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ftm Radio Page - week ending April 9, 2021

Broadcasters roll out joint distribution app
Alexa not invited

At long last Radioplayer France debuted this week (April 8). After three years of negotiation and development most every French broadcast radio channel and station - not to forget thousands of podcasts - can be found on one gigantic digital menu. Big national channels and independent local station finally agreed to a single free distribution platform designed for mobile media. The most notable holdout is Paris-based urban channel Skyrock.

The six primary stakeholders - public broadcaster Radio France, NextRadioTV, M6 Groupe, Lagardère, NRJ Groupe and independent broadcasters collective Les Indies - are funding distribution of radio channels, selected web channels and “the largest range of podcasts.” Radioplayer France will not, however, carry advertising “other than those broadcast by the radio stations themselves.” (See more about media in France here)

The French radio broadcasters, like others across the globe, have been eager to serve the changing end-device market. The Radioplayer French app is available through all major app stores. Challenges remain for managing director Yann Legarson. Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are considered intruders, though Google is a contributing partner, as are the plethora of unauthorized online aggregators. And there is work to be done with automobile manufacturers, only a few signing up like Volvo, BMW and VW for their electric cars. (See more about digital transition here)

The Radioplayer technology originated in the UK more than a decade ago, largely through patents developed at the BBC. Broadcasters in Norway and Sweden are considered next in line for the Radioplayer technology. An earlier French attempt at a consolidated distribution platform - Direct Radio - sunk in 2014.

Podcast episode killed the radio stars
"dead and buried"

Podcasts became a thing a few years ago. Now everybody and their brother, sister and mother has a podcast. Some are fun, some are interesting, some just sell stuff. And podcasts are popular, almost as much as mobile phones, the perfect end-device for podcasts. Now there are podcast businesses; producing, distributing, inserting ads and, of course, managing engagement, which means selling subscriptions. These are serious folks.

Podcasts, normally, require voices. Radio broadcasters employ voices, often referred to as DJs. Accountants don’t like DJs. Some of these DJs are comedians. Accountants don’t like comedians. With live venues locked-down, radio comedians have a new market for their talents in podcasts. Accountants really like new markets.

Sweden is just as podcast-crazy as anywhere. Big market researcher Kantar measures weekly podcast traffic - Poddindex. Its top podcast this past week reached over 450,000 people, noted Swedish radio portal radionytt.se (April 5). Most Swedish broadcasters produce podcasts, sometimes many. (See more about podcasts and podcasting here)

Two comedians leading the NRJ Sweden morning show and another team member exited recently. The comedians produced a podcast called Freakshow. They seem to have gotten into a dispute with NRJ Sweden franchise operator Bauer Media. “I do not see any future there anymore,” said Messiah Hallberg, one of the morning show comedians. (See more about media in Sweden here)

Suggesting contractual restrictions or ongoing negotiations, none of the parties have been explicit about the break. Swedish media portal Dagens Media (April 7) reported “content” as the main issue. Comedian Jakob Öqvist said Bauer Media Sweden disagreed about “an episode.” The Freakshow podcast had been produced for about five years. “It's as dead and buried as it was when Bauer decided to pull the plug,” added Mr. Hallberg. A new morning show team joined NRJ Sweden this week.

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