The trend in radio around the world is going hybrid. Franz Kruger, director of Wits Radio Academy, explains what that means and how it works.
“We’re hybrid – let’s move on,” says the BBC’s head of audio, Tim Davie, with some exasperation to people still worrying about the impact of new media on that venerable legacy medium, radio.
New media offers radio stations huge opportunities, and should not be feared, Davie argued both at the recent Radio Days Europe in Barcelona and during his 2011 appearance at Jo’burg Radio Days. But, he says, stations need to go beyond just putting up a half-hearted website and forcing their DJs to blog.
It starts with audio, but doesn’t need to end there. Radio continues to dominate audiences’ consumption of pure audio, still having 80% “share of ear”, as Davie puts it. The question is how to use the growing number of available platforms to reach them.
Some see the future in audiostreaming, particularly to smartphones. South Africa has recently seen a number of online radio stations set up shop, drawn undoubtedly by the fact that no approval is needed from Icasa, South Africa’s communications regulator. There’s former Jacaranda DJ Darren Scott’s Ballz Visual Radio, worldtunes.net, the slightly older 2oceansvibe.com and others.
(Source: The Media Online)
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