Catching the ears of the young - what's new?

Old school Danish hit radio and an unusual Italian radio show meet the young by different means.

The host of the show caterpillar from RAI asks us to forget everything we know when we address today's young generation.

− This generation gets bored at a speed you can't even imagine. My three keywords for success are quality, content and innovation, Fillippo Solibello (37) said. 

He and his 51 year old co-host have a “drive-time” show on Radio 2, RAI. 

− Radio must change from talking to them to talking with them, and the worst thing you can do is try to be cool, he said. 

On the show they play only new and independent music chosen by Filippo, in order to mirror the way young people find music on the net.

− Apply what happens on the net to radio and talk a language they understand and never use a script. You must surprise them and radio is first of all a live experience, Fillippo Solibello said.

The dab station P5000 from DR has a different approach to reaching the young. Their goal was to target the listeners who didn't listen to DR and had partying, sex and gossip as their main interests. 

We wanted it to be fun, play party music, and so we hired three presenters whose profiles were right, explained Jacob Løje. The station is promoted both traditionally and through “viral marketing”. 

They make an effort not to speak with the politically correct tone common in traditional public broadcasting, and the station profile is promoted in gossip magazines. 

− We have a commercial sound and a strong web, and we go to the party festivals to be true to our audience, said editor Jacob Høie.