Absolute Radio is to offer tailored advert breaks for listeners tuning into the station via the internet.
Users signed up to an Absolute Radio Account, which replaces their existing ‘VIP account’ will also get a better quality stream and the option to trade adverts for an extra song by building up loyalty credits.
Absolute says the move will provide an additional revenue stream for the business, mean they can better engage with listeners, and also give commercial partners an extra option for marketing their products at listeners in a more targeted way.
The online ad stream can also be tailored based on a user’s ‘active location’ if they sign up through Facebook, for example.
The station says its ‘Smart Streamers’, as they’ll be known, will receive a free higher quality audio feed, alongside a contextual, visualized radio experience that’s more relevant to them, while advertisers gain an intimate level of access to the audience.
James Wigley, Absolute Radio’s Head of Digital Sales said: “We are thrilled to be the first UK radio broadcaster to offer premium, targeted audio spot commercials in-stream; this big digital development takes us one step closer to being better able to account and measure the ‘cause and effect’ of radio advertising for our clients and agencies, whilst offering a more relevant ad-stream for listeners online.”
James also told RadioToday.co.uk that, in future, as listeners build up loyalty with their online listening they’d be able to cut the length of the ad break they hear and replace it with more music.”The ad pattern on the IP connected device could be slightly shorter (than on the AM/DAB/DTV feed) and we’d fill the space left with a song of your choice,” he said. “As you listen more and accumulate virtual points one of the rewards you could get is to choose a track from our database of songs which you could use to replace an ad for instance. That’s a benefit for the user because they’re getting more music, and a benefit for the advertiser in that they’re getting more stand-out.”
In May 2011, Absolute Radio’s network of stations streamed 11.9m hours of live audio, 11% of which were from mobile devices.
Posted on Friday, June 24th, 2011 at 12:02 am by RadioToday UK