Radio Days Africa 2015 Radio 2.0 Harnessing the power of radio on the internet Francois Retief (COO)
Brief Introduction and Presentation Structure • Who am I? • The influence of the internet and social media on content consumption • The influence of the internet on content generation • Who is iono.fm? • If you have to jump, how do you tuck and roll? • The Anna Karenina Principle • Conclusion & Questions @ionofm
Brief Introduction • Obtained a BEng (Electronic) from Stellenbosch University, • Worked as Senior Systems Engineer at Global Telematics (a Thales division) • System Engineering Manager at ASTRATA Systems • Project Manager and Systems Engineer of the main development division at Control Instruments (now MiX Telematics Ltd) • Consultant in Complex Systems Development • Founding member and COO of iono.fm. ( za.linkedin.com/in/francois.retief) @ionofm
Some questions to test the water • Who of you wait until your favourite Satellite/ TV shows are broadcasted and watch it live as it is broadcasted? • Who watches via PVR? • In the last month, who watched a movie, or series at your own pace via DVD, the internet or some other on- demand mechanism? • Who still predominantly relies on their newspaper for their news updates? • Who relies more on getting news of the internet? • Who listened to a podcast or audio on their phone in the last month? • Who is worried radio is going to follow the path of newspapers? @ionofm
The internet is changing the way in which people access and consume news, entertainment and other content. @ionofm
The future is mobile (As Kris Kropp said yesterday) 98% of teenagers in SA have cell phones. (Some living in rural areas has no running water, but cell phone.) Teenagers consume most of their content on their cell phones and this will increase as personal technology devices improve and internet becomes cheaper. 10 years from now they will be your target audience. Sure, but what about radio in cars? @ionofm
Some interesting stats Estimated total mobile internet traffic in SSA, ● 81.6% of South Africans access the internet via their smartphone; by sub-region (2011-2016) ● In South Africa over 50% of smartphone owners have access to greater than 1GB of data / month; ● ⅓ South Africans make purchases over their phones and it is growing. ● There are more cell phones in SA than taxis, radios and TVs combined! ● Africa has 5 of the top 6 spots for the % of users on the internet that predominantly only use their phones for access. (SA #3) ● Kenya 99% of internet subscriptions are mobile. Deloitte Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Observatory 2012 Source: memeburn.com, Audience Research Foundation of South Africa, mobiforge.com, gsmaintelligence.com (2014Q4) @ionofm
The internet is changing content itself Traditional Radio Time Shifted Internet Content • Push model, can interact, but difficult to scale • Pull model, easy to share, easy to interact • Constrained to broadcast region • Accessible to anyone interested • Constrained to broadcast hours • Only constrained by production capacity • Content dies as soon as the microphone is turned off • Life only starts when mic is turned off With radio you're as good as your last show. With podcasting your content remains alive as long as someone is still interested in it. @ionofm
So are the days of radio numbered? @ionofm
Interlude: A story about bananas Musa Balbisiana (Wild seeded-banana) @ionofm
Why would a banana choose to loose it’s seeds? @ionofm
Will internet kill the radio star? • Will radio follow newspapers? • The world is getting smaller though and the landscape is changing • Are humans changing? • Newspapers are certainly not doing well • You live in interesting times @ionofm
Why iono.fm? We started iono.fm because we wanted people to be able to listen good audio content - what they want, where they want and when they want . We also wanted to empower broadcasters with the tools to effectively transition into this new digital age. Technology and the internet has been the catalyst for a new generation of listener looking for more than just the traditional “push model” of radio broadcasting. We imagined a mobile audio service that allowed users to create their own playlist from a variety of sources and upload and share their own material. Our aim is not to replace radio, but to provide them with the tools to remain current and successful. @ionofm
iono.fm iono.fm is one of the global leaders in online talk radio platforms and the only one focused on emerging markets. Based in Cape Town, iono.fm has (over the past five years) achieved a leading position in the South African market in the podcasting, filing and searching of spoken audio content, mainly from radio but also from educational content providers, interest groups, professional associations and religious organizations. More recently iono.fm has also successfully extended its services to live streaming. iono.fm has developed a technology package which is changing the way people access audio entertainment, moving away from traditional content push models towards a demand pull model, allowing for much more efficient and targeted advertising campaigns. For developed markets iono.fm offers a fully enabled platform for iOS and Android. For emerging mass markets, iono.fm is also accessible on feature phones, which is a very popular way in Africa to listen to radio content. iono. fm is now also in the process of expanding further into the African continent and has commenced the on- boarding of an additional 60 radio stations onto the platform, which means accessing a population of half a billion people. This allows radio stations and other content providers to partner with iono.fm to migrate rapidly into the digital age. @ionofm
Current Footprint @ionofm
So how do I make the leap how to I tuck and roll? @ionofm
Can’t I just roll my own? Challenges of self developed solutions: • Need of high levels of technical and project management skills • Expensive to build (One off) • Difficult to re-sell • Risky to maintain • Poor economy of scale • Isolated @ionofm
So then a platform. What do I need to know? Rule #1: Use the right tool for the job @ionofm
How about SoundCloud? @ionofm
So is this just podcasting? Online content is often broadcast using podcast technology Broadcasting and archiving live radio comes with added complexities for which traditional podcast software was not designed Compared to iono.fm, most podcast technologies have simpler structures, different reports, less monetization mechanisms and fewer integration options, limiting the content provider @ionofm
So then, what do you need to be successful? Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. -from Leo Tolstoy's book Anna Karenina @ionofm
Some important platform elements Rich mobile friendly experience Very small audio files and mobile-optimised interfaces with user playlists, our service delivers a great experience for your listeners. Instant social network presence Social integration puts all your content one click away from being shared on multiple networks by you and your listeners. We also include you in our own social media campaigns to increase exposure. RSS and iTunes Every audio channel you publish automatically gets it’s own RSS feed your listeners can use directly. It’s output supports the Apple import guidelines and allows your content to be easily distributed via iTunes, directly from our platform. @ionofm
Some important platform elements Online publishing portal Manage all your audio directly on our website - publish new episodes with easy drag’n’drop, draw dynamic reports of your downloads and page views, and update any of your content metadata. Attach files & link content Attach additional images, documents and links to every published episodes. Graphs for financial or educational content, links to other relevant material; whatever you like. Embed audio in your site Embedding your audio is easy with just one line of HTML. Our mobile-friendly embedded player can update automatically as you publish new episodes, lowering complexity and costs. Analytics and reports Get deep insights into what, where and when your users are listening. Our online portal provides rich print- ready reports or raw CSV data with up to the minute output of how users are interacting with your content.
@ionofm
@ionofm
@ionofm
@ionofm
@ionofm
@ionofm
Real Time @ionofm
Other important things to keep in mind Additional revenue stream A combination of voice ads and web banners provide great ways to monetize your content and build a recurring revenue stream, leveraging a captive audience with rich analytics to get great rates and happy advertisers. Avoid the technology zoo HTML5, RSS, SEO, MP3, CDN, user experience, transcoding and horizontal scalability. Just a few of the buzzwords necessary to a modern and international service. Let us worry about these, while you run a radio station. Widen your footprint An online platform for your station that is no longer limited to any geographical region, allowing a truly international footprint. Our built-in SEO, great social sharing features and high speed hosting ensures you the best possible exposure. @ionofm
Recommend
More recommend
