Claudio Astorri meets Gianni Prandi, the owner and managing director of Italian radio Radio Bruno, one of the top five local radios in the country. Their chat becomes an interesting insight on how Radio Bruno was born and how it has developed throughout the years thanks also to the help of Axel Technology’s products and support.

This is what our Claudio Astorri has written down about his interview with Prandi. Radio Bruno is one of the largest local stations in Italy; it broadcasts over markets like Milano, Bologna, Venice, Firenze with a total of 42 provinces served (Italy has 110). The weekly listeners are about 2.116.680 and with a daily cumulative of 685.530 listeners Radio Bruno has the record of the highest listenership in a province: AQH Share at 27,78% in the province of Modena. A Contemporary Hit Radio/Adult Format with a funny morning show, the typical warm engagement by hosts, newscasts each hour, big events, great and continuous interaction with the audience, Radio Bruno appears to be among the top 5 Local stations in Italy. The owner and managing director Gianni Prandi could finance a further development: the purchase of 7 more stations. Let’s talk to him…

Q – What made you start the business in Radio?
A – It all began in the mid 70’s with a friend of mine, an engineer, who taught me that it was possible to broadcast music on the air. It was a fascinating concept, a real revolution at those times. FM Radio was occupied by the State-owned channels only and they were not targeting younger audiences so I thought that given the new legal chance to create a station I would have enjoyed sharing music with listeners. It all started from this. I am still enjoying my job and that’s the reason why I keep pushing and often work on Saturdays and Sundays too.

Q – As you are the top manager at Radio Bruno since the early beginnings, which are the achievements in Engineering, Programming and Marketing & Sales you are proud of?
A – In the Engineering area the multi-platform concept is fascinating for Radio as a medium. We built it at RADIO BRUNO. We had FM transmission only but nowadays we have added DAB and Digital Terrestrial TV Broadcast, WEB Streaming, etc. Many technological changes occurred from the beginning so I must be updated continuously. As for the Programming area it is not easy to establish why the station has been so successful. My idea is that we built a strong local relationship with the audience while acting as a big national brand. In the Marketing & Sales area we probably achieved excellence thanking to an early understanding in 1988 that owning and managing a network of agents and salespeople was a key for success and growth. I also realized at those times that branding thanking to events was essential to promote listenership.

Q – Radio Bruno makes use of splits in his multi-regional coverage for both editorial and commercial contents. Is this a winning strategy?
A – We started this in the early 90’s and were the first to do so. Our idea was splitting contents in order to give to listeners in different areas the same value and the same motivation to stay with us; it is a policy that works only if you assign a reasonable amount of timing on the air for that purpose. While we air specific newscasts for one region, we have at the same time a service broadcasting to another one, and so on. The problem is the cost. This is an expensive policy. We split editorial and commercial contents in more than 10 territories at given clock positions so this is really a big challenge.

Q – Radio Bruno is very well organized in the event arena with its own organization; does this help the overall growth of the ratings and of the company?
A – We organize directly at least 50 events and we follow then other 100 for each year. We support clients for their grand openings as well as assisting popular marathons in our territories. Following events means in any case creating a studio for our station in order to be able to perform live. Radio Bruno Estate is our Summer free tour with artist performances in the largest squares of our cities; it is a great success every year and it conveys the idea that Radio Bruno is a big brand with event capabilities too; 95.000 people have participated to the 5 events tour of last summer.

Q – Radio Bruno is certainly the most visible and the number one station of Multiradio group. How many other stations are under your property and management?
A – We have 8 stations: Radio Bruno, Radio Stella, Radio Gamma, Radio Lattemiele, Modena 90, Modena Radio City, Radio Reggio and Bologna 1. About 130 people work each day for our group.

Q – Axel Tech has been a long-time partner of Radio Bruno and his sister stations. What did you receive from the company and what do you expect from it in the future?
A – We are supplied by Axel Tech from the 90’s. It is almost 30 years when we made the choice and we continue with it; we appreciate the continuous support we receive. We also are glad sometimes to have acted as testers for new versions or new software. We sometimes received ad hoc solutions especially tailored for our needs. I am just hoping that this excellent relation can keep on going like it does now, bringing us the new technologies and organizational frontiers we need to stay at the top.