It’s all about content: positioning new radio in the ‘Knowledge Society’. That’s the theme for next year’s RadioAsia2014 conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
RadioAsia is the region’s premier annual event highlighting radio broadcasting’s unique role and its contribution to society. The Colombo conference is scheduled for 22nd-24th May, 2014.
In the ‘Knowledge Society’, where the Internet has become a key tool in disseminating informational materials, radio remains an effective, relatively low-cost platform in providing a range of content to diverse audiences. The traditional methods of delivering radio via medium-wave, shortwave and FM are changing as mobile devices and computers increasingly become integrated with the listening environment. However, while new ways of accessing radio are growing, at the end of the day the expression ‘content is king and technology is queen’ remains a truism.
More and more information is now available to people and they are making increased use of it in their daily lives as well as in their businesses. The application of multiple devices to consume content is now quite common. The Internet and mobile phone are enabling technologies that empower people to share experiences and information, while the availability of lifestyle information has made people’s lives richer. The challenge for radio in the information age is to continue to deliver content with substance, across a range of platforms in an age of convergence.
In the context of the ‘Knowledge Society’, where is radio’s future in the production and provision of content? Can innovative and creative programming techniques enable radio to continue to meet its obligations in the new environment while also catering to its traditional credo ‘to educate, inform and entertain’?
Sri Lanka, where RadioAsia2014 is to be hosted, has an illustrious history in radio broadcasting, being home to one of the oldest radio stations in Asia. Thus, it is fitting that the 10th annual forum for Asian radio broadcasters, RadioAsia2014, should be held in Colombo. It will be co-hosted with the ABU’s prestigious ABU Radio Song Festival. www.radioasia.org