FORTA celebrates the Forum 'The future of radio' in Malaga on March 24 and 25

With its sights set on how to face the challenges of the industry such as digitalization and innovation, the Federation of Autonomous Radio and Television Organizations or Entities (FORCE), in collaboration with RTVA, organizes the first Forum The future of radio which will be held in Malaga on March 24 and 25, at the Andalusian Tourism headquarters.

These conferences take place at a key moment for the radio industry of the regional channels that are in the midst of the digitalization process and working to face the challenges that will arise in the coming years.

The inauguration of the forum will be carried out by From Andoni, president of FORTA; Juande Mellado, general director of Radio Television of Andalusia (RTVA); and Nuria Rodríguez Cubero, territorial delegate of Tourism of Malaga. The first conference will be given by Luis Miguel Pedrero, professor at Nebrija University and expert researcher in the future of audio.

This forum will bring together some of the main experts on the radio spectrum in our country, as well as other key sectors in the media ecosystem where the activities of regional public radio stations are carried out.

The regional radio channels are prepared to face the challenges and opportunities that technological development poses to them since they have the human capital and technological equipment required to be at the European forefront. The achievement of this objective, in the current context of media globalization, involves establishing synergies and alliances.

The result of this has been the organization of this Forum, in which, given the challenging perspective that digital development and worldwide broadcasting offers for radio, the FORTA member networks will share knowledge and strategies, thus reinforcing their commitment to collaboration, all of which will benefit the more than two million listeners who follow them daily.

The challenges of radio

Given the proximity of the Forum The future of radioo Andoni Aldekoa wanted to state that "the role of public media has to be 360º. The latest studies say that radio has a long way to go, but we are in the midst of a transformation process. Therefore, the digitalization of audio content is a big part of our future. We have to talk about that and we are going to do it in Malaga because we want to know the latest trends, because we want to know the behavior of the audiences and because we need to go towards a new generation of content in the digital world."

The words of the president of FORTA have been joined by Juande Mellado, General Director of Radio Television of Andalusia (RTVA), who has shown that "the media are experiencing an upheaval due to the digital transformation and this transformation also affects the radio, but this medium has a great capacity to adapt to changes. That is why we have to develop digital platforms to adapt to consumer habits. Although the radio also has to return to the streets, to tell the reality and to continue with that mark of credibility which makes it unbeatable.”

The program

After Luis Miguel Pedrero's conference on Thursday, March 24, Elena Neira, professor at the Oberta University of Catalonia, researcher and expert in digital distribution, will talk about the transformation that radio formats are undergoing in the presentation Digital platforms and new formats. This is followed by a roundtable discussion on podcast platforms.

Tiziano Bonini, professor at the University of Siena and expert researcher in innovation and digital audiences, will present the presentation Innovation in programming. This will be followed by a round table on audio techniques and technology and public radios of the future.

To end the day, the presentation of software proposals will be addressed by Bernardo Saiz, commercial manager of AEQ facilities in Spain and José Félix Hernández, application developer at HQ Reporter.

The second day (Friday the 25th) will begin with a round table based on conventional and digital audiences that will be moderated by Juan Miguel Vega, director of Canal Sur Radio.

Two more presentations will be held throughout the morning. The first will be given by Narciso Michavila, president of Gad3, who will talk about the challenges of measuring radio audiences in the liquid society. Next, it will be the turn of the colloquium led by the president of the Association for Media Research (AIMC), Miguel Ángel Fontán.

The forum will close with interventions by the president of FORTA and the general director of RTVA.