Interview: GMG Radio working on a ‘hybrid’ digital future for radio

The digital revolution raging through traditional media is accelerating and radio is no different: there are growing numbers of digital and internet listeners, meaning that the business model and consumption trends are changing fast. Yes, people mostly listen via AM/FM and the stations sell advertising (or get publicly funded via the BBC) but the next few years are crucial.

As James Cridland points out, the combined audience of the Radioplayer online radio platform in the UK is 5.7 unique users a month, with more than 22 million individual sessions, a bigger audience than ITV and Channel 4 combined.

And the possibilities are huge: according to RAJAR, radio listening reached its highest level ever recorded (91.6 percent of the UK population) in the first quarter of this year.

But the BBC still looms large with an audience including more than 55 percent of the UK adult population, making the job of commercial radio brands – facing the threat of platform shift and the BBC – a tough one indeed.

One man charged with understanding all that is James Rea, who was last month appointed Guardian Media Group’s deputy group programme director. He still retains responsibility for for news output and special broadcasts, but with a lot more besides, including “developing new partnerships in the digital arena to extend the group’s content to new audiences,” according to the company.

According to figures from last October, one in four listeners of GMG stations (which comprises Rock, Real and Smooth radio) audience are tuning-in via a digital/online platform. I caught up with Rea to ask him what the plans are…

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