Category: bbc.co.uk;
Radio
Date: 31.08.2005
Printable version
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio's download and podcast trial is proving to
be hugely popular, averaging over 100,000 download requests a week during
July.
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The first published figures show Radio 4's In
Our Time is the most popular programme included in the
trial to date, averaging 30,000 download requests a week since the trial
began earlier this year.
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"These figures illustrate the public's appetite for
radio on demand," said Simon Nelson, Controller of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio and Music
Interactive.
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"We're delighted to offer new ways of listening that
complement other, increasingly popular technologies like DAB digital
radio and digital television."
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The figures refer to the number of individual requests
made for programmes in the trial - as opposed to 'user agents' or 'listens'
- and there is currently no distinction between programmes downloaded
and podcast.
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The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ was the first British broadcaster to podcast
when it made In Our Time available last November, before announcing
an extended trial to include around 20 radio programmes in April this
year.
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July was also a strong month for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio websites,
with 7.1 million unique user agents consuming more than 13.5 million
hours of live and on demand radio (streamed via the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Player).
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Leading the charge was digital-only station Five
Live Sports Extra, which smashed its online listening record
- notching up 560,000 hours of live listening in the month, two thirds
of which were live coverage of the first Ashes Test.
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Parent network Radio Five Live also experienced record
usage, attracting 1.2 million unique user agents, half of whom visited
during the week of the 7 July bombings.
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The Proms website was visited by a
record 190,000 unique user agents last month - 30,000 more than the
previous record, set in July 2004.
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Complete figures are available as a pdf on the right
hand side of this page.
