Long-term goals
Founded in 1995 as a radio station, over the years Bosnian RTV Slon has evolved into a television channel and is now a privately owned local and regional media outlet. Upon joining the Media Innovation Europe project, the team had the objective to build up the existing business model by introducing podcast content that touches on overlooked yet crucial social issues. The idea was to focus on highlighting the role of women within conservative, patriarchal societies, understanding that the audience size may be smaller, but the potential societal impact is substantial.
RTV Slon aimed to position itself as a leader in addressing these critical subjects and this strategy seeks to attract support from donors and commercial brands, creating opportunities for collaboration in developing impactful content. These partnerships can seamlessly integrate into marketing or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, nurturing a mutually beneficial relationship between the podcast and its supporters.
Local and regional respect
RTV Slon has maintained its status as the premier private local and regional media outlet in the Tuzla region for over a decade, demonstrating resilience and profitability even amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging projects and donations, they have successfully expanded and explored new media formats and topics that are traditionally challenging to monetise.
Mentorship focus
Engaging in mentoring sessions, and striving to extract maximum value from each opportunity, RTV Slon’s team was continually committed to improvement and ongoing learning. Whether addressing technical-technological production issues or navigating aspects of promotion, distribution, and compelling content, discussions often revolved around improving existing strengths. This included a detailed analysis of YouTube thumbnails, titles, descriptions, and SEO, as well as devising effective communication channel strategies for episode promotion.
RTV Slon acknowledged the shift from the traditional media’s structured program and fixed schedule and explored adapting to the podcast format. Understanding the fluid nature of podcasting, where content can unfold naturally, has been a focal point of the mentorship.
So far, RTV Slon has produced 14 episodes of the “Taboo Show,” a podcast that gives voice to all women and addresses topics that are not talked about loudly enough in the public space. The media outlet experienced a remarkable 400% surge in the coverage of women’s topics on their portal. Podcast team featuring author Albina Vicković and Selma Jatić, editor-in-chief, has been invited as the sole media entity to contribute to the development of the cantonal action plan to combat domestic violence.
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They not only met but exceeded all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Furthermore, they successfully established a modality ensuring the project’s continuity for the next six months, and potentially even longer. While the content of this nature typically doesn’t lend itself to ongoing serialisation, given its finite number of relevant topics, the team’s strategic approach ensures sustained engagement.
Challenging topics
Discussing challenging and unpopular topics was a potential risk, but one of the team’s strategies involved thorough research and polling of viewers and listeners before each story. Furthermore, each episode was complemented by supplementary written and short video content. This ensured that the podcast episode transcended being a fleeting moment, strategically appearing multiple times in front of the audience throughout the month in various formats, all converging on the same central content.
The team covered a diverse range of topics, including women’s financial autonomy, menopause, decisions regarding surnames (taking their husband’s or retaining their own), and more challenging subjects such as single motherhood, artificial insemination, obstetric violence and femicide.
While some episodes addressed current societal issues, others delved into timeless themes often overlooked in public discourse. Unsurprisingly, episodes exploring lighter, less tragic social topics resonated with a broader audience, garnering more poll responses and views. These everyday subjects, though underrepresented, found a significant place in public conversation.
Notably, even episodes with fewer YouTube views had a substantial social impact, generating numerous anonymous and public comments and reactions across various social networks and communication channels.
RTV Slon successfully met their goals and with a solid and stable foundation in place, building a long-term narrative becomes significantly more manageable.
“Together, we embarked on a voyage that opened new chapters, offered fresh insights and perspectives, resolved dilemmas, contemplated challenges, experimented, and engaged in playful exploration. In a sense, our collaborative efforts evolved into a form of group psychotherapy.”- RTV Slon team
