An answer from Dodo Roščić:
Is cohesion only for old people? The good old democracy? The ability of a society to initially assume that those with different opinions have good intentions for the common good and to want to inform themselves independently in order to participate in the discourse? Are these outdated values, a bit embarrassing and old-fashioned, like the knitted blanket on the TV with the little Venetian gondola on top? Something that makes you as sad as a pair of support stockings?
Is it only for old people to remember something like the see-through blouse on "Make a Wish" even after decades or André Heller's voice on the radio? Is it only for old people when a whole generation still remembers when Max Schmiedl won "Taxi Orange"? Or the flying piano and Christina Stürmer coming second in the final of "Starmania"? Is it forever over because of all the streaming that this social and cross-generational campfire unites us on Fridays at 20:15? Can we look back on these ultimately truly shared experiences with a sigh of relief and then simply dismiss them with determination? Tempi passati, irretrievably over?
Blaming time for changing has never been good advice. Those who have followed it are sitting on the banks of the rushing river of their opportunities to reach a society with their cultural and media pessimism pinned to their hats.
Of course, "the young" are no longer dependent on ORF out of a lack of alternatives, but are free to choose where and how they want to inform and entertain themselves on the world's most successful platforms. They do not consume what we dictate, but only what interests them. They are therefore neither less political nor more superficial - they are simply freer. And more selective. In order for media makers to create great moments for society as a whole in today's world, they will have to cover more than the famous "extra mile". Part of the standard repertoire of every convention for media people is to put someone on stage who has cracked the biggest puzzle of the current media mankind: How do we win back the young? Well, of course, by being where the young people are. And that's on social media. The formula for success is to make your brand and its offerings as discoverable as possible in the world's largest marketplace, where all young people hang out. As a gift.
But what is our added value in terms of content that today's "next gen" will remember? Is that even still possible?
I belong to the first generation of FM4 users. FM4 wasn't just the new alternative radio station for us in Linz-Urfahr in 1995. It was a window to the world. And apart from MTV, it was honestly the only one. It was an oxygen mask, salvation, an unprecedented abundance of life possibilities that pop had conjured into our souls. We were dependent on FM4 and its curated coolness. Only those at FM4 knew what the new cool music was! Editing.
Nobody under 25 turns on FM4 (or uses the FM4 app or SOUND, our audio player) to hear what's new and cool in music. They've known that for a long time from a platform called TikTok programmed in faraway China. FM4 is no longer the only window to the world for anyone in this country. On the contrary: we all carry an infinite number of windows, a whole huge world full of constantly multiplying transparent possibilities in our hands all the time. The real and only true mass medium of our time is the smartphone. It democratizes all offers, and the most interesting for the respective individual will prevail. Or the one that, for whatever justified or unjustified reasons, enjoys the greatest current hype.
So where does that leave FM4? Very close to the hearts and ears of our users, if we do everything right! But we need to try harder! Ultimately, we are all in competition for users' time and this competition is organized in international multinationals, is very, very large and, if so, pays taxes elsewhere. For this reason alone, public service must also be something for young people, as it is the widely communicated self-image of our company: ORF FOR ALL.
The young must be given special attention, if only out of socio-political orientation towards the common future of Austrian society with these "all" for whom ORF wants to be there. The diversified consumption of information and entertainment by these young people is putting traditional offerings across all the ever-growing media markets under pressure and leaving the less mobile at a loss. If offerings such as FM4, ORF's newest brand, were not available, this would mean that ORF would declare itself an obsolete model and go the way of all flesh with "the old", giving up on itself and lying down on the doily next to the Venetian gondola to gather dust.
A brand that takes itself seriously, on the other hand, naturally adopts sustainable strategies for self-renewal and implements them with confidence. This is what we at FM4 work on every day.
#socialvalue
