Johannes Ott spoke first. He is the CEO of Radio Gong in Munich, Germany.
Johannes runs a team of 35 people and has an audience of 350,000 listeners per week. Earlier this year Radio Gong ran an online platform and help centre for Ukrainian refugees in Munich. They didn’t know whether it would be a success at first, but very quickly it became a vital life line for more than 5,000 people, all looking for somewhere to stay in Munich. The radio station became at the centre of the city’s relief effort and even the city’s local government ended up looking to the radio station to support their projects.
Jesper Ericson spoke next. He is the Head of Swedish Radio in Kalmar, looking after 25 local radio stations across Sweden.
Where is the magic in local radio for Jasper? It’s about connecting with the audience. Responding to emails as they come in, and chatting to listeners at outside broadcasts. it’s also about telling local news stories. As long as they are telling the audience what is going on in the region, in a way that audiences understand using simple language and emotional case studies, then the station will connect with their audience.
Stian Viken is the Station Manager at 1FM Molde in Norway. He said that his station was probably the smallest at #RDE22, with just three people in his team. Broadcasting is obviously a passion for Stian and he believes that hyper-local content is the key to his success. He has done outside broadcasts, survived a pandemic, and connected with other local stations in Norway. Would he like more money for 1FM Molde? Sure, but he enjoys the creative challenge.
“Anything is always possible if you think big”.
