While turning on the television is the first thing for many people when they open their eyes or get home, tuning in to their favorite radio programs is still a common ritual for others. Market surveys by ACNielsen and the Broadcasting Development Fund, a non-profit media watchdog, show that at least a third of Taiwanese listen to the radio on a daily basis. "The good thing about radio is that it's cheap, convenient, and highly mobile," says Chen Ching-ho, a professor at National Chengchi University's Department of Radio and Television. "And most of all, it can be treated as a 'background' that doesn't interfere with anything."
Surveys have also shown that the government-run Police Radio Station, which broadcasts regional traffic conditions, has the most listeners, while the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), UFO Radio and Kaohsiung Interactive Super Station (KISS Radio) are the three most popular commercial stations.
Identified Frequencies
Established in 1996, UFO Radio was a medium-powered station covering only the Taipei area. Radio broadcasting licenses in Taiwan are categorized into nationwide, medium-powered (20-kilometer diameter coverage) and low-powered stations (10 to 15 kilometers). Syndicating the station's programs to regional stations, UFO Radio technically became a nationwide network in 1997. Jaw Shaw-kong, the company's founder and a former legislator, explains that, to gain market share, a company can either make the best among similar products or it can create an entirely different product. UFO Radio took the latter approach, focusing primarily on news and political commentary, and soon became one of the most popular networks.
Michael Kwan, an associate professor at National Chengchi University's Department of Radio and Television, thinks that another reason for UFO Radio's popularity is that the programs are hosted by celebrities such as Jaw himself. "Having the UFO Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner programs is like having three well-known and delicious dishes in the same restaurant," he says. "It's hard for this restaurant to fail."
KISS Radio, established in 1995, took the same approach of connecting regional stations to form a nationwide network in 1997. The difference is that KISS focuses its programming on pop music targeting audiences between 15 and 34 years old. KISS Radio President Yuan Yun-jie points out that the company did a lot of market surveys. "This is a diversified market where you don't just air something and hope everyone likes it," she says. "You need to have a focus, establish your own style and fill the needs of the targeted audience group."
While UFO and KISS have enjoyed more than a decade of operation, BCC is about to celebrate its 79th birthday. Established in China's former capital of Nanjing in 1928, BCC is actually as old as Taiwan's broadcasting history. Chou Chao-liang, an assistant professor at Ming Chuan University's Department of Radio and Television, points out that official radio broadcasting also started in 1928 in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. Since few Taiwanese were wealthy enough to own a radio, programs targeted Japanese audiences in the beginning. Programs for the Taiwanese audience, such as local news and dramas, were added in the 1930s, during the later years of which radio's primary function turned to voicing support for Japanese militarism and eventually the imperial war effort. "Whatever the programs were, radio broadcasting was a propaganda tool for the government rather than a means of entertainment," Chou says. "But infrastructure-wise, the Japanese laid down a solid foundation for Taiwan."
Regulated Radio
The ROC government took over the five stations the Japanese built when colonial rule ended in 1945, and BCC and several other stations fled to Taiwan with the Nationalist government to continue their operations after defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The medium grew rapidly during the 1950s as the government rushed to occupy local frequencies in order to block broadcasts from China. By 1959, all the AM frequencies were being used, and the government froze the setup of commercial stations. (The FM system was not established until 1968.) Prior to the opening of airwaves in 1993, there were 33 stations. Although only a third of them were government-owned, they controlled more than three-quarters of the frequencies.
Police Radio Station reports help Taiwanese drivers brave congested traffic. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
The freeze of commercial stations aside, radio soon started to gain popularity as people grew wealthier and radios became more accessible. In the 1960s, half of Taiwan's households had radios, but radio broadcasting reached nearly 90 percent of the population. Under martial law (1949-87), politically correct dramatic, cultural and education programs were the primary form of household entertainment. However, the radio-listening population decreased as radio ownership increased, thanks to the popularity of other media.
Radio regained its popularity in the late 1980s when Taiwan's stock market soared and the public caught investment fever, making radio an indispensable tool for stockholders. The stock market calmed down after the 1990 crash, but it seems the fever helped some stations find their market niche and establish audience bases. The Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corp., for example, was famed for its non-stop market coverage during the fever and established itself as a provider of financial management and stock market analysis and is still airing 10 such programs each day. "A reputation is important since people listen to the radio according to their needs and lifestyle," Kwan says. "They don't have all day to hunt for stations, and they want to find their type of programs immediately."
During the freeze of commercial stations, 99 applications were rejected. Dissatisfied with the unofficial government monopoly on airwaves, members of opposition parties set up illegal stations to voice their opinions in the early 1990s. From a marketing point of view, the "call-in" format many illegal stations take is quite successful. "There's no regulation, no restriction and it allows everyone's voice to be heard," Chen says. "And in a stressful society, it allows people to let off steam." Such call-in shows were so popular that the format has been taken up by television, and they now cover a wide range of topics from health to law.
The number of illegal stations grew quickly and became influential, especially on elections and political issues. Estimates of station numbers range between 100 and 300, but it is difficult to pin down the exact number due to their high mobility and seasonal nature. Some of the stations later applied for and were granted licenses, but others choose to maintain their illegal status. One reason is to save the capital requirement for establishing radio stations-NT$10 million (US$300,000) for nationwide stations and NT$5 million (US$150,000) for regional operations. Another reason is to avoid government supervision on programming and advertising. And of course, revenues are tax-free.
The responsibility for dealing with the illegal broadcasters was shifted from the Government Information Office (GIO) to the newly established National Communications Commission (NCC) in March 2006, when the GIO's regulatory role over the broadcasting industry was transferred to the commission. The result, however, has not been impressive. The NCC claims that it closed down 100 illegal stations last year and will eliminate another 50 this year, but it seems that for every one closed, another springs up almost immediately.
In 1993 public demand finally convinced the authoritarian KMT government to lift the freeze on commercial stations, thus bringing about the biggest change in Taiwan's radio industry. The Radio and Television Act has also gone through several amendments designed to remove restrictions, such as those on languages such as Holo, and create a fairer playing field, by banning the government and political parties from involvement in private radio stations, for example. Since 1993, 10 batches of bandwidth, totaling 151 frequencies, have been released, bringing the number of radio stations to around 200. "The opening of the airwaves and revision of regulations turned a government monopoly into a free market," Chen says.
In the Market for...
Despite the high number of players in Taiwan, radio market share remains concentrated in the hands of just a few. This, however, does not mean that there is no competition. Chen says that it is unlikely that a station can appeal to all audiences, so the only stations that will succeed are those that gear programming to specific audiences, focusing almost exclusively on specialty areas such as local events, light music or agricultural news. Another approach is for regional stations to create network programming. UFO Radio was the first to do this and several others followed suit. "For the leading stations, a network reduces production costs and expands airwave coverage," Chen says. "For supporting stations, quality programs produced by the leading stations attract listeners and consequently ads."
Chen points out that although the money spent on radio advertising is negligible--approximately 5 percent of the total--compared to other media, selling advertising is still the key revenue generator for radio operations. Audience and coverage, obviously, are factors which advertising agencies take into consideration. Some stations just sell time to advertising agencies, while some participate in advertising production to make sure its quality fits their style.
But these are not the only profitable business models. Tu Jin-yi, president of the ROC Community Radio Association and owner of a low-powered station in Kaohsiung, says that the annual profit for a regional station is between NT$1 million and $10 million (US$30,000 and $300,000). "Most of the money is not from selling ads but from selling airtime to outside producers," Tu says. "This 'landlord' approach allows commercial stations to make money whether or not the programs they broadcast are popular." The manpower costs can also be considerably reduced since the radio stations do not need to have their own hosts and production crews. Three or four staff members are enough to keep a regional station running profitably.
The result is that programming varies widely from one hour to the next, leaving the station no identity and no control over the quality of the programs. Or, the station can become a "snake-oil station." The sole purpose of these airtime buyers--some of whom double as hosts--is to sell mysterious medicines capable of curing everything from athlete's foot to cancer.
While Taiwan's airwaves are heavy with anything from snake oil to political commentary, maturing technologies in digital audio broadcasting (DAB) promise more potential for the industry. Chen explains that unlike analogue radio signals that are subject to various types of interference, DAB can reach listeners without distortion over the Internet. Though it is called audio broadcasting, DAB can also carry other data such as text, pictures and video, which makes it a richer source of media.
Listener habits, competition from visual media and intellectual property issues are all considered hurdles which DAB will need to overcome. Six stations were licensed to experiment with online broadcasting in 2001, and programming includes a mix of existing content and that specially produced for Internet broadcasting.
That the audio-only medium is said to be doomed by the arrival of new multi-media technologies is nothing new. "People have been saying for decades that radio is dead whenever television or other new stuff has come out," Chen says. "Though changed, it has kept itself part of many people's daily life." The best way to find out about the future of radio is to stay tuned.
Write to Jim Hwang at jim@mail.gio.gov.tw