Emap To Offer Interactivity On Digital Radio Platforms
Emap has announced plans to become the first company to offer interactivity across its portfolio of digital radio services on the Freeview platform.
Listeners will be able to use their remote controls to access multiple pages of extra information and promotions whilst listening to Emap’s digital radio stations, which include Smash Hits, Kerrang! and The Hits.
Emap claims the new enhanced screen radio service will provide advertisers with an added platform through which to reach listeners. A number of brands are already in talks to use the new service when it launches later this month.
Commenting on the initiative, Andrea Kilbourne, managing director of Emap Interactive, said: “By offering enhanced radio services, we are adding a new dimension to the way people can interact with their favourite radio services. It also gives advertisers a completely new way to actively reach new national audiences.”
Adam Bullock, head of broadcast innovation at Emap Advertising, added: “This new service adds to our already strong proposition and puts us at the forefront of radio red button technology, allowing us to interact with our listeners at an even deeper level and benefiting our advertisers with increased consumer interaction.”
The popularity of listening to radio via the television has grown rapidly over the past few years. The latest RAJAR data shows that more than 20% of adults listened tuned in via the television in the three months to September 2003, compared to just 14.6% in the same period the previous year.
The data also shows that Emap’s flagship digital station The Hits secured a weekly reach of 1,036,000, Kerrang achieved a weekly reach of 773,000 and Smash Hits Radio came in at 853,000.
Emap recently launched its celebrity entertainment magazine, Heat, as a national music radio station on Freeview. The station reflects the magazine’s irreverent take on the celebrity scene and the music policy features tracks from the eighties to the present day (see Emap Hots Up With Launch Of Heat Radio On Freeview).
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk
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