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November 14, 2024

Radio Nerazzurra is back : this time with a multi-channel project and with the innovative support of a crowdfunding campaign. FM-world interviewed Station Manager Mauro Corno and Program Director Lapo De Carlo .

On November 11, FM-world published a press release announcing the rebirth of a “sports” station (dedicated to football) that in its previous life had also stood out for the quality of its programming and its journalistic approach: Radio Nerazzurra .

The press release also spoke of financial support through crowdfunding , an idea that we have often seen applied to new possible “appliances” (as in the case of Ciarra ) or to the rebirth of historic brands (as in the case of Ferrania ): but – unless I’m mistaken – never in the radio sector.

The idea of ​​contacting Lapo de Carlo again immediately came up , already heard at the time of Radio Milan Inter and more recently to talk about Giornale Radio , to have him tell us more. This is the interview with Lapo and with the Station Manager Mauro Corno: the interview took place on November 13, 2024.

The interview

FM-world (MHB): First of all, a very brief introduction of both of you: who you are and what role you have in the station.

Mauro Corno: My role at Radio Nerazzurra is Station Manager , so I am responsible for managing all the station’s activities in agreement with the Director Lapo De Carlo and our CEO Massimo Pietro Colombo .

My radio experience began in the early 90s, I was lucky enough to work alongside the protagonists of the main Italian Radio Networks both from an artistic and managerial point of view. After many years and many attempts, I finally achieved the goal of working for an editorial product totally dedicated to my favorite team.

Lapo De Carlo: After several experiences in music radio, I moved on to a more journalistic activity and took a path linked to thematic radio, such as those dedicated to football ( Radio Milan Inter , of which I was director for 13 years). Many collaborations with various broadcasters and now Radio Nerazzurra which represents a meeting point between passion and profession.

Nerazzurra 2.0

FM-world: From what Lapo said on air on Tuesday morning, the radio was, so to speak, off and you started again after a break. And in fact your press release states that “the station has spent these months rethinking and renewing itself”…

LDC: Yes, we took some time to redefine the project, following a path that was no longer exclusively radiophonic .

The theme was to combine the radio with services and an entity capable of uniting Inter fans , who live all over the world.

Hence the idea of ​​creating Nerazzurra Media, maintaining Radio Nerazzurra as a representative element and confirming the spirit that had characterized it, combining a greater number of tools available to listeners from the app and the site.

Five million fans

FM-world: There are some 360-degree “sports” radios and others, like yours, so to speak single-brand. Intuitively it would seem that the potential audience for the latter is more limited, making it more difficult to financially support the initiative. Or are we wrong?

Mauro Corno: Our “luck” is that the Nerazzurri people are made up of more than 5 million fans in Italy , as well as having an even larger pool of Italian Inter fans abroad, who can obviously enjoy Radio Nerazzurra through our digital platform.

The numbers say that there are absolutely the conditions to have a significant “adv collection” that allows not only sustainability, but also the potential to grow the project in terms of both editorial and digital diffusion.

FM-world : In the press release you talk about “more than 9,000 registered users and 200,000 followers”. Explain the benefits of registering and your goals.

LDC: The aim is to manage and expand the community , to which we give information, updated news on Radio Nerazzurra and the world of Inter. We reach our listeners not only with live or on demand broadcasts, but also with newsletters and personalized WhatsApp messages .

Triboo

FM-world: How much does Triboo weigh in the current ownership structure and what are the synergies?

LDC: Triboo is a partner with an 8% share of Nerazzurra Media Srl (the company that now owns Radio Nerazzurra) and is a logistical partner of the project, in fact the Radio Studios and the Radio Nerazzurra editorial team are inside the Triboo spa building.

FM-world: The idea of ​​crowdfunding is perhaps a novelty for Italian broadcasters. A very ambitious novelty I would add. Can you explain it in detail?

LDC : It’s an idea that came over the course of these months. We had to understand the terms and the type of opportunity that was emerging. We undertook it to raise funds, consolidate our position, increasing visibility through marketing campaigns and strengthening the commercial structure.

Along with this, the goal is to expand the schedule, without excluding the possibility of broadcasting on local FM and DAB frequencies . Or to land in the growing world of connected TVs.

DAB+ in the near future?

FM-world: Finally, the old Radio Milan Inter was also on FM, although not on a particularly high-performance frequency. Today many choose a DAB+ presence. Do you believe in DAB or do you, like many, think that the money for a slot in a mux is better spent on marketing/social promotion? In any case, do you foresee developments, perhaps even in HBBTV or other audio/video platforms?

MC: Today, DAB+ represents an increasingly consolidated reality, people are learning to appreciate it and consequently to use it when listening in the car, since Radio Nerazzurra is “Native Digital” we are very interested in the potential of DAB+ even if at the moment it is not our immediate priority , but it represents a target point to be carefully evaluated in the coming years.

In the meantime, we will soon launch the integration of our apps with car infotainment systems through Android Auto and Apple Car Play .

FM-world: Who are the technical partners of the Radio Nerazzurra project?

MC : We wanted to immediately give a signal of innovation and digitalization of the project and to do this we chose Radiosa Spa of Mauro Panarelli for the development and management of our digital platform in all its functions, BV Media Srl of Roberto Bellotti, leader in the Italian radio sector for hardware and software relating to broadcasting with the use of PlayOut One as a player and Music Master for scheduling, while our partner for Audio and Video Streaming is InAria Media Group of Alberto Carpené.

We have instead entrusted the programmatic advertising monetization part to Dorvan by Marco Valenti and Alberto Gugliada. (MHB for FM-world)