Interaction with listeners and the human touch are ways public service radio broadcasters can stay ahead of their commercial rivals, the ABU RadioAsia conference 2022 has heard.

A session on 5 September featuring speakers from Malaysia, Vietnam, Romania and India looked at how public service broadcasters can reach their audiences more deeply and thrive in the new, interconnected world.

Do Minh Hong of VOV-Vietnam described how the VOV Traffic channel not only reported on traffic conditions in the usual way but interactively connected with listeners as they travelled and even ran a radio dating programme.

Udaya Sankar of All India Radio Hyderabad also spoke of the importance of interactive programming, especially for young people.

Flavia Voinea of Romania’s BucurestiFM described how the station had reached out to young listeners by inviting students to host radio shows for an entire season. The students had taken to the work enthusiastically and with passion.

Rosli Nordin of RTM-Malaysia said for a public broadcaster like RTM, it was not about popularity but about social obligation.

Yogendra Pal of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium said digital services such as those provided by DRM offered interactivity of a kind not available on analogue radio.

The session moderator was Steve Ahern, Head of the ABU Media Academy.