Claudio Tozzo
Claudio Tozzo is an original publisher: present in the area in an absolutely atypical way, he has two brands (Studio+ and ’60’70’80) which can be defined as anything except “the usual great hits radio”. Not just a publisher: Claudio is also a DJ, high frequency technician and a person at ease with digital technologies. FM-World interviewed him on April 11, 2024.
The interview
FM World: Let’s start from this: the news of the connection of Radio ’60’70’80 on 100.1 in place of Studio+ in Varese generated many comments on Talkmedia, a signal that reaches as far as Milan. Is it an experiment, a technical problem, an editorial strategy?
CT: There is no technical problem. It’s an editorial strategy.
I believe that the integration between the various broadcasting systems should generally be reviewed, given that today there are television, DAB, FM, apps. I am therefore doing a redistribution, then later we will see over time whether to implement with other FM frequencies or something else. At the moment my need is to distribute all resources well in order to allow all the group’s broadcasters to grow homogeneously. AND Radio ‘60’70’80 it’s a very important broadcaster for me.
Claudio editor
FM World: I asked because someone – I think one of your collaborators – put a post on Facebook where he wrote that for a few days he would hear ’60’70’80 on the Varese frequency, giving the idea of a sort of experiment.. .
CT: I don’t know, people who think with my head! Look, no one was authorized to publish anything about it. In any case, one can always write what he wants unofficially: in the end it’s better this way, people talk about it. Look, yesterday I was out with the ministry taking measurements, with the van. 5 people must have stopped me, telling me “I study+, I listen to it”. People who were listening to the radio, but all over northern Italy.
FM World: Let’s go back to interference and Croatian friends. Have things improved or are we still stuck where we were last year?
CT: Right now nothing moved. They are discussing things at high levels, so let’s wait. I hope that they can defend Italy’s positions. But the DAB at the moment… it’s useless for people to keep talking, talking about nothing. There are technical times where if someone tells me that the DAB can’t be heard today, I reply that the DAB is off at the moment.
Claudio Engineer
I took care of suggest several locations by making calculations for many regions of Italy, let’s say almost all those overlooking the Adriatic coast. So I know exactly what it takes and what it will take.
FM World: This extreme slowness… I wonder if it harms or favors the broadcasters. We know that those who have a good analogue workstation have an advantage. But in DAB one is worth one, so I wonder if going slow is a good or bad thing from the point of view of those who are already there.
CT: Meh! I think, take away the tooth, take away the pain. We implement new technologies and make sure that they start working, always remembering that it will take a long time to change the fleet of machines (cars, Ed.)this is the real problem.
Naturally, the networks must first be operational in a homogeneous way: when there is an offer, people will go, because they will hear the radio without disturbances, perhaps this will even contribute to the renewal of the car fleet.
Strong where (the FM) feels good
FM World: The data attributes 366,000 contacts per day to ’60’70’80 and Studio Più together, with an average quarter of an hour of 37,000. The impression is that Studio+ has always grown over the years, perhaps slowly, while ’60’70’80 is increasing rapidly. I’m going from memory, maybe I’m wrong, but I wonder if we can conclude that it would be better for you to have a third network. I don’t know, put Ibiza in all of Italy?
CT: You put three things on the table! At this moment I think it is worth developing the coverage of the two main broadcasters. Basically coverage gets you listening where it feels good and we are strong, we are listened to a lot in regions where the signals are really powerful.
Also ’60’70’80 needs strong signals in order to continue growing. At this point I think that yes, maybe something is needed, DAB will certainly be interesting, but theFM will still be very important in the years to come for the consolidation of the brand therefore it is useless to think that DAB will replace FM in the short term.
Commercial presence
FM World: Are the TER data and in the future the “JIC” important or in the end does it matter more to have the commercial structure in the area?
CT: The structure on the territory is very important, as I said last time, the data is used for national advertising, to give results, basically if you have data you give the results to the customers and therefore they continue to work with you. The data is not just a number but it is also something that must be translated into reality.
CT: Take our events. If you fill the rooms like we do only with radio advertising it means that you still have characters, you have a brand, just a brand is not enough, you also have credible characters.
Invest in FM to raise awareness of the app
FM World: What are you doing on Ibiza, what results are you getting and what is the strategy there?
CT: On Ibiza we have a radio with the exclusivity of all commercial DJs that play on the island and so it’s very interesting and it’s also very nice to listen to.
On the island there are many radios that play music that is not what big names like Guetta or Bob Sinclair play. Maybe they hold their nose a little when they hear the music played by these greats who instead do the numbers. And so I said “but since this thing is missing here I’ll do it“. Let’s say that it is giving satisfaction in terms of presence and ratings. From there to selling advertising… It’s more of also strengthening the brand and the relationships you can have with customers for the group.
FM World: Would it make sense to bring this “Spanish” version of S+ to Italy?
CT: Certainly not on FM, for this very reason. You can already listen to it on our app, I no longer make the distinction between FM and DAB. If you want to listen to a radio, you can find it. We are focusing a lot on our app, we are even redoing it entirely, even if it is beautiful, but we are looking ahead. We are creating an app that is consistent with both the web, smartphones and television, a bit as it should be, as many others are, but in an even more specific and captivating way. The important thing is that people know where to find you very easily.
FM World: If there is FM, ok. If there is DAB, ok. If there is television, that’s fine. That is, FM right now has an importance of… what, 80%?
CT: Yes, it will fall in favor of others, but I always have to look at the present. Let’s look at the present and then we invest in FM to make other platforms known too, but it will be clear that everything will balance out. So today it is already easy to listen to a well-known broadcaster’s brand with any device and take advantage of it. It’s ironic that even today someone sends me the message “I can’t hear the FM radio anymore” on their smartphone. And what (omitted), press the start button and turn on the app, right?
HBBTV and new brands
FM World: What about HBBTV?
CT: Exactly, I developed this system which many televisions and now also some radios are using. Our presence is widespread in all the TVs that have our system and therefore in that case they can listen to ’60’70’80, Studio+, Studio+ Ibiza and all the others that will arrive in the future. More things will probably come to the group. But no, I don’t want to create 50 stations because that’s right focus on the few that can work. (MHB for FM-World)
Tags: Optimizing consolidate digital present area key success
