"How it works": radio - the end of a beautiful era
In the past few years, Russian FM radio stations in our country have been trying to somehow survive. With the falling interest of the audience to the radio, the rapid development of technology and tough competition, the owners of large radio stations no longer feel as comfortable as in the “well-fed zero”.
Let's try to understand the situation.
Photo by Curtis Kennington / CC-BY
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It can be said that the trend of “dying out” of FM is going on all over the world. For example, at the end of last year, Norway abandoned the FM format and now in the country all radio stations broadcast in digital.
Digital broadcasting has its advantages: high quality, the ability to transmit pictures and text (with more advanced messages than through RDS) with audio, provided that the transmitter power can be reduced.
However, for a full transition to the “digit”, special radios will be needed (standard for AM and FM will not work), and such receivers are expensive. Another disadvantage is a slight delay in the transmission of the signal. Nevertheless, the Norwegian authorities said that with the full transition to digital broadcasting, they would save almost $ 25 million.
In Russia, in turn, they are also thinking about the transition to digital broadcasting, but so far there are many nuances (high cost of equipment, lack of preparation of the audience, etc.), which prevent us from implementing such a transition. In the plot of the St. Petersburg "Fontanka" expert gives three years to the "digital revolution".
Despite Rospechat’s rainbow reports for 2015 that Russians are actively listening to their favorite radio channels, the audience of radio listeners has declined over the past ten years.
At the same time, new radio stations, both federal and regional, continue to appear, compacting the already saturated market and creating a powerful competition. To survive in such conditions, the stations are forced to somehow change.
There are dozens and hundreds of articles written about broadcasting technology, although in this area everything is logical: there is a transmitter, there is a receiver, there is a signal. The easiest elements of this scheme are found in an article on Wikipedia.
Radio stations use radio transmitters of different power, depending on which they transmit information at different distances. The listener has a radio that receives electromagnetic radiation and converts it into sound. The sound is modulated in two ways - amplitude (this is AM) and frequency (actually, FM).
Separately, you can consider the software that is used in broadcasting. In fact, the program through which the broadcast goes is the main tool for the on-air radio station staff. For the release of all content broadcast using automated broadcasting systems, such as Digiton , DJin or Sam Broadcaster .
The tasks of such software are to organize work with on-air content and put everything together: advertising, music, artwork, recorded programs and live broadcasts.
On the workspace, all manipulations take place on the principle of drag'n'drop, files are taken from folders that the program has access to. In addition to the workspace there is a jingle machine, which launches design elements, liners, jingles and perebivki.
The control takes place not only with the mouse and keyboard, but also from the DJ console (the corresponding “tracks” and faders can automatically turn on the next track or start the jingle, it all depends on the settings). Simply put, everything is in the program "wired", the whole broadcast.
If the program is turned off, this is an event of an emergency level, because all the functions of the broadcast are tied to it. Of course, on serious radio stations for such cases there is a backup disc, from which the music simply starts, so that the broadcast will not “remain silent” while the software is “raised”, because without it, for example, advertising and recorded broadcasts will not come out.
Programs for automation, however, vary. In professional communities, DJin is most often praised because it has the most subtle settings. But it costs more than the rest of the complexes.
In turn, Digiton, although cheaper, often “strains” with its slowness and independence. The program sometimes gives unpredictable things, switches the tracks on its own or does not launch jingles, such errors are fatal for the broadcast. Nevertheless, it is almost as popular as DJin.
An absolutely any number of staff can serve a radio station - everything depends on its size and tasks. There are small regional stations with three marketers, two DJs and an editor, there are giants for three hundred people with promotional departments, commerce, editorial staff, a PR service, a warehouse, security, and a board of directors.
On an average radio station, in addition to DJs, there is a program director who builds a broadcasting network, an ether editor, a commercial director, a sound producer for working with sound and post-production and a promotional department.
There are radio stations that broadcast to the whole country - federal, there are those that work only for their region. At the same time, regional radio stations often do not have their own airwaves and are engaged in relaying Moscow stations. In this case, a few hours of own air time and time for local advertising are allocated to the regions (this is stipulated in the franchise agreement).
New radio stations are opening, even despite the complexity of the process and vague prospects for profit. In order to open an FM radio station, the concept is prescribed, the legal entity is registered, the exact location of the location for the transmitter, the documents are collected, a tender is held for a frequency that is held twice a year, and so on. (More details on all the steps are listed here ).
In Russia now there are several major players in the industry, as a rule, these are holdings that combine several radio stations: EMG, ProfMedia, Gazprom-media, All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Russian Media Group and others. On this site there is a brief description of each of them. In addition to the major players, there are lone radio stations that are not part of holdings, but at the same time have a rather big broadcasting network and even “get” abroad.
The main factor by which we distinguish (or do not distinguish) radio stations from each other is the format. The format consists of what and for whom the air is filled. In the classical division, there are approximately 14 formats, such as AC (Adult Contemporary), CHR (Contemporary hit radio), classical, rock, etc., which, in turn, are divided into sub-formats. The separation takes place according to the age of the audience and musical content.
It should be understood that such a division into formats is rather arbitrary, and today it is quite difficult to find a “purebred” rock radio station or AC format - in the face of tough competition, strong stations are in search and constantly display new formats, combining several old ones into one.
It is obvious that the radio no longer plays the role that was assigned to him even in the "zero". The Internet has given users everything: any songs, information, operational news, announcements of books, films, forums for communication with specialists, a platform for performances. Everything for which the audience included radio receivers migrated to the network. Now, in order to survive (not taking into account the high percentage of motorists who still listen to the radio), it is necessary to attract the audience in new ways.
First, the task of attracting solves unique content (at one time, when competition on the radio grew, and the Internet was not yet so popular, programs were launched that “blew up” the audience: “Model for assembly” or “Frankie show” - these things still on the ear). Secondly - the output of the information on the Internet and over the air. If the radio station does not live off the air, it can be buried.
Radio stations create web communities, and in addition to the audio material, they post there photos, videos, interesting texts, links, get pages on Instagram - all this just to keep the listeners interested. Every self-respecting station also has airtime events (for example, Europe Plus Live or Invasion, Golden Gramophone and other events that gather an audience and keep it on the channel).
Nevertheless, podcasts have replaced (and have already arrived in the West) constant radio streams. Another phenomenon that is predicted to be victorious over FM stations is becoming Internet radio. Today, anyone can open an Internet station - it does not need to be officially registered, bought licenses and expensive equipment.
For the simplest online broadcasting, you need a hosting for the site, a broadcasting service (for example, IceCast or ShoutCast), through which audio streams will pass, and a program to automate the broadcast, which we wrote about above (there are also free options). After setting all these elements, you can run live broadcasts, any music or conversational programs, the only question is choosing the audience.
There have already been successful projects of this kind in Russia, for example, Follow me (which, by the way, they even once collaborated with an FM radio station to promote), or the talk radio ChiplDuc .
In a sense, we can watch the decline of classic FM broadcasting - sooner or later, evolution will take its own. Unprofitable FM stations are likely to curtail broadcasting, and there is a chance that the technology will allow to “catch” Internet radio, and the Russian listener will accustom himself to podcasting. Audio information is still considered the most unobtrusive and easy to read in the background.
Our own attempt to make an audio technology podcast.
Links to the latest issues of the Sound podcast and text transcripts with additions:
Let's try to understand the situation.
Photo by Curtis Kennington / CC-BY')
It can be said that the trend of “dying out” of FM is going on all over the world. For example, at the end of last year, Norway abandoned the FM format and now in the country all radio stations broadcast in digital.
Digital broadcasting has its advantages: high quality, the ability to transmit pictures and text (with more advanced messages than through RDS) with audio, provided that the transmitter power can be reduced.
However, for a full transition to the “digit”, special radios will be needed (standard for AM and FM will not work), and such receivers are expensive. Another disadvantage is a slight delay in the transmission of the signal. Nevertheless, the Norwegian authorities said that with the full transition to digital broadcasting, they would save almost $ 25 million.
In Russia, in turn, they are also thinking about the transition to digital broadcasting, but so far there are many nuances (high cost of equipment, lack of preparation of the audience, etc.), which prevent us from implementing such a transition. In the plot of the St. Petersburg "Fontanka" expert gives three years to the "digital revolution".
Despite Rospechat’s rainbow reports for 2015 that Russians are actively listening to their favorite radio channels, the audience of radio listeners has declined over the past ten years.
At the same time, new radio stations, both federal and regional, continue to appear, compacting the already saturated market and creating a powerful competition. To survive in such conditions, the stations are forced to somehow change.
How it works now
There are dozens and hundreds of articles written about broadcasting technology, although in this area everything is logical: there is a transmitter, there is a receiver, there is a signal. The easiest elements of this scheme are found in an article on Wikipedia.
Radio stations use radio transmitters of different power, depending on which they transmit information at different distances. The listener has a radio that receives electromagnetic radiation and converts it into sound. The sound is modulated in two ways - amplitude (this is AM) and frequency (actually, FM).
Separately, you can consider the software that is used in broadcasting. In fact, the program through which the broadcast goes is the main tool for the on-air radio station staff. For the release of all content broadcast using automated broadcasting systems, such as Digiton , DJin or Sam Broadcaster .
The tasks of such software are to organize work with on-air content and put everything together: advertising, music, artwork, recorded programs and live broadcasts.
The program structure is also approximately the same: there is a workspace that displays the current state (what plays, what will go on the air further), there is a breakdown by the hour: every hour is filled according to the broadcasting schedule that the program director makes.
On the workspace, all manipulations take place on the principle of drag'n'drop, files are taken from folders that the program has access to. In addition to the workspace there is a jingle machine, which launches design elements, liners, jingles and perebivki.
The control takes place not only with the mouse and keyboard, but also from the DJ console (the corresponding “tracks” and faders can automatically turn on the next track or start the jingle, it all depends on the settings). Simply put, everything is in the program "wired", the whole broadcast.
If the program is turned off, this is an event of an emergency level, because all the functions of the broadcast are tied to it. Of course, on serious radio stations for such cases there is a backup disc, from which the music simply starts, so that the broadcast will not “remain silent” while the software is “raised”, because without it, for example, advertising and recorded broadcasts will not come out.
Programs for automation, however, vary. In professional communities, DJin is most often praised because it has the most subtle settings. But it costs more than the rest of the complexes.
In turn, Digiton, although cheaper, often “strains” with its slowness and independence. The program sometimes gives unpredictable things, switches the tracks on its own or does not launch jingles, such errors are fatal for the broadcast. Nevertheless, it is almost as popular as DJin.
An absolutely any number of staff can serve a radio station - everything depends on its size and tasks. There are small regional stations with three marketers, two DJs and an editor, there are giants for three hundred people with promotional departments, commerce, editorial staff, a PR service, a warehouse, security, and a board of directors.
On an average radio station, in addition to DJs, there is a program director who builds a broadcasting network, an ether editor, a commercial director, a sound producer for working with sound and post-production and a promotional department.
There are radio stations that broadcast to the whole country - federal, there are those that work only for their region. At the same time, regional radio stations often do not have their own airwaves and are engaged in relaying Moscow stations. In this case, a few hours of own air time and time for local advertising are allocated to the regions (this is stipulated in the franchise agreement).
New radio stations are opening, even despite the complexity of the process and vague prospects for profit. In order to open an FM radio station, the concept is prescribed, the legal entity is registered, the exact location of the location for the transmitter, the documents are collected, a tender is held for a frequency that is held twice a year, and so on. (More details on all the steps are listed here ).
In Russia now there are several major players in the industry, as a rule, these are holdings that combine several radio stations: EMG, ProfMedia, Gazprom-media, All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Russian Media Group and others. On this site there is a brief description of each of them. In addition to the major players, there are lone radio stations that are not part of holdings, but at the same time have a rather big broadcasting network and even “get” abroad.
The main factor by which we distinguish (or do not distinguish) radio stations from each other is the format. The format consists of what and for whom the air is filled. In the classical division, there are approximately 14 formats, such as AC (Adult Contemporary), CHR (Contemporary hit radio), classical, rock, etc., which, in turn, are divided into sub-formats. The separation takes place according to the age of the audience and musical content.
It should be understood that such a division into formats is rather arbitrary, and today it is quite difficult to find a “purebred” rock radio station or AC format - in the face of tough competition, strong stations are in search and constantly display new formats, combining several old ones into one.
Why it will soon stop working
It is obvious that the radio no longer plays the role that was assigned to him even in the "zero". The Internet has given users everything: any songs, information, operational news, announcements of books, films, forums for communication with specialists, a platform for performances. Everything for which the audience included radio receivers migrated to the network. Now, in order to survive (not taking into account the high percentage of motorists who still listen to the radio), it is necessary to attract the audience in new ways.
First, the task of attracting solves unique content (at one time, when competition on the radio grew, and the Internet was not yet so popular, programs were launched that “blew up” the audience: “Model for assembly” or “Frankie show” - these things still on the ear). Secondly - the output of the information on the Internet and over the air. If the radio station does not live off the air, it can be buried.
Radio stations create web communities, and in addition to the audio material, they post there photos, videos, interesting texts, links, get pages on Instagram - all this just to keep the listeners interested. Every self-respecting station also has airtime events (for example, Europe Plus Live or Invasion, Golden Gramophone and other events that gather an audience and keep it on the channel).
Nevertheless, podcasts have replaced (and have already arrived in the West) constant radio streams. Another phenomenon that is predicted to be victorious over FM stations is becoming Internet radio. Today, anyone can open an Internet station - it does not need to be officially registered, bought licenses and expensive equipment.
For the simplest online broadcasting, you need a hosting for the site, a broadcasting service (for example, IceCast or ShoutCast), through which audio streams will pass, and a program to automate the broadcast, which we wrote about above (there are also free options). After setting all these elements, you can run live broadcasts, any music or conversational programs, the only question is choosing the audience.
There have already been successful projects of this kind in Russia, for example, Follow me (which, by the way, they even once collaborated with an FM radio station to promote), or the talk radio ChiplDuc .
In a sense, we can watch the decline of classic FM broadcasting - sooner or later, evolution will take its own. Unprofitable FM stations are likely to curtail broadcasting, and there is a chance that the technology will allow to “catch” Internet radio, and the Russian listener will accustom himself to podcasting. Audio information is still considered the most unobtrusive and easy to read in the background.
Our own attempt to make an audio technology podcast.
Links to the latest issues of the Sound podcast and text transcripts with additions:
- [ read ] [ listen ] What to give to an audioman;
- [ read ] [ listen ] Why we decided to build two cinema halls in the Audiomania showroom;
- [ read ] [ listen ] Acquaintance with acoustics Old School;
- [ read ] [ listen ] Cold Ray and resonance control;
- [ read ] [ listen ] Why engineers improve their acoustics;
- [ read ] [ listen ] Old new vinyl: Its features and properties;
- [ read ] [ listen ] "Conservative sound": Talk Arslab and Penaudio;
- [ read ] [ listen ] "We look at home": We discuss technologies and formats.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/401393/
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