What exactly is digital radio offering audiences?
Digital radio is yet to hit the crucial audience tipping point and online hubs for the channels are doing more to confuse the listeners than convince them says Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis.
I have a confession to make. I don’t own a digital radio and have been pretty dismissive of the technology so far. But I’ve found in the past that when I’m dismissive of something without giving it a chance, I often miss out on some good stuff.
If like me you haven’t tried it, don’t worry – you don’t need a new gadget to listen. Simply head online to digitalradioplus.com.au. The Digital Radio Plus website is built to sell the benefits of digital radio to the consumers who are yet to pick up the technology but it also acts as a directory of the local digital platforms. As touted by the industry, there is a staggering array of choice, and that’s just taking in the local offerings.
Scoping out the options, I’m impressed with Austereo’s mainstage.com.au which, at the time of my visit, was pumping
out a Rihanna-only playlist to tie in with the site’s sponsorship of the action film Battleship in which she appears – a clever integration. Overall, it is a slick portal that mainly advertised the movie but was it a quality digital radio
experience? If you like Rihanna, sure. So that’s a no. Austereo’s other digital offerings, Radar for new music and Barry for comedy, are equally well built, but much like the online hubs for the network’s FM stations, they suffer from a clutter plague.
Away from Austereo, DMG’s Novanation, which plays constant dance music, had me listening to a Ricki-Lee remix via Soundcloud and had photos galore from recent music festivals which highlights my greatest confusion with this type
of radio experience. Online is not just a medium to listen to but also one to watch and for me, that’s not radio. Is radio redefining itself or are we witnessing the birth of a new hybrid media? The key to longevity will be in its usefulness
and while every spare inch is loaded with content or ads, I can’t see it lasting in its current form.
This piece first appeared in Encore magazine. Subscribe to the print edition here or download the iPad edition here.
