BOTW: Radio industry needs to clear up DAB+ misunderstandings; The index bounces back
Welcome to Best of the Week, edited in rainy Sisters Beach, Tasmania, after almost a month away. The door-busting intensity of MAD//Fest in London and brain-busting discussions of this week’s HumAIn already seem like a long time ago.
Today: Time for the radio industry to clean up its DAB+ terminology; and AI fears send the screen industry on strike.
Happy Guinea Pig Appreciation Day and Hot Dog Night for tomorrow. Hopefully the two are not related.
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DAB+. Cake+Eat
Tim Burrowes writes:
I’m still thinking about my unusual podcast interview this week with Rob Shwetz, the commercial chief of the new business radio network Disrupt Radio.
I don’t recall a time I’ve had more private messages and emails reacting to one of our podcasts. Most messages are some version of “What happened?” To which my replies have been some version of “I don’t really know”.
But one issue has wider implications for the whole radio industry. The strange way that DAB+ listening is labelled in the ratings surveys and other industry-commissioned reports, is causing widespread confusion, with the likelihood that advertisers might be misled.
If I hadn’t recently spent time thinking about the annual The Infinite Dial survey of audio habits, I probably would have missed it in the Disrupt Radio interview.
When our discussion turned to the potential audience of Disrupt Radio, Shwetz said that the network would be targeting a weekly cumulative audience of between 250,000 and 300,000. That’s an unlikely number which – if achieved – would put the network in the same speech radio ballpark of ABC Radio National.
One way that Shwetz justified the number was to lean on data contained in The Infinite Dial around listening to DAB+ stations.
“In 2022 DAB listening soared to seven million people a week, or 32% of people aged 12 plus, and that’s up from 18% last year. If you’re looking at those audiences, then the additional streaming audiences…”
At that point I stopped him. Like many other casual observers, Shwetz had misunderstood that “DAB+ listening” referred to people listening to the radio via DAB+ devices. In fact the number refers to stations which are broadcast on DAB+ but listening via streaming is also counted. So there are no additional streaming audiences. That would be double counting.
The fact that somebody in charge of selling a radio network doesn’t understand the numbers emphasises how misleading their presentation currently is.
Hell, I even found myself wondering back in June whether the boss of Edison Research, the company that puts together The Infinite Dial report, understood the data properly. In Larry Rosin’s webinar to launch the research, he said: “An increasing number are also listening to DAB+. Last year our estimate was 18% of Australians saying they had used DAB+ in the week before. This year it jumps dramatically to a third of all Australians. Seven million people saying they’ve used DAB+ in the last week.”
But all of those numbers referred to people listening to DAB+ stations both via DAB+ and via streaming.
It’s a pity because DAB+ has actually grown. I’ve not seen these figures made publicly available but data available to subscribers of the GfK ratings can see the answer to one question which asks consumers what platform they are consuming their favourite station on.
The actual mix is:
AM/FM: 61.2%
DAB+: 20.3%
Internet: 18.5%
Another caveat, by the way: Don’t then attribute 20.3% of listening to the so-called DAB+ stations. Much of the content consumed via DAB+ is better audio quality simulcasts of AM stations like ABC Sydney or 2GB.
The key benefit of being on the DAB+ spectrum may not actually be the listeners it delivers directly. That 20.3% of listening comes at a much higher broadcast cost than the 18.5% via streaming. The real benefit is the kudos of being a “proper” broadcast station, worthy of being included in the ratings, and differentiated from the thousands of streaming-only stations around the world.
As I say, at the moment the radio industry presents listening to the DAB+ stations on both DAB+ and via streaming as one number. That’s having your cake and eating it. Trying to then claim streaming on top of that again is one cherry on the top too many.
A costly scoop
For those interested in the media, you’ll find one of the best reads of the day in The Weekend Australian this morning.
The story of crime reporter Steve Barrett’s collision with the Plutus payroll scam is an extraordinary one. Barrett ended up on trial accused of blackmailing the Plutus conspirators with the threat of exposure. His defence was that he was simply doing his job and chasing the story for an exclusive for Nine’s A Current Affair.
What a wild ride.
The Week in AI: The actors walk out
Cat McGinn writes:
AI is AIwful
Hollywood’s big three labor unions went on strike. The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to strike after failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The union seeks a fair deal on key issues, including compensation amid a shift to streaming and generative AI technology’s impact on actors’ livelihoods.
Oh no it AIn’t
Comedian Sarah Silverman and authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey sued OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement, alleging their works were used to train AI models without permission. The plaintiffs claim the books were obtained from illegal “shadow library” websites. Shadow libraries, also known as “pirate libraries” are digital platforms that provide free access to copyrighted literature without the consent of the copyright holders.
Chinese walls
China released measures to regulate its AI industry, focusing on supporting development and ensuring security. The rules are less strict than earlier drafts, and require public-facing AI providers to submit security assessments. Enterprise-facing products are not subject to the same restrictions. The new legislation becomes effective from August 15.
Data probe
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US said it was investigating OpenAI over potential “unfair or deceptive privacy or data security practices” and possible harm to consumers. This probe requires unprecedented disclosure from OpenAI, which could potentially affect innovation in the AI sector.
Campaign of the Week: Auckland Transport – Invisible Hazards
In each edition of BOTW, our friends at Little Black Book Online highlight their most interesting advertising campaign of the week.
LBB’s AUNZ reporter Tom Loudon writes:
This week’s campaign of the week is from Motion Sickness for Auckland Transport. “Invisible Hazards” encapsulates the dangers of distracted driving, thanks to Motion Sickness’s manipulation of hidden hazards in plain sight.
The simple, provocative campaign is a fresh approach to the road safety ad. It doesn’t confront or horrify the audience with the potential dangers of driving distracted, but rather captivates the viewer by highlighting the focus it takes to drive – an everyday activity which can be taken for granted.
Unmade Index ends the week on a high note
Seja Al Zaidi writes:
After a week that saw the ASX 200 achieve its best day in six months, the Unmade Index shared in the spoils yesterday by closing on an uplift of 1.62%. The Index, which measures the performance of Australian media and marketing stocks, landed on 670.1 points after a big week which began with the index on 631.23 points.
ARN Media saw the most sizeable increase in its share price yesterday. It rose 3.92%, while rival Southern Cross Media lifted 2.66%.
Nine, the Index’s largest stock, saw another lift in its share price of 2.93% while Ooh Media rose 2.80%.
Domain was the only one of the bigger stocks to suffer a drop in share price, of 1.84%. Enero Group, which had the biggest rise two days ago, fell back 1.20%.
Time to leave you to your Saturday. I’m headed out shortly for the Sisters Beach Chess Club. I gather that membership numbers have soared to five while I’ve been away.
Abe, Seja and I will be back on Monday for Start the Week, which will also include one of the sessions from this week’s HumAIn conference.
And in Sydney, my former colleagues at Mumbrella are about to get underway with Mumbrella360 this coming week. It’s the event’s 11th time of running as a physical event. I wish them all the best.
Have a great weekend.
Toodlepip…
Tim Burrowes
Publisher – Unmade
tim@unmade.media
