[cma-l] BBC RadioPlayer launch announced - and HD Radio too!

[Two Lochs Radio]

Some more information from Folder Media that may be of interest. (NB I'm not endorsing this, just passing it on!)

Folder and Aim Launch Free RadioPlayer Service
Today we've announced a new relationship with All in Media and are offering a new free service to UK Radio stations. 

The BBC and RadioCentre have been working together to create a single online radio player for all participating radio stations. The idea is that stations players' will share a similar look and feel, have common functionality and allow users to switch between stations through presets or a comprehensive search engine.

Today at the Radio Festival in Manchester, the Managing Director of RadioPlayer demoed the new system to delegates - you can see it below. The aim is to provide a player that encourages online listening, makes it easier for listeners and creates a great online radio experience. The infrastructure for the system is now in place and some big radio stations have committed to ensuring when people press 'Listen Live' it will better reflect their brand and be a great listen. 

The first key partners - Global Radio, BBC and GMG - working with the RadioPlayer team have created a way to collect data from radio stations - station, now playing and schedule information - as well as designing interesting web-style content for the player window.

At Folder, we think RadioPlayer's going to be a game-changer and it's going to be driven by the user. The online radio experience for most stations is quite poor, it's confusing and everyone does something different. The current on-line listening share is surprisingly small - there's no reason why it shouldn't be higher. 

However, what the big radio groups have been doing is sorting out their now playing data, making sure the schedule is up to date and integrating on-demand and listen-again. The stations that do well in RadioPlayer are the ones that look good and have good searchable data. 

RadioPlayer's potential for smaller stations is huge. Search and presets will allow smaller stations to be findable and returned to more often. However to do this small stations need the tools to punch above their weight and deliver on the promise.

Today, Folder Media and All in Media are announcing that we're going to provide some free tools to update stations metadata. We'll hook up your playout system, give you access to update your schedule through the web and provide a player window that's attractive -and we'll do it for free.

It will give any station that's able to be part of RadioPlayer the ability to compete with the big boys. Once you get going and we start seeing how listeners are using it, we can then also help you to enhance the service and generate revenue for you station.

To register your interest, email radioplayer at foldermedia.co.uk and we'll be in touch. And anyway, what have you got to lose - it's a free offer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXp3-QEMuc&feature=player_embedded
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