1. A Starting Point at the Turn of the New Century
Today, friends from all over the world gather together, discussing the joint future of radio. Just as the proverb goes: reviewing the past helps people gain new insights into the present. As we know, at the beginning of the present century, when radio came into being, it was merely in the form of amplitude modulation of short and middle waves. Later on, it developed into the frequency single track radio, frequency stereo radio and frequency para-channel radio; Twenty years ago, there appeared the satellite band, and the ground cable radio and TV network stations; Up to the present, within the latest ten years, there came frequency para-channel digital radio, satellites and their corresponding ground digitized radio - within no more than one century, radio has developed out of a project designed in Feisunton Lab into a global cause shared by millions of radio workers and from upper and middle families in the developed and part of developing countries into ordinary people's houses throughout the world. We are proud of the achievements made by radio and astonished at its rapid progress. What's more, we highly appreciate its invincible spirit in terms of competition and predicament!
This is what radio has gone through. We are not keen on elaboration of its past years in retrospect. After all, radio, a pioneer ushering the mankind into the electronic broadcasting epoch, has once again come to the front of the our age, showing us the entrance to the 21st century. What doubts do we have now then? The development of radio per se has justified everything with its wonderful past and promising future. All we should do is to face the present, standing at the starting point at the turn of this new century, thinking clearly and designing the future.
At present, radio broadcasts in all parts of the world, due to geographic and humanistic differences, are found in different stages in terms of development. Generally speaking, what characterizes the radio in the world is polyatomic, some being public-welfared and some commercial-oriented; some are official in nature and some, civilian-prone; some are more developed while others, a bit backward. In this sense, they are standing at the different starting points at the turn of this new century; therefore, I'd like to say something about the current situation of radio broadcast in China.
After the founding of the PRC, especially in the 1980s', China's radio broadcast has been under rapid development. Nowadays, the number of radio stations across the land has amounted to as many as 1200, of which 70 are stations offering economic programs and others are stations of different specialties. In Guandong Province, a limited number of stations either at provincial or municipal level has expanded into 103 ones at provincial, municipal and country levels. Many of these stations are offering series programs of specialty. For instance, Radio Guangdong is offering programs of different nature by many of its subsidiaries such as Satellite Radio Station, Pearl River Economic Radio Station, Music Station, Voice of City, Voice of Health, Education, English, and Children Radio Station, Yangcheng Traffic Radio Station, Pearl River Stock Market Radio Station and the like.
The practice and spreadout of such series programs play an important role in the development of China's radio history, showing not only the great technical advances ever made in this field but also the increasing abundance of frequencies. Another profile of this prosperity is that, with the development of market economy as well as the formation of the cultural recreation of various kinds in society, are fulfilled people's needs for different tastes and styles of radio. The quickened life rhythm, the highly efficient production and the individualized development for personal needs make people no longer content with the days wherein radio programs are of a single style and similar topics or wherein there is only one radio station or one station broadcasting one or two programs.
The upsurge of radio programs of economy is also a big event in China's radio development. In fact, apart from the enormous economic programs, economic radio stations in different parts of China are observed to share one common feature in the form of broadcasting: i.e. the programs are live presented by a specific program announcer. The basic framework of such a program is diachronic items, with music, news, dialogues and telephone conversations as its main contents, broadcast in the form of FM stereo. Such a program, once it came into being, is very popular among ordinary people and produces wide and active social effects. It is for this reason that the founding of Pearl River Economic Radio Station has been held as one of the ten big events in the reform and opening to the outside world in Guangdong Province. Not only is the economic radio program inherent in all the above-mentioned ear-attracting characteristics but also breaking with the convention of radio mono-broadcasting mode. It is a new type of radio integrating the society, the information, the service and the recreation, thereby full of competition and the feature of our age.
On the other hand, the market economy is not only putting forward new requirement to the mode and content of the program but also to the operation concerning the radio station's administration. Over a long period of time, the radio station management in China has been operated in the same way as that of government offices. Such a management system is now found out in some way inadaptable to the market economic situation; therefore, while the program reform is going on in the radio stations all over China, more efforts is also exercised upon the corresponding reform in terms of management. In particular, the radio stations in the more developed areas are practicing enterprise management. For example, quite some stations are practicing cost accounting for presenting programs, gradually establishing management system at different levels, clarifying the so-called responsibility, leadership, and benefit and regulating different relationships. Many stations are also practicing the mechanism of eliminating through competition, advertising for eligible workers, exercising labor contract system, breaking with the conventional practice of so-called "equally messed", paying staff members in accordance with their achievements and allocating funds in up to different sections. This is undoubtedly the further reform ever taken so as to bring about overall changes and to fill the radio enterprise with new vitality and vigor.
It goes without saying that there exist certain flaws in the reform and development of our programs. For instance, the program, on the whole, is not well qualified. The programs of famous brand in particular are merely limited to few numbers, which is far from the increasing needs for people cultural entertainment; the presentation of program is not balanced; those entertaining farmers in the countryside are on the decline. The management of program is, comparatively speaking, backward. This is demonstrated in the phenomena that the number of programs is increasing while the idea of the programs sounds "loosing" and "overlapping". And the corresponding management and regulations fail to follow the development. Another thing worth mentioning is that the quality of our program announcers should be further improved. The great success of series programs and economic programs has laid a foundation for the further development of our radio. The further reform of radio management system has made radio service more adaptable to the competition of mass media under the market economic conditions. In spite of our existing shortcomings and of the gap we have in comparison with that of our counterparts in the developed countries, we are confident that so long as we could locate the position for our radio in the future society, make command of the law of future radio development, we shall be able to reach a higher starting point and participate in the competition for radio media market at the turn of this new century.
2. Radio in the New Century --- Full of Challenges and Opportunities
In the 21st century, the high and novel science and technology will greatly change people's life and make great an impact on the traditional mass media as well. As to what extent the impact will be, we may have different viewpoints, but one thing is certain, i.e. challenge and opportunity co-exist.
At first, new technology is pounding obviously at the traditional media. The interactive propagation is the Achilles' heel in the chain of traditional media so that it is liable to be pounded. It is said that mass media will tend to be divided, disintegrated and merged. This is easy to be accepted. However, it is unnecessary to worry too much about it. The reason is that the traditional media is also able to equally benefit from the new propagation technology. For example, the techniques of digital-condensation in the future will bring a broad prospect and cause a revolutionary change to radio and television. At present, the radio and television programs are presented to the users through ground broadcasting, cable networks and multi-channel micro-wave transmitting systems. Thanks to the digital and condensational techniques, more and more programs including other information besides the television programs can be sent out. The digital VF broadcasting at its trial stage, feasible to all kinds of receptive conditions, provides not only hi-fi music but written information and images. On the other hand, the live telecast system by satellites is covering every corner of the world, sending a large number of programs. The application of the condensation techniques enables a satellite transmitter to transmit 8-channel programs simultaneously and even to provide many digital VF broadcasts. It is said that, over the Asia-Pacific Area alone, 79 satellites for business purposes, which will be launched, are able to provide hundreds of channels to send TV programs through application of digital condensation techniques.
Both application and popularity of computers offer the broadcast stations convenience to develop another broadcasting channel based on the computers as receptive apparatus, with its programs both watchable and consultable. If we connect a frequency-modulation receiver to the computers, then the computer users can read and consult the information of images, voices and written works. Such techniques help transmit electronic newspapers via computers or TV sets. Now the price of this kind of accessories to be connected to VF receivers is no more than 1,000 RMB yuan but they are able to receive as much information as that in about 20 daily newspapers. Establishing the broadcast with computers as receivers also enjoys its social functions in pushing computers into families, producing its social and economic benefits; therefore, it will be a good business in the broadcasting industry in the near future.
It has an attractive future to develop traffic information network or even digital broadcast network on the basis of the VF broadcast network. For example, the traffic information networks holding larger propagation are fitful for the mobile reception inside automobiles and provide drivers with traffic information of the city. With their vehicles installed with such a receiver, they could even share simple and clear traffic maps, broadcasting news, weather report, stocks, and entertaining information. In other words, they could enjoy not only listening but also watching. If installed with a memory part, the information can be retrieved and reviewed. As for the digital broadcast, it can provide us with the information to be consulted and to be received through lighter apparatus. Owing to its effective service function for society, it is a new field worth tapping up.
The new technology enables broadcasting to use a cable network of new type and air-earth connection. The cable network, richer in channels, can avoid the disturbance from between two stations, other radio carriage communication installation and industry equipment so that the digital broadcast produces much more higher sound quality. What's more, it more easily simplifies the accessories but enlarges the broadcast information than a radio receiver.
The above-referred new technology for broadcasting will result in the systematic innovation of the mass media from formation to function. The systematic innovation includes the ways and contents of broadcasting, the models and structures of the broadcasting industry, and the relationship among various media. Supposing the traditional broadcasting is not ready for the systematic innovation in media, it will be inevitable for it to be pounded by other media. Over the past decades, the broadcasting in China has achieved great achievements in innovating in the old technology systematically. However, the innovation is somehow stagnated, with passiveness and blindness. Regarding this, I'd like to interpret and analyze the systematic medium innovation in the coming century as follows:
In the 21th century, in the field of radio frequency service will occur a new situation which is to be systematic, purposeful, professional and payable. At the first place, more frequency will be divided and allocated to each well-installed station so as to broadcast more programs, with the advance of technology, especially the improvement of digital techniques day by day. It enables the systematic service in broadcasting programs to come into operation. Secondly, the approaching competitions in all media, no doubt, will lead to re-distribution of the customers so the tendency to be purposeful and special is inevitable. Regarding the payment of the broadcasting service, presently the stations everywhere in China, nearly manages business in ads, a payable service. Guangdong Radio Station provides services like stocks and traffic information if paid. It is another form of payment for broadcasting. It is estimated that this form of payment will step into another stage with the development of cable broadcasting and other new propagation techniques in the future.
Concerning the ways of media propagation, the 21st century is a new era for the integration between radio and cable broadcasting. The primary broadcasting propagation is by wire and cable, and after radio was invented the radio propagation prevailed. However, a new cable propagation have been developing at a high speed, since satellites, modern cable and optical cable appeared. The technology's appearance in satellite and cable propagation ensures the organically integration between radio and cable broadcasting.
Concerning the making and edition of broadcasting programs, in the 21st century the customers will need more selection than ever in both quantity and quality of programs with the further interaction. At first, it is the much more top-quality programs that the stations are paying much attention to. In this situation, systematization and variety of the programs will be stressed. News, interviews and music will be greatly valued. Secondly, the conventional ways of making programs cannot meet the needs for more and comprehensive programs so that they tend to be more social, more special and small-sized to enrich the broadcasting market.
Concerning the management of the broadcasting media, the industrialization will arise in the 21st century. Now the funds of the broadcast station come from the state, ads, social donation and joint programming as will as other business. The innovation to the conventional broadcasting by new technology requires larger investment, which needs more accumulation of funds. But as we know, the traditional broadcasting enjoys one characteristic of less investment and lower output. Therefore the serious contradiction between the traditional and the contemporary broadcasting is a great challenge for us. One way to melt the contradiction is the broadcasting industrialization. With the development of our market-oriented socialist economy in China, most broadcast stations will grow up and develop from singularity to diversification, from individualization to grouping in management. Finally, the tendency to industrialization will come into formation.
At last, what we can not ignore is the challenge to our qualified personnel from the high-tech. We, to a certain extent, lack of those personnel who can master the future high-tech, especially all kinds of electronic high-tech, although we have all fields of professionals, who are able to meet the needs of the conventional broadcasting.
In a word, our broadcast stations will quicken their steps incorporating and applying high-tech in the foreseeable future so that the shift from analogue technique to digital technique will accelerate. The new century provides us with not only challenges but opportunities. But what shall we do in return?
3. Reform and Breakthrough --- the Perpetual Theme of Radio
As we see, when the world enters 1990s', the occurrence of new techniques such as multi-media, satellite band, digitalization and condensation has intensified the competition among different mass media. Added to the unbalanced development of regional economy, all radio enterprises in the world have their own difficulties. In spite of that, radio service shows no sign of being stagnated. Why? The answer is that the radio stations all over the countries have designed its own trans-century project for development. Here turning over a new leaf is the motive force, and developing itself is the only way out, which also accounts for the prosperity of radio industry. In China, at the turn of the present century, our socialist construction is in the critical period; therefore, radio stations are facing to the new challenges and the new situation wherein both market economy and the updated science and technology are developing rapidly. In this sense, radio must work out, in the spirit of super-consciousness and pragmatics, its strategic projects for the coming five and even ten years so as to ensure its own status in the heated competition of market economy and mass media.
From our own experiences, we should say the following aspects must be paid attention to:
3.1. Go on to deepen reform in the field of radio. It is our fundamental experiences for China's radio enterprise to persist in and deepen reform. This is also the basis for future development of our radio causes. In the coming five or ten years, management and reform will remain to be the important task in the circle of radio in China. The current and the future aim and task for radio reform will be based on the previous reforms; the overall reform will be pushed into the management system and operating mechanism; the overall, accurate and deepgoing manipulation will be undertaken to make full awareness of the quality, feature and law concerning radio in China; radio industry will be better operated in accordance with the laws and features of radio per se so as to produce more refined and well-known programs, to improve the overall quality of programs and to give full play to the radio's integrated effects and systematic advantages.
With the incessant development of market economy in China and the increasingly improved working and living conditions, a corresponding reform is to be undertaken in the aspect of operating mechanism for radio agencies. First of all, a good adjustment to the policy and strategy regarding radio management should be done in line with market economy so as to bring into full play the best market effects; a further reform in the field of personnel system should be carried out according to the principle of simplifying administration, reducing staff members, regulating relationships and improving efficiency so as to probing a new approach of personnel management thereby a cardre can be subject to be employed or unemployed as well as to be promoted or dispromoted.
Next, within a shortest possible time, the reform of both the management system regarding vocational work and administration and the management system regarding technology is expected to be completed; the transition concerning all the stations' self handling, independent operation, independent propagation and handling responsibility is supposed to be achieved; all the concerned rules and regulations are to be perfected, and a new management mechanism appropriate to the needs for group and enterprise management should be set up with effective macro-control and full micro-opening;
3.2. Make reasonable use of frequency resources. The capital of radio lies in its abundant frequency resources. One major reason for the lower efficiency of the overall radio comes from the waste of these resources at will. This results mainly in the unrestricted and non-planning development of professional and series stations of various kinds within one region. Once motivated by the benefits linked to a small group of people, these stations would fight against each other for listeners or advertisements. Such vicious competitions would cause unavoidable wastes of frequency resources. The competition of that sort will do no good to the radio broadcast network and group-oriented development. There are two solutions to these problems: one is to establish and perfect the management regulations regarding the relevant frequency resources; the other is to re-examine, in the light of the market economic tendency and the broadcasting aims, the status of radio and its series programs in the market so as to form a new pattern with rational distribution and distinctive programs. The previously allocated frequency is required to be investigated step by step; the radio station's policy and orientation to be re-defined, and the waste caused by intra-radio station overlapping to be avoided so as to ensure that the overall efficiency will be improved.
3.3. Focus on the news programs. All the scholars hold that it is easy and economic for radio to present news programs. As an information-provider, radio outdoes all the other mass media. radio is also viewed as a powerful interactive medium, to which listeners could give instant responses. This drives us to give a full play to such an advantage of radio service in the future competition, to further reinforce the dynamics and expand the scope of news broadcasting service and to set up an operating mechanism for vocational work management adaptable to the participation to competition of media. One example is the established computer network of News Center which distinguishes itself in collecting and processing news information. In the days to come, we shall go on to make efforts to ensure good operation of News Center. Meanwhile, we shall open all possible channels, "accumulate the essence under the heaven" and turn radio news programs into the provincial news aggregation.
3.4. Apply the new radio techniques and promote the development of radio causes. We must focus on the possible and new increasing points that the new techniques might bring to us. These include digital VF radio, computerized visible radio, traffic information network, data broadcast network and cable radio broadcasting coverage, etc. These are the indispensable contents for radio development in the new century. At present, the trial work for digital audio broadcast (DAB) is being undertaken. In doing so, we attempt to take the commanding height of the broadcasting mode of a new generation. DAB is the new type of broadcasting mode to be disseminated at the international level, and Guangdong Province has undertaken the task of setting up a guiding station. Now it has been planned that, within five or ten years, Radio Guangdong is expected to present two-set program from the DAB guiding station. Furthermore, Guangdong Provincial Electricity Ministry and Security Ministry have agreed upon, in 1994, that China Traffic Information Network should be established within China by using frequency para-channel. Guangdong Provincial Electricity Ministry has also decided to set up China Data Broadcasting Network with a wider scope. Today, China National Data Broadcasting Center is in charge of the organization and construction of these two network projects.
3.5. Bring up a new generation and make an active progress. The future competition of broadcasting is that of qualified personnel. The latter is the guarantee of success. The development of social information in the new century has put forward to the radio workers higher criteria. In the future, the training of China's radio broadcasting personnel aims at bringing up a cross-century team of radio broadcasting workers who are politically qualified, vocationally experienced, highly devoted to radio broadcast cause and enjoying radio broadcasting work, with pioneering spirit, ideal age and rational scope of knowledge.
In specific, while the ratio of all the workers concerned is to be duly adjusted in accordance with the development of radio broadcast cause, a refined team of radio broadcast techniques should also be absorbed and fostered. We try what we could to produce a number of qualified yet new personnel in the field of recording, broadcasting, transmitting and computer management. In order to meet the needs of market economy and broadcast-enterprised orientation, we are also required to cultivate another team of management workers who are open-minded, quick-witted, and good at managing and handling. Another important mission for radio stations to fulfill so as to fit the future competition is strengthening the quality-nurturing of management workers. In order to meet the requirement of radio-station-enterprised and group-developed orientation as well as the radio broadcast techniques modernization, we are also expected to seize the hour to turn young workers into the ones with good ideology, fine style of work, new outlook, wider vision strong vocational competence and good at tapping up. Our radio management offices at all levels need such people.
If we want to fulfill all the above-mentioned tasks, we need the guarantee in the sense of law and regulation. A good mechanism of personnel can provide equal opportunity for competition. This benefits the healthy development of qualified people. In China, the task of the first importance is to set up the personnel management system so as to meet the needs of market-oriented competition. In this way, the mechanism manipulating workers to be employed or dis-employed and to be promoted or dis-promoted can come into being. Once this is done, the status quo will be quickly changed of average workers with lower quality due to the fast development of radio broadcast service.
Reform and breakthrough are the perpetual theme of radio broadcast. We believe that with all the efforts mentioned above, we are sure to overcome the challenges in the forthcoming new century because the 21st century will be another beautiful spring for radio broadcast after all.