Delegates gather for Asia-Pacific’s premier radio content conference

Delegates from around the world have gathered in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific region’s premier radio content conference, RadioAsia2017.

They are meeting in Bangkok for three days of discussions on the future of radio, with a special focus on digital radio and how the medium will interact in future with social media and other new technologies.

The conference in the Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok was officially opened by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office of Thailand, Ormsin Chivapruck, with a welcoming address by Dr Javad Mottaghi, Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.

Dr Mottaghi said that, after more than 100 years, radio faces new challenges, ranging from social media to addressing younger and older audiences while continuing to deliver content with substance, engaging audiences across a range of platforms. 

“Many of these opportunities have already been exploited by the radio industry; by adopting multimedia approaches and offering digital radio services,” he told the gathering of more than 110 international delegates from 60 organisation and 33 countries, who were joined by 200 local delegates. 

“This transformation has proved to be a powerful combination, weaning back a significant portion of the audiences.”

Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said there had been countless occasions in Thailand where radio had proved itself a vital instrument, ranging from early warnings, disaster responses and road safety campaign to traffic reports. 

He said radio played an important role in communicating with the people as the country undergoes reforming processes involving many changes and development plans. The dissemination of information through radios empowered and encouraged public participation in every step taken by the administration to move the nation forward.

He said Thailand was also embracing the adoption of digital technology for economic and social development as the country moved towards a new paradigm of Thailand 4.0. 

The conference was preceded by masterclasses on production and marketing, together with a workshop coordinated by WorldDAB on the progress globally on moving to the digital radio system DAB+.