BBC Radio mp3 takes off

(I-Newswire) December 18, 2004 - The series, in which Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of ideas, covered topics as diverse as the origins of life and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire during the month.

Each edition was available to download for seven days after broadcast for use on portable players and computers, as well as being available via live and 'on demand' streaming.

'Podcasting' is an extension of downloading, whereby listeners can have new programmes automatically delivered to their computer as soon as they are posted on the web.

Listeners download an application (such as iPodder) that checks the web to find the new version of 'tagged' audio files - such as In Our Time - the listener has selected.

The mp3 download experiment aimed to test the public's demand for radio downloads, following the BBC's first use of them earlier in the year for The Reith Lectures.

On that occasion, the programmes received around 50,000 downloads over a ten-week period.

Simon Nelson, Controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, said: "We've been surprised and delighted by the demand for downloads of what is one of our most challenging programmes; it demonstrates the public's appetite for new ways of listening.

"Of course we recognise that we can't offer all programmes in this way but we look forward to working with rights holders to explore ways we could learn from developments like this to drive radio listening forward."

The results come as the BBC publishes its second month of online radio listening figures.

The popularity of listening via the internet was illustrated last month when Radio 4's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy smashed all previous performances with an incredible one million 'on demand' listens.

Also in November's figures, Chris Moyles - the self-styled 'Saviour of Radio 1' - has overtaken The Archers as the nation's favourite 'on demand' radio show.

The breakfast show's rare victory over The Archers - usually the most popular online programme - came thanks to some unmissable interviews with Destiny's Child and Elton John.

The pulling power of U2 and Eminem also helped Radio 1 attract a record 2.5 million unique users and 1.4 million on demand listening hours in November.

The Shady Radio Show received 40,000 on demand requests whilst Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe's U2 Day shows generated 75,000 on demand requests.

The Children in Need 2004 minisite contributed almost 300,000 page impressions to a month of record traffic for Radio 2 whilst the network's Live & Exclusive slot continues to prove a compelling on demand proposition - there were more than 44,000 requests for the Elton John programme at the end of the month.

Overall, a record 6.15 million unique users visited BBC Radio websites in November, a 55% year-on-year increase.

Forty-eight per cent (3.2 million) of those visitors made use of the BBC Radio Player, listening live for 6.2 million hours and requesting more than seven million programmes on demand.

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