04. Education, information and entertainment in transformation Annual Report 2013 67 PRISA Radio Global communication in Spanish PRISA Radio is the world’s largest Spanish-language radio group with 27.84 million listeners and more than 1,250 stations, either directly owned or associates, spread out over Spain, the US, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina and Chile, and franchised in Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. 2012 has highlighted the robust economic health of Latin American countries and the PRISA Radio companies operating throughout the continent. The economic crisis that has hit Spain and the advertising market in this country, has not prevented PRISA Radio from consolidating its management model, designed to revitalize radio formats, usher in technological innovation and promote the production and presence of content across all digital platforms. Over the course of the year, PRISA Radio has remained a benchmark for global radio in the Spanish speaking world. This model, with its global presence and the special attention paid to the local milieu, enables us to to optimize synergies and generate increased value. Over the year, PRISA Radio has worked on creating a uniform global news discourse based on the different realities that shape the production facilities that the Company operates in Spain and America. The pooling of PRISA Radio resources to cover events such as the U.S. elections, Venezuela’s political crisis, the Repsol crisis and the presidential elections in Mexico are but a few examples. This model, whereby a single team produce global coverage, was also used to cover the major sporting event of the year: the London Olympics, which was broadcast in eight countries. In music, the 40 Principales Awards crossed the Atlantic to Latin America, with the the first edition held in December in Veracruz (Mexico). Interviews with Barack Obama and Bill Gates demonstrated the real potential of joint ventures between PRISA Radio stations in Spain and the Americas. 2012 also witnessed an acceleration of the process of digital transformation which first began in 2010. All indicators place PRISA Radio as the benchmark for digital radio in Spain and in Latin America: there are more than 8 million unique digital listeners and there has been an 84 % increase in the number of fans and followers on the social networks, reaching a total of 4.8 million. All this is reflected in the increase in advertising revenues which have gone way beyond expectations, up by 37 % over the previous year. At the product level, the chief focus has been on the development of mobile apps for radio, developing our brands in Spain and the Americas across the four main technologies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Blackberry). PRISA Radio closed the year with 40 available apps, and the process will be completed in the first third of 2013. More than 125 million hours of online listening has been registered, with exponential growth in the the mobile sector relative to the websites, with each currently holding a 50 % share. Also very important was the focus on transversal music product development, as evidenced by the launch of the first legal song lyrics site, Buluba.com. Furthermore, the first strategic steps have been taken to launch a 360-degree musicstreaming product next year (includes radio, limited interactivity channels and full interactivity channels) which draw on the competitive advantage of having our radio presenters to recommend it. This, coupled with the ongoing work of upgrading our spoken-word and musical radio sites over the coming year, will enable PRISA Radio to remain at the forefront of digital development in the media sector. Interview with Bill Gates
PRISA Annual Report 2013
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