BBC World Service on-air editor Steve Martin has been responsible for the present on-air image that BBC's English Radio Network holds, be it the sound identity of the network or its on-air promotions. Radio, to Martin, is something that establishes a certain personal connection through what it offers.
According to Martin, content should be strong enough to trigger emotional reactions among consumers. He emphasizes that the players should better know their audience, the better knowledge they have, more acceptable forms of presentation will be created.
Martin has his own theory on the sales & promotion aspect, which goes beyond the commercial break. He says the content should be creating and raising awareness of the product or the service.
On his way to London, BBC World Service on-air editor Martin spent two days in Mumbai, attending a seminar organized by FM channel Radio City.
Indiantelevision.com's Manisha Bhattacharjee caught up with Martin during his brief stay in the city, to get a perspective on the evolving business.
Excerpts:
Could you provide a brief of overview of the current radio status in UK? |
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Now that is really diverse. Was there any kind of regulatory push, which also enhanced the market? When this happens you don't find much similarities between two radio stations, because if you are going to own two radio stations in the same market, the last thing you want to be doing is exactly the same thing and cannibalizing the same audience. So you ensure that the two radio stations are broadly complementary. That makes good business sense and you ensure that on each radio station in a particular territory, which is not only hugely successful but it is also defensible against any other outside broadcaster. The key to successful radio programming is to know what territory you can own and defend against predators. That works for the public service as well. In BBC we are publicly funded and do not have a commercial imperative. We are all there to maximize revenues. However, because we are publicly funded, we have a duty to serve absolutely everybody of the UK population. So we have an obligation to ensure that our services are broadly complementary. For example: We run a national new music service, which specializes in breaking new music. It is a patronage in the arts in terms of supporting new talents in new music and it plays hits also of the popular culture. |
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Please comment on BBC service radio networks' programming strategy. How different is it from that of commercial radio stations? We would take creative risks with our programming such as of BBC Radio 2 - we will do a speech based consumer phone-in and discussion stations are doing that. On Radio 1 we will break great new music and we will take risks with that. We invest in social action programming, investigating issues that young people are facing in Britain today. And on BBC Radio 3 we support orchestras. So our patronage of the hour is not just something having on the plaque on the wall, it is actually real money going into supporting musicians creating music and support the cultural life of Britain today. So that some of the stuff that we do in music, commercial service radio stations don't indulge in. In speech radio, we are the single biggest broadcast news gathering operation anywhere in the world. And in UK specifically, we run an intelligent speech radio station which is not just news and current affairs but includes drama, documentary and cultural programmes. |
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Please comment on the competition between BBC and the commercial radio stations. How does it affect the market? Because of the competition from BBC, we have got a healthy creative section within the commercial radio stations in the UK. Commercial radio stations invest heavily in research and keep us on our toes. Also, the regulatory framework ensures through the system of licensing that the stations are held to a particular format and have to comply with the terms of format licensing issues by the regulator. This ensures that there is a spread of different formats in any one market. But the commercial stations would want that in any case because they wouldn't want two stations duplicating the same output. |
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In the present scenario, how different is the US radio market from that of the UK radio market? |
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The evolution of the radio industry, in particular it's rapidly growing digital uptake, does that signify a threat posed by digital radio to terrestrial radio? It does mean that more communication radio stations will compete against us but that said that adds to the totality of choice available to UK radio listeners and that's got to be healthy. I think where the challenge comes for the commercial stations is to manage the investment. You've got to invest in the new technology of rolling out the transmitter networks providing new radio services before getting enough listeners to turn a profit from those. So there is the issue of funding. That's where the challenges lie from the business point of view. BBC has been leading the roll-out of digital radio infrastructure. So we have been an enabler for the commercial. Because every time you buy a digital radio set, not only do you have new BBC radio station but you have access to the new commercial stations as well. |
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Radio is probably looking at greater fragmentation of its audience (like any other media). Is this an encouraging sign for the marketers or advertisers? It may mean that in order to reach the audience you need more than one radio station but you can be selective in the stations you buy and eliminate waste. If you have only one station in the market, or all the stations sound the same, then you are guaranteeing to be wasting some of your advertisers' spend. Because you will be talking to people who are not within your target audience or your advertising campaign. So, the more the fragmentation the easier it is to target the specific audience segment you are interested in. |
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More relevant, from an advertisers' point of view, is maximizing reach - the number of different people who listen in a week. But consumers generally hate advertisements as it is an interruption? It can exploit the closeness and personal nature of radio for brands. It can also give brand endorsement from popular and trusted RJs and can create great radio entertainment for listeners. It can bring in new listeners for the radio station. |
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Today, the Indian radio market is perceived as an industry which is booming. What's your perception? |
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Knowing that the radio FM market is at its nascent stage; doesn't that give even more opportunities for the players to take risks as they are still craving a place for themselves? Though music is largely played, the individual stations have invested in individual personalities who will become listeners' friends over time and they will be characterizing differently, between station A and station B. So it just doesn't have to be just about music. It could be emotional qualities, personalities, attitude of the presenters or RJ's on the air. There are a number of ways you can introduce to a radio station format something that is particular to your radio stations that is owned by you and over time you become famous for and that is about segmentation and building brands. |
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Are players reluctant to experiment primarily due to lack of news and current affairs? In markets where it is allowed to broadcast different types of news on radio channels, it is a popular form of radio programming. And you will also find the people will have different news needs as the day continues. At breakfast time for example, people tend to want information, the kind of information they need to get into the day and through the day. Then, later in the day, people may want to think a little more about the issues and not just get information but come to their own conclusion about what it means for them. So, we talk about this journey through the day from information in the morning to an understanding in the evening and people have a need for or devote a lot of time to knowing in the morning and thinking in the evening. In the markets where we are producing speech programming through the day we produce a range of news programmes. We run a programme called World Today which is a fast moving double headed presentation programme by two presenters. Very high story counts and have live reports from correspondents from across the globe. It is fairly light in tone. Later in the day, News Hour is a longer broadcast with one or two big stories from the day so far with a range of perspectives from the other BBC correspondents and other figures who are involved in the news story. We produce news programmes in such a way that they are available to listeners at a time when they better satisfy their news needs. |
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What is the strategy to have a successful station format and positioning of the radio channel? People around the world say what they love most about their favourite radio stations are personalities, the music, and the local information that helps get them through the day. |