Digital Technologies and Interactivity in Selected Online Radios : the Strategies Employed to Improve the Audience Experience

Since its inception, terrestrial radio has been challenged by a number of competing technologies, but despite those, the medium Radio has continued to thrive, and many observers have described it as one of the most adaptable form of mass media. In fact, according to Pease and Dennis, Radio “remains the world’s most ubiquitous medium, certainly the one with the widest reach and greatest penetration” (1993 cited in Hendy 2000 p2).

Over the latest decade the rapidly evolving industry of digital audio programming has introduced a host of new competitors, including Internet, digital and satellite radio, as well as personal audio devices such as MP3 players and mobile phones.

The growing response to these new radio distribution systems raises important questions about the status of AM/FM radio, the radio station adopting new digital technologies and the impact such adoption has on their websites.

The goal of this research is to investigate the factors that led radio stations to embrace those technologies and interactive services, and understand how they use them in their websites to enhance their programmes’ reach and establish a closer bond with their listeners. To achieve the goal of this work we have taken in consideration three Organisations, representing both the public and commercial tier of the radio broadcasting industry.

The data were obtained by a comparative analysis of their websites that revealed how digital technologies and interactivity are embedded on their web strategies. The results of this study show that among the three Radio Stations (BBC, NPR and Virgin Radio), the Organisation scoring the widest adoption of digital technologies and interactive services is BBC Radio.

This study contributes some empirical analysis of the adoption of new digital technologies in radio stations’ websites, eventually providing recommendations for future researches.