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One-Man Radio Station Gets 35,000 Listeners
November 1, 2016
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With new technologies like online, HD Radio and DAB, it's never been easier to launch new radio stations. Radio is relatively quick and simple to launch - and advances in technology mean that almost anyone can run a 24/7 station.
Earlier this year, UK radio presenter and entrepreneur Steve Penk launched "Radio Dead," possibly the strangest radio format you're likely to see. Anything goes on this station, as long as they're from dead artists.
The playlist is continually updated - unfortunately - and currently includes David Bowie, George Martin, Glenn Frey, Paul Kantner's Jefferson Airplane, and Maurice White's Earth Wind and Fire, to name just a few from 2016.
Penk calls it a "joyous" radio station that honors and showcases a unique collection of artists. As the station says: "They may be gone, but their music lives on".
As I noted at launch, the station does not have live presenters. I thought this was a very funny final sentence, and I still do.
Radio Dead might be a niche format, but Country music most certainly isn't. Country music is, of course, the most popular music genre in much of the US, but is almost unheard-of in the UK.
When Chris Stevens returned home to the UK after a spell working in Dallas, he missed one thing more than anything else - the country music he got used to. But the UK had just a two-hour show featuring country music on one radio station: and that was it. There wasn't a single country station in the UK.
So, he made one.
He put "Chris Country" online in 2012 - and earlier this year, the station became available in parts of the country on DAB Digital Radio.
It's been available in London since March, and the first official RAJAR radio listening figures have just been published that include Chris Country's numbers.
Those figures reveal that in London, 35,000 listeners tune into Chris Country every week; and each listen for an average of 8.2 hours a week. 8.2 is a very high figure for a digital-exclusive station: the most popular digital station, Kisstory, only achieves 5.5 hours a week.
The figures don't include other areas where Chris Country is available, like the county of Suffolk and a number of smaller trial multiplexes in Manchester, Portsmouth and Cambridge; as well, of course, as nationally-available apps.
The station now has a number of presenters and syndicated programming.
In a press release, US country singers Maddie And Tae, who have just completed a tour of the UK, said "It's great to see fans enjoying the Country scene in the UK, and big congratulations to Chris Country on their audience figures - we're so fortunate for fans that love Country music in the states, and it's so exciting that London is also loving Country music. Congratulations Chris and team!"
Radio Dead might be a dead clever idea; but the success of Chris Country shows the future of radio really can be as simple as someone with a passion.
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