BBC Radio has a surprise success story on its hands, with a recent initiative yielding heavy program downloads and encouraging podcasting results.
The history program “In Our Time” was posted as an audio RSS feed in November by the BBC, allowing instant synchronization with portable devices. It was also positioned as a download on the BBC website, with more than 70,000 takers in November. Uptake on the podcasting experiment also seemed healthy, with the program “proving popular with technology-savvy listeners”.
Other data points show that BBC listeners are increasingly integrating the web into their listening experiences. Online programming from U2 and Eminem helped Radio 1 attract a record 2.5 million unique users and 1.4 million on demand listening hours in November. Commented Simon Nelson, controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, “Of course we recognize that we can`t offer all programs 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.”