Streekomroep de Bevelanden on experimenting with AI & the rise of regional broadcasters

In this interview with Streekomroep de Bevelanden, read all about the origins of the broadcaster, the rise of AI and their vision for the future.

How do you look back on the experience during the DAB+ days?

I’m really not used to anything else from Broadcast Partners, that it’s just very good, clear and professional. That almost every question asked is answered on the spot. In terms of preparation and presentation, it’s just right. The people who are present know what they are talking about.

What was the original idea and inspiration behind the creation of Steekomroep de Bevelanden?

Streekomroep de Bevelanden came into existence in 2018. At that time, we were active with an internet channel. Because we wanted to make the link between online news and video through the website, we entered into cooperation with another broadcaster with the five municipalities in the region of de Bevelanden. These are Borssele, Goes, Kapelle, Noord-Beveland and Reimerswaal. This is how the regional broadcaster was created.

What target audience(s) does your broadcaster primarily focus on?

Our target audience is mostly radio listeners between the ages of 30 and 55. We program quite progressively. We are not hit radio in the sense that we play everything from the top 40, but we also like to play outside of that. We also pay a lot of attention to new music, as well as a lot of regional music. Furthermore, we play a good mix between blues, rock, and pop. There are plenty of good songs that are longer than three minutes, for example. Those probably won’t make it into the top 40, but they do create an incentive in people.

As a regional broadcaster, how do you view the rise of more and more regional broadcasters?

I think a lot of things are changing right now. I happened to see that a new label for regional broadcasters is going around. That’s quite a change, of course. With local broadcasters you saw that music was played for a very specific target group, often for personal requests. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it was a colorful palette, but there was not really a line in it. Since the partnerships and since journalism started to play a more prominent role in broadcasting, things have become more professional. Broadcasters now really work with set formats. That has really taken off in recent years, also in local radio. So the youngest generation is really used to that.

How have your needs changed in terms of technology you have in place?

Especially software solutions. Broadcast Partners has a wonderful automation package that we work with. That’s already a step toward professionalization, for example using voice tracks. Studio equipment, of course, has also changed a lot. We went from analog to semi-analog digital. We used to walk around interviewing people with an FM transmitter and an antenna. Nowadays you connect a device to your cell phone and via the Internet you are live in the broadcast. These are changes, and of course they come at a price. But they are all tools that contribute to the improvement of your product and professionalization.

How do you see the future of Streekomroep de Bevelanden?

We are still evolving. Of course we are still quite a young Broadcaster, we just celebrated our fifth anniversary in July. It’s a good thing that we started up on time, though, because we’re going with all this development of that professionalization. In addition, some people with a wealth of experience have come in. This allows us to create a very nice product. We would love to have an editor-in-chief. A somewhat younger person who knows all the new techniques. Also new media, like TikTok. So we can expand visually and journalistically.

What are your plans in terms of technological innovations within broadcasting, such as AI-driven content creation or interactive listening experiences?

We continue to put in as much of our own identity as possible. We are really looking at the region, at the people. Technology like AI will bring quite a bit of change. We are experimenting a bit with that. For example, we can load our own voices and type in messages. That will allow us to continuously bring up-to-date news. We are definitely playing with that.

What is your vision for the future of the radio industry, especially with regard to the rise of digital technologies such as DAB+?

We think it will be very costly, especially in the beginning, because of course you have to have a whole grid of set-up points and work with different transmitters anyway. The question is, will DAB really win over FM or the Internet in the long run? Now is the time when it can be rolled out. People said for a while that it wasn’t going to work, because there might be whole new possibilities by then. Then we said, nobody has a crystal ball, so let’s just see what will happen. Also from our experience with Internet radio.

So DAB will probably surpass the Internet. I also think that in terms of DAB, we are only at the beginning of a development that will go much further. The idea of radio in general will never disappear. It has only begun to evolve, and will have a place in society. You always end up on the radio anyway. Even if you’re in a traffic jam and the DJ makes a joke. Then you can look around and see all kinds of people around you laughing too. Then you know, they are listening too. Genius. And so that’s the power of radio. It connects people.

In conversation with Omroep de Bevelanden

Photo: Rik Zwegers

Website: https://streekomroepdebevelanden.nl/