Video killed the radio deal?
The two biggest commercial radio companies in Australia might not be merging after all. ARN’s takeover of SCA in Australia appears to be on the rocks; Anchorage Capital Partners appears to have pulled out. At the time of writing this, there’s a stock market announcement to be made early on Monday morning. It appears to have been the regional TV stations that SCA owns that might have scuppered the deal, with a growing realisation by Anchorage (who’d have got them) that they’re a liability, rather than an asset. (SCA sells television airtime for a number of other organisations: some of them have recently announced closures, and Paramount’s Network 10 has announced a number of cancelled shows).
This proposed merger has been curious to look at from a British point of view. To satisfy media ownership rules, the radio licences would have been split between ARN and Anchorage - to the confusion of many Australian commentators. Yet, it’s no different to what’s happened in the UK with Global and Communicorp; indeed, Global licences brands and programming to Communicorp, which is more than would appear to have been contemplated here.
Of the listening apps, it’s been assumed that, of LiSTNR and iHeart, LiSTNR would be the one that would be retained. LiSTNR is promoting its own technology quite hard (perhaps deliberately so). In a recent episode, The Mi3 podcast has Kim Loasby, SCA Head of Digital Ad Product & Operations and Luke Minto, National Head of Audio Sales, waxing lyrical about the LiSTNR tech stack.
There’s considerable benefit in owning your digital tech; but also considerable cost, too. iHeart is already on many different surfaces, like cars and hotel rooms, has a recognisable brand thanks to the brand’s parent company in the US, and a lot of good technical integrations with others. LiSTNR has excellent people working on it, but it’s a solution in one, small, country; iHeart is in-use in a number of places including Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and of course the US, where the technology is most advanced. Perhaps it’s not such an obvious choice after all.
A clever idea from female media company Mamamia, which has made a merged-clone of its podcast host voices, called it “Sam”, and offering that cloned voice for ads, with “close-to real-time turnarounds”. I asked them what Sam sounded like, and got a nice response.
If you listened to Kyle & Jackie O’s first show and wondered what all the fuss was about (and/or despaired about the state of radio), this conversation with Kyle in this podcast may restore some faith in him. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy. Craig Bruce writes it up here - and Craig will be at Radiodays North America in Toronto in a few weeks should you wish to learn more.
Eric Nuzum, who pioneered podcasting at NPR and now runs his own company Magnificent Noise, pens an insightful essay to answer the broadcaster’s question: “In a time of such tremendous change and competition, how can we reach more people with the services we produce today?”
- In the essay, he also describes Geneva as “the Cleveland of Europe”. I think that’s a bit rude about Cleveland. Geneva undoubtedly has some nice bits, but it does remind me of a large airport terminal: watch stores jostling with lingerie shops on seemingly every street corner, and no real feeling that anyone actually lives there.
In Canada, Radio Connects publishes Rediscover the Power of Live Radio: lots of numbers and facts about Canadian radio. (Fun fact - 68% of Canadian users of Spotify are paid subscribers) There’s a lot of data on the website about the Canadian market.
To Sydney, and a TV campaign about WSFM’s Jonesy & Amanda. Here’s one in the back of a convertible, and another on the beach. (It’s late Autumn in Sydney, so curious timing.) It seems to rely on Amanda Keller being a relatively well-recognised TV personality (Brendan Jones isn’t); and I suspect is aimed at those who are already familiar with her, reminding us that she has a radio show and where it is. (Much of radio advertising serves as a reminder to current listeners to fill in their diaries).
I’m at The Podcast Show in London in a few weeks’ time, and as part of my opening keynote, will be sharing some exclusive data from a week’s worth of podcast download numbers. I’ve uncovered some fascinating things. The code PODNEWS10 will get you a saving on selected passes.
Want to supercharge your radio show? Here’s a £1 week-long trial of Show Prep - from a world class radio consultant and the best show-prep writer in the UK. Great for UK stations, or for English-language stations everywhere, too. (ad)
Coming up…
- The Podcast Show, London (May 22-23)
- I’m in London, May 24
- Momentum 24, Orlando (May 29-31)
- Podcast Power Up Summit, Toronto (Jun 2)
- Radiodays North America, Toronto (Jun 3-4)
- Radiodays Asia, Kuala Lumpur (Sep 2-4)
Supporters
Thank you to Radio.co, Broadcast Radio, Clyde Broadcast. Richard Hilton, Emma Gibbs, James Masterton, Brun Audio Consulting, Soma FM and Media Realm’s MetaRadio.
If you’d like to support my work in any way, you can BuyMeACoffee - become a member to give regularly or just give a one-off coffee, or five. Here’s where to do that.
Please do follow me on Mastodon, too: I’m @james@bne.social there. I’m much more active there than anywhere else.
My website has more detail about who I am, and what I do, and whether I can help you further.