The Channel | 2006 | July

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and now we are using the content from our partner stations and
putting this on our own airwaves, therefore interacting with the
audience in top of providing what we hope is useful information.
In China, there’s a curiosity about Australia so in our Mandarin
programmes we have more content about the country.
Radio Australia has been moving away from the delivery of
programmes over wide areas via short wave to more focused
and local distribution of output to audiences in different
markets. Is this a long-term strategy?
It’s been our strategy for the last nine years or so. As some of The
Channel’s readers may know, ten years ago the Australian government
switched off our transmitters to Asia, so we were left as a radio
station without transmitters! Our strategy since then has been to
move offshore and to try and deliver our content and reach audiences
through a range of methods. Rebroadcasting and relays are at the
heart of our strategy, in particular in the case of Indonesia where we
have a number of local FM relays. In Indonesia we have now reached
a stage where the audience to local relays is very important and so
we have tailored our schedule to the needs of our local FM partners,
with six half-hour segments incorporating news, current affairs and
an attractive feature. That’s what we put on our satellite link [for
partners] and also on short wave. Our format is responding to the
demands of the audience, as is our content.
We have maintained short wave capacity where we have been able
to – for example in the Pacific we have a full 24-hour service in
English via short wave and there’s short wave to Papua New Guinea.
Is there a danger of relying on local relays given the plan in Indonesia
to restrict or stop relays by local FM stations of international
broadcasters’ output?
We haven’t been affected by this. We’ve been aware for the last two or
three years of this piece of
legislation [in Indonesia] and
of course we were concerned.
But it became clear that this
legislation didn’t have total
endorsement and there were
ways, perhaps by instituting a
short delay of a few seconds
[to our programmes], to get
round the legislation; indeed, this was the advice given to us by
Indonesian politicians. Earlier this year we had a visit from the Indonesian
broadcasting authority and they also provided reassurance that relays
and rebroadcasts would be OK.
Radio Australia has announced new plans for Cambodia and
Vietnam. What’s the strategy in these countries?
In Vietnam, Radio Australia has had dwindling short wave audiences
for some years. We were doing a general radio service for a broad
audience, so we decided to focus on health, agriculture, the
environment – development issues.The strategy to establish local relays
in Vietnam was not successful, despite our good relationships with
Vietnam. Acouple of years agowe changed tack, having askedourselves
what can we do to provide a service that would reach a Vietnamese
audience. We decided to focus on the young in Vietnam and to reach
themvia the Internet instead of short wave.There’s a longway to gowith
the Internet in Vietnam but usage there is growing very fast. We have
revamped ourVietnamese website so it has not just the news headlines
but is full of information on education, on health, on learning English
and on aspects of life in Australia, particularly since there’s a sizeable
Vietnamese community here. It’s still early days for this major change.
In the case of Cambodia, we’ve also decided to stop short wave.
Radio Australia has been successful in building a local audience
through local relays in Khmer, and we decided this is a much more
effective use of our limited resources.
It’s a bit scary to stop something you’re doing and go in a completely
new direction, but I think these are considered risks for the business.
Is the pace of change in the electronic media in the Asia-
Pacific region as fast as it is in the northern hemisphere?
Probably not and I think it’s a challenge for us. On one hand you have
the very sophisticated media environments of Singapore, of Hong
Kong - urban Asia - while on the other hand you have the small
villages of Indonesia, the small islands of the Pacific and the hidden
valleys of Papua New Guinea. Change is happening quite fast in
parts of Asia with an explosion of new radio stations and this is good
for a broadcaster like us where we can provide content to them. In the
Pacific, things haven’t changed as much – take the Solomon Islands,
Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu. Yes, in the capital you have a couple of
FM stations, but you go into the rural areas and it’s medium wave, it’s
short wave and quite often it’s nothing! That’s because the national
broadcaster is struggling and is not even able to transmit to remote
areas. So things haven’t changed in many places.
What I find very interesting is that our service plays a crucial role in the
Pacific because the local broadcasters are often struggling, so we are
a safety net. People can turn to us knowing
that we will cover an event credibly. In
Singapore our content is valued because
it has those public service broadcasting
values of serious and credible content
which is some places has been sacrificed
at the altar of commercialism.
India is still ahead of us. We’re looking at
opportunities to be there. Radio Australia
had quite a sizeable audience when, 20
years ago, it was available on short wave. We’ve moved onto a satellite
platform that puts us in reach of the Indian media market.
For us here at Radio Australia, the challenge is trying to keep across a
range of platforms and I’m happy to say that we are addressing the
needs of the audience in the remote, rural areas yet at the same timewe
are finalising arrangements to be on the digital platform in Singapore.
Perhaps the major change for us in the last ten years has a parallel
with technological development. Whereas ten years ago we sat on our
own shores and beamed our content out via short wave, today we go
out and engage with the region and other broadcasting organisations,
creating relationships which are not solely related to content, but also
to training, mentoring, technical support, secondments. All this takes
resources, of which we have a limited supply, but we have been able
to gain the support of Australia’s international aid programme. As a
key public service broadcaster in the Asia-Pacific region we need to
make sure that we have the means to contribute to the development
of a free, professional and independent media.
Thanks for telling us about Radio Australia, but what about
you - what’s your background?
My name originates in Brittany in north-west France. I left France
37 years ago and came to Australia for, I suppose, sheer adventure
and it’s been an exciting ride all the way. Radio Australia has been
my life here and it has allowed me to experience not just Australia
but the Asia and Pacific regions, allowing me to travel throughout
the region as well as broadcasting to there.
When I’m not in the studios here in Melbourne, I go back to my roots
by growing cider apples and olive trees which I tend with love!
Jean-Gabriel, many thanks.
beach
Radio Australia has an annual budget of roughly A$15 million
(around US$14.5m) of which is A$8.5 million is for operational, the
balance for transmission and distribution. It has around 80 staff, of
which 40% are drawn from Asia and the Pacific. It operates its
own, specialised newsroom and is able to draw on the resources of
the whole ABC news operation.
Radio Australia is a Member of the AIB