Engaging Through Your Web Stream
Written Jul. 22, 2009 by Sean Ross in Content + Internet Radio + Social Networking with 2 Comments
It's not quite as much of a bug-a-boo of mine as bad PSAs, but I've often found stations' on-line experiences to be diminished by those stations that have not yet found a way to keep their internal jock notes from showing up in the "now playing" area of their streaming media player. While I personally enjoy knowing that I'm hearing "slow to fast jingle 7" between the songs, it's a little like spotting the boom hanging down at the top of a movie frame. It gives the impression of a station not entirely in control of its content. And I just know that one day I'm going to see some jock note like, "Only take female contest winners" make it to the Web.
So I have to commend Hot AC/Classic Hits-hybrid KRXY (Roxy 94.5) Olympia, Wash., a favorite station of mine which is streaming again after the best part of a decade. Roxy did something so simple that I'm surprised that I haven't seen it anywhere else. When they played their lunchtime "speedy CD" song, the "now playing" display both showed the correct answer and gave the winner's name and town.
So if a station has somebody (likely the jock) making sure the correct winner name gets posted on the Web, what else could stations do in real time with the media player? We're already training our jocks to provide a steady stream of Tweets and Facebook postings through their shift. And we know that listeners appreciate the "now playing" window. And we're trying to teach listeners to watch the player during our streaming stopsets to click through to advertisers.
So why not provide extra real-time content? Song and contest teasers? More facts about the music? An apology for the lame PSA now playing on the Webstream? (Sorry.) Plugs for other cool things on the Website. Many listeners have something better to do with their time than watch the media player at work. Then again, many clearly don't. And like those Tweets or Facebook postings, it's a place for the kind of humor that some (but not all) of us miss hearing on the air.
Reader Comments
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Been doing this since the beginning of my station. I can't believe that every station isn't doing this. Every track or spoke word on our station has something come up to entertain the listener/viewer of the Now Playing screen/page. Why wouldn't you do this for advertisements? It's two medias in one, audio and video?
We had a lot of fun with this at XM Satellite Radio several years ago. Phlash Phelps, our phantastic host of THE 60s ON 6 was a master of using PAD info to enhance his show. Listeners loved seeing their names on the radio when they won something or couldn't quite figure out the answer to the contest.