The Channel | 2003 | September

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Simon Spanswick is Chief Executive of the Association for International the
AIB - publisher of The Channel - embarks on a new stage in its development, KerryStevenson
has been talking to Simon about the organisation and how it fits into the industry.
audiences. That costsmoney andwhen budgets
are being reduced, then there are real problems.
Howdo youmaintain universal access if you’re
a public service broadcaster? How do you
demonstrate the return on multiple platform
carriage if you’re a commercial channel?
Finally, there is marketing. But it shouldn’t
really be described as ‘finally’, as it’s a vital
component in any broadcaster’s armoury, or
indeed manufacturer, service provider or
transmission company. Unless you go out there
and tell people that your service exists, and that
it’s worth them spending their time consuming
it, how are you going to grow your audience
or customer base? Yet it seems to me that in
international broadcasting so much of this is
left to chance. Few international broadcasters
devote much resource to marketing and this
ought to be one of the things to be changed.
KS: You mentioned platforms. What
about DAB and DRM for international
radio? Are they important?
SS:Allnewmainstreamtechnologyisimportant,
and DAB and DRM are examples of this. Both
offer benefits to the consumer – better sound
quality,morerobustreception.Andnowthatthey
are coming together to co-operate to ensure a
wide roll-out of the technologies and receivers,
that’s good for all concerned. However, few
international broadcasters have pursued
distribution onDABwhich is a I said
earlier, it’s important that international radio
broadcasters market their service and that goes
as much within the domestic environment as it
does in the target markets. If, as a broadcaster,
you can demonstrate to your domestic
stakeholders what you’re doing globally, you’re
more likely to gain support for your work. Use
DABt o ensure that you have a voice at home as
well as abroad.
Meanwhile DRM offers amazing potential for
international broadcasters, and for domestic
stations that are currently on long and medium
wave. But we need to see lots of DRM
transmission, not just a patchy selection, andwe
need to see lots of lowcost receivers.Remember
that in Africa and Asia, incomes are tiny, and
yet there are tens ofmillions of peoplewhowant
to listen to the ’ve got to find a way of
ensuringthattheygettheimprovementsinsound
quality that most of us take for granted.
KS: The AIB magazine, The Channel, is
getting bigger and it’s getting more
positive feedback. What is it about the
publication that makes it attractive?
SS: I think that we’re immensely lucky in the
AIB to have a magazine that reaches so many
people in somany countries. However, it’s been
touch and go as publishing trade magazines
has not been a good business to be in over the
past couple of years. Luckily, we’ve had the
support of several very loyal advertiserswho’ve
recognised that what we’ve got is something
different. I think the success of The Channel is
that it’s the only magazine that looks at
international broadcasting in any detail on a
regular basis, so it has a unique selling point.
There’s nothing else like it out there, andwe’re
now publishing the largest editions we’ve ever
been able to. It’s also a shop window for AIB
members. We feature news and articles by our
members, so it’s another marketing tool for
them, another benefit of AIB membership.
KS: How do you see the AIB developing
in the next year and beyond?
SS: I see the Association expanding, with
many more members joining and we’ll be
offering more services. We’re restructuring
our membership packages, expanding from
one level of membership to three. This will
help underpin the financial stability of the
Association, and allow us to concentrate on
giving the members significant benefits. We
certainly will not be favouring one category
of member over another – as far as we’re
concerned, the smallest member is as
important as the largest, and the needs of the
smallest member will be served in exactly
the same way as any other member.
Aswithanytradeassociation,themoremembers
there are, the more benefits each member
accrues.Our target is to expand themembership
to at least 60organisations by this time next year
and we’re on course to achieve that. We’re also
keen to expand the geographic distribution of
members. Currently a majority of our members
are based in North America or in northern
Europe. With the opening of our office in the
Asia-Pacific region, and intensified activity in
Africa and the Middle East, we expect to see a
broader international spread of members.
Of course, we need our members’ support, too.
We need to knowwhat they want, what we can
do for ’re instigating a monthly phone
conference among members to explore the
issues that they face, and to allow the exchange
of ideas. We’re starting a series of member
networkingdinners indifferent cities around the
world.Andwe’redevelopingand improvingour
market intelligence all the time. These are all
tangible benefits of membership, along with
what I sometimes describe as “unseen” benefits
– such as when AIB staff attend events and
mention AIB members in conversation. It’s all
part of the service theAIBprovides, and I know
that more companies will be benefiting from
these over the coming months.
KS: Simon, thank you very much.
KS: The AIB launched an annual
conference a couple of years ago. Why is
this needed at a time when there are so
many media-related conferences around
the world?
SS: Once more this is about serving the
members and meeting the needs of this
particular segment of themedia industry. There
has never been a regularly-staged conference
that covers all aspects of international
broadcasting. TheAIBGlobalMediaBusiness
Conference is the only event that looks at
international radio, international television,
international audience research, international
delivery, international transmission – and I’ve
used theword international repeatedly there on
purpose. TheAIB is the only organisation that
covers this sector, and our conference is the
only one that investigates and probes
international broadcasting.
KS: Is the Global Media Business
Conference getting larger or smaller?
SS: It’s definitely growing. This year’s
conference had more delegates and had more
speakers than our initial event in 2002. And
next year’s conference will, we are quite
convinced, continue the trend andbe larger still.
We’re delighted that Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty will host the conference in Prague.
RFE/RL are a member of theAIB, and they’re
based in the former Czech Parliament building
in central Prague. The irony of this is clear –
we’ll be having amajormeetingof international
broadcasters in the very building where
undoubtedly the jamming of many of those
same broadcasters was discussed and rubber-
stamped! However, we’ll be looking forward
in our 2004 Conference rather than backwards
as the AIB and its members are much more
concerned with securing the future.
KS: What are the particular issues facing
international broadcasting today?
SS: I believe that the key issues are budgets,
platforms and marketing. All are interlinked
and the reason I say this is that budgets are
being squeezed across the board. Few of the
AIB’s broadcaster members benefit from
positive budget settlements. Most have been
forced to trim their activities as their funds have
been cut. This affects our manufacturer and
service provider members who have smaller
order books, which in turn can impact on
investment in technological development. It’s
a vicious circle. Then there is the issue of
readers will see from this edition
of The Channel, broadcasters are now faced
with a bewildering number of platforms that
they need – or indeed have – to use to ensure
that they reach all their potential audience or
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