There's been a fair bit of reaction to the stories published in the NYT, IHT and Guardian newspapers (and of course their online versions) about the cessation of the BBC World Service's shortwave broadcasts to Europe.
I was quoted in all three papers as saying that no-one listens to shortwave in the developed world anymore and of course that's set off alarm bells left, right and centre among those who do! Perhaps I should have been a little less forthright and suggested that "most people in the developed world no longer listen to shortwave".
I know that there are people who still listen on shortwave - I fire up a set every now and again to see what's on - but I'm afraid that they are most definitely in the minority. If you ask 50 people walking on a street in central London, Budapest, Paris, Warsaw, Berlin, Toronto, Rome, New York or Los Angeles if they listen to shortwave radio, you'll be extraordinarily lucky to find one who answers yes.
So what does this mean? Broadcasters who target international audiences have to look at the way in which people consume media in their homes and on the move and make sure that the way in which they reach those audiences actually makes sense. It's absolutely no good spending tens of thousands of dollars in using a transmission system that only a handful of people use to access content. It's much more sensible to spend the money on delivering programmes on the same platforms that people use to listen to local content - which is what, inevitably, they will consume most of. So if it's FM, then you need to find local FM partners or apply for an FM licence. If it's medium wave (AM) then find medium wave outlets that reach your target. If it's listening to radio via television, get on that platform. It's simple common sense.
It's a shame that a delivery method that has given access to content is coming to the end of its life, but the very fact that I'm writing this blog and you're reading it means that times have changed. People are using the web to access content - look at YouTube as just one example - and they have FM radios in the mobile phones.
If international radio broadcasting is to survive, it needs to make sure it's reaching people. End of story.
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1 comment:
Dear Simon
The issue of when and how to end older forms of broadcasting is such a difficult area to tackle. A central European organisation recently managed to keep quiet the end of several AM transmitters – they closed and nothing was said until a few weeks later when a journalist found out. By that time the evidence was clear, people were not listening to AM.
By the same token I have great sympathy for those on limited budgets who are maybe not in a position to subscribe to the Internet for broadband access. However, that does not prevent many on smaller incomes from obtaining a budget prices satellite receiver/dish package.
Again in central Europe, very recently, I could have obtained a dish, receiver, cable, connectors and a small satellite finder for under £60 in a well-known pan-European store. So satellite is not out of the question.
Now to those who suggest SW is portable, please ask yourself when was the last time you drove or walked with an SW set tuned in. Most SW listening is at home or most certainly a fixed location – SW is not used as a portable solution.
Younger listeners, who are vital to the future of radio, must also be catered for and that means compatibility with Wi-Fi receivers, applications for social networking sites and plain and simple Internet access. However, please make sure streams can be received by the newer mobile-phones.
Yes I will agree it is hard to look into the crystal-ball and state when all analogue receivers will be off – one thing I know for sure is that if we forget younger people and how they may access radio, by the time people start asking where have all the listeners gone those asking will find out that they chose not to communicate with the next generations of radio listeners.
Best Regards
Eric N Wiltsher
RTI, Slovakia/Europe
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