Launch Failure for Dutch Abroad

For many years, Radio Netherlands published a daily PDF bulletin in Dutch. It was intended for Dutch speakers living outside the Netherlands. It was a spin-off, started by editors in the Newsroom. It grew from a couple of pages summarising the Radio Netherlands news bulletin to a colour "magazine" including articles, features as broadcast on air, puzzles and the daily schedule of BVN-TV. But with the ending of Radio Netherlands broadcasts in Dutch, a decision was made to end this activity. A small team of editors who were made redundant by Radio Netherlands decided to continue, but then on a purely commercial basis. They announced that as from November 1st, the Dutch Times would no longer be free but that an annual subscription of 72 Euro would be required.

But on November 2nd a message went out from the new start-up that they had decided to suspend publication. Although there was an encouraging response when the concept was first announced, only a handful decided to actually subscribe. And those that did are now rather vocally crying "fraud" on the pages of what's left of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. Correspondents are annoyed that RNW was "advertising" the new service on its pages until the last moment. The message from Dutch Times says they will issue their next statement before Monday 12th November.

Lessons Learned: 

• Startups are not smaller versions of large companies, especially not public corporations. 
• Having a hunch is no substitute for proper market research. Asking existing free subscribers is fraught with biases. And when push comes to shove, people don't pay up. 
• If they decided to suspend publication on Day 2, it shows rather poor preparation for the launch.
• The bitter pill is that they may no longer be a market for such a niche. Previous attempts to make this a commercial proposition have failed  (NRC Handelsblad had a weekly edition)- because costs never match the revenue, especially now as so much topical news is free. And that includes BVN satellite television. This public TV service, unlike the Dutch shortwave radio service, continues although it is no longer part of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. BVN (Best of Flanders and Netherlands) is available for free in many TV markets. It now has its own free fortnightly programme guide.
• There is a market for specialist opinion - but those publications focus on a domestic market, with overseas subscriptions being the icing on the cake. Government information for Dutch living abroad (e.g. how to register to vote in Dutch elections) is posted on the websites of the embassies. 

Radio Netherlands says goodbye to Personnel

This week was the final week for more than 250 employees at Radio Netherlands.  They held a final "borrel" (drinks reception) in the entrance hall of the building in the Witte Kruislaan 55, in Hilversum. A simple gathering without speeches, pomp and circumstance. Now after years of being open 24 hrs a day, the door closes on Holland's external broadcasting service, at least in the form that most of us knew it.



I still maintain that Radio Nederland Wereldomroep was actually one of the world's first social networks, even though the back channel was via letter (and phone from about 1981 onwards).

Below are the entries from 1948 in the book World Broadcasting, later called World Radio Handbook, published in Denmark.

RN Wereldomroep 3.0 : Are they serious?

Radio Netherlands may have left the radio airwaves in English, but it still has a budget for 2013 of around 14 million Euro. The new era for the organisation starts today, July 1st, although the RNW website is remarkably vague about what exactly those left are supposed to do as from Monday morning.

The company will target four areas of the world where free speech is doing less well: sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, China and Central America. 

RNW will concentrate on three central themes: democracy, human rights and sexual rights. 

RNW will also home in on a new target audience: people from 15 to 30 - students and young professionals.

So the structure is similar to Endemol and Talpa, it's a production company not a broadcaster. Except that instead of entertainment, they will make shows/websites connected with democracy, human rights and sexual rights. Difficult topics to be sure.

Free Press Unlimited does more than the written word

It's strange that this new mission is so similar to what some other organisations in the Netherlands (such as FreePress Unlimited) are already doing. The overlap smacks more of a knee-jerk politically-correct rescue plan to spend 14 million Euro rather than doing something really original for which there is a real demand in those target markets. The argumentation for the RNW Chinese mission is perhaps the biggest mystery.

China blocks the Internet, though, why target there?

RNW has for a number of years been very active in China via the internet and social media – the new RNW will carry on this work. RNW will not be as badly hit as are the BBC or the Voice of America by China’s mass internet blockades. That’s because of RNW’s method of disseminating the information.

On one hand, the Chinese-language RNW website offers information about lots of aspects of Dutch society, from fashion and design to gay rights and euthanasia. On the other hand, there’s also more ‘risky’ information which is hard to get in China. Some important themes are the influence of citizens on government, corruption and internet freedom.

This makes the new RNW look more like an old style "clandestine" broadcaster, operating under enemy radar. But are Chinese youth really searching for this kind of info (euthanasia?). The statements about VOA and BBC are just plain wrong. It looks to me like RNW has ignored what the EU, USA and BBC does outside the field of news coverage on other sites. 

Not blocked in China

The RNW website continues...

Why is RNW targeting young people in sub-Saharan Africa?RNW has chosen eight countries in the region where the development of democracy, human rights and sexual rights is problematic: the Democratic republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. The countries are also in many cases troubled by poor governance, political violence, poverty and corruption. RNW will develop programmes, formats and web productions for the audience in this region. 

There are hundreds of NGO's across Europe already doing this. Have organisations like Radio Benevolencija or Search for Common Ground, or BBC Media Action got it all wrong? What is RNW going to add rather than just make more of the same?

Questions Need Answers Fast

The new mission for RNW was announced in September last year. As we head towards new elections in the Netherlands, the austerity plans are already out to find more money to cut from the public purse. So the new announcements from RNW raise the following questions.

• Why is this new mission needed? 
• What is RNW doing differently from other European NGO's that makes the new mission an essential part of Dutch foreign policy? How does it fit with what others are already doing? 
• What would happen if RNW 3.0 didn't happen?
• Can RNW show it clearly understands the information needs of those audiences? (Central America - yes, but the rest?) 
• How will it work with partners to share effective engaging stories? 
• How does it define success? "Likes" on Facebook? Website uniques?
• Isn't it time to change the name? Its not a radio station, nor it is a world broadcaster any more.

If the new RNW doesn't think this through fast, then more cuts are coming.  

Radio Netherlands Dutch services bows out in style

Radio Netherlands has posted the truly superb video of the last 11 minutes of Radio Netherlands Dutch radio service, signing off with pride after 65 years of service. It was a superb send-off driven by a spectacular countdown to the big switch-of at 20 hrs UTC Friday May 11th 2012. It all ended with a burst of fireworks.
The "zero hour" moment was captured by an ANP photographer and can be viewed here. The Dutch text tells you to hold down the left mouse key and they drag to navigate right and left.

ANP Fish Eye Photo 

Earlier in the week they posted a video of the preparations. Haven't found a way to embed it. So it's here.

One of the former heads of the Dutch Department was Peter Veenendaal. He told the story of the station, the people and the moments in a very powerful video projected on the side of the building HQ. World class. It was a wonderful, powerful sound collage as well.

I like the short video trailer they made for the marathon transmission below. Realised that in fact I took the opening shot of the relay station when I visited for use on a QSL verification card we sent out to listeners. That particular radio broadcast I made in 1989 is in fact online in the Media Network vintage archive. They also brought the first RNW outside broadcast van back to the station. Of course, it still works! World class tribute to a world class team. Safe travels wherever the wind takes us further.