China at 303 km/h

I arrived in China 3 weeks ago to the day, and since arriving it has been a series of paperwork, dinners, team bonding weekends, different hotels, learning the language, meeting the staff, finding a place to live, dealing with the day to day challenges of progamming 7 radio stations, learning to use squat toilets, and of course managing my finances (it’s been 70 days since I last got paid!). And that’s just the highlights…

And I was thinking I really haven’t had the chance to sit back, take a deep breath, and absorb what I’m actually doing, and where I’m doing it. Until now….

I’m writing this blog entry sitting in window seat 12F of the G127 train from Tianjin to Nanjing.  We are travelling at 303 km/h and will cover the 900 km’s in about 3.5 hours.  “Atomic” from Blondie comes up on my Ipod, one of my favourite Blondie songs.  The view outside the window changes every 20 minutes, and right now for as far as the eye can see its farmland, dotted with roads every now and then and blanketed in what could only be described as pollution, but don’t say that to the locals.

As we approach the next city, Blondie changes into Billy Joel (All About Soul), and apartment buildings start appearing in the suburbs. China’s population density in cities is about 3-4 times that of Australia, and I now know why.  Apartment construction in China is incredible, and with the rural population gradually moving to the cities for work, it’s going to get higher.  Hey, remember, China has 1.5 billion people!

“Oh, that’s right. I’m in China!”  That’s not the first time I have thought that to myself, said it out loud while crossing the street, or muttered it to a passing stranger.  I think I keep reminding myself because sometimes it’s very surreal.  I’m working and living so far outside my comfort zone that I would NEED to travel 900km’s on a fast train just to be able to see me comfort zone again.

But am I enjoying it?  You bet!

The professional challenges ahead are enormous, and I am very excited about the journey.  And for those uneducated in the audience, what am I actually doing in China?  Well, I’m glad you asked.

MyFm is owned by a large media company based in Malaysia.  We started these radio stations in China about 3 years ago, and growing by about 2 stations every year.  Radio in China has traditionally been run and programmed by the government, and in the past has been used as a tool of propaganda. 

They have also programmed the stations a lot differently than what we are used to in Australia (or the UK, or US for that matter).  They use what is known as block programming.  1 hour you may get Chinese pop, the next you get talk back, the hour after is Oldies and so on.

What we have done, and continue to do, is introduce China to format radio.  A station built around a specific target demographic (in our case 25-34 yo’s) and delivering the same music format all day, every day.  A consistent product, generating market noise, results for advertisers and producing revenue for us!

And so far, it has been very successful.  The stations are now turning a profit after a short time, and we are achieving many of our ratings goals.  After working with some of the staff for 3 weeks, it’s a big challenge.  Because of what they have been used to, trying to change the way they do things is the first hurdle.  But they are starting to see the results, and now it’s just a matter of fine tuning what has already been established.

OK, so that is just a brief glimpse into my world, and I suppose a good oppprtunity for me to step back for a second, look on this from the outside, and realize that this is a huge moment in my professional and personal life.  If someone had tapped me on the shoulder 6 months ago and told me I’d be in China in July, I would have laughed, and asked them what drugs they were on.

It’s amazing how life changes.  But it only changes if you’re open to it…