resignation of predecessor Steven Korn. Mr. Klose has been in and out of US government international broadcasting for several years, headed NPR (National Public Radio) for a decade and worked for the Washington Post as a reporter and editor for 25 years.
According to the RFE/RL statement (see here) Mr. Klose, 73 years old, has been given a year-to-year contract. Last year he stepped down as dean of the journalism school at the University of Maryland. “Kevin Klose’s seasoning in international media -- here and over his entire career -- makes him the right person to carry out this critical mission,” said BBG Chairman Jeffrey Shell in the statement. ”His stewardship as brought steady progress.”
His predecessor, Mr. Korn, was hired as a change agent and attempted to tackle digital transition as well as a policy shift in the RFE/RL mission from a cold war focus on Eastern Europe and Russia to the Asia/Pacific and Middle East regions. He lasted a year.
Decision making at the BBG, as a government agency, is fraught with political infighting. Neoconservative BBG Governors held over from the George W. Bush administration wanted Mr. Korn’s head for making changes to the Moscow bureau and the Russian-language service. (See that story here) Right-wing members of the US Senate held Chairman Shell’s confirmation at bay, forcing his renomination by President Barack Obama. Mr. Shell, who is NBC Universal International president, was confirmed as BBG chairman in August, nearly a year after his first nomination, and is reportedly relocating from London to Beverly Hills. (JMH)
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