Radioplayer Deutschland Licences UK Radioplayer Technology for Germany
PRESS RELEASE
Radioplayer Worldwide (“RPW”), a consortium created to represent the UK Radioplayer platform internationally, has signed an agreement with Radioplayer Deutschland GmbH to licence the technology.
Following the continued growth and development of Radioplayer in the UK, Norway and Belgium, RPW are pleased to announce that Radioplayer Deutschland, a partnership between 18 of Germany’s commercial broadcasters, is to launch the Radioplayer technology in Germany. The service is being announced today and will launch publicly in the beginning of next year.
Consisting of a tried, tested and flexible desktop player, simple backend tools, a natural search engine, mobile apps on iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile, tablet apps on iPad, Android and Kindle, and even apps for your car: the UK Radioplayer is used by hundreds of stations in the UK as their default player – and by millions of listeners to enjoy their favourite stations. Radioplayer has made it simpler for listeners to find and hear great radio online, and easier for broadcasters to showcase the best of their content.
“It’s great to be working with the team at Radioplayer Deutschland at this exciting time for radio in Germany”, said Simon Blackmore, Managing Director of Radioplayer Worldwide, adding, “With another International partner licensing the platform, this further demonstrates that for broadcasters looking to work together to grow radio across their territory, Radioplayer is the best place to start”.
“It’s the right time for this joint industry project in Europe’s biggest market, Germany, together with our British radio colleagues. The web is an excellent additional platform for modern radio”, says Hans-Dieter Hillmoth, General Manager Radioplayer Deutschland and Radio FFH in Frankfurt, “radioplayer.de will be a non-profit-project to support radio listening, between the commercial and public broadcasters”.
For further information, please contact
Simon Blackmore, Managing Director, Radioplayer Worldwide
+44 (0)20 7453 1600 simon.blackmore@radioplayerworldwide.com
Hans-Dieter Hillmoth, General Manager, Radioplayer Deutschland
+49 (0) 6101 988400 hd.hillmoth@radioplayer.de or hd.hillmoth@FFH.de
About Radioplayer Worldwide
Radioplayer Worldwide has been created between Unique Interactive (part of 7digital Group plc), Imagination Technologies and UK Radioplayer to explore opportunities for the Radioplayer technology internationally. For more see www.radioplayerworldwide.com or follow @rpworldwide on Twitter.
About UK Radioplayer
Radioplayer offers ‘UK radio in one place’, in a ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and commercial radio. We now show-case over 460 UK radio stations – including all BBC national and local services, all major commercial stations, and a selection of community and student radio. Radioplayer is available on desktop, mobile, tablet, and in-car, and now has over 6 million users. For more see www.radioplayer.co.uk or follow @ukradioplayer on Twitter.
About Radioplayer Deutschland GmbH
Radioplayer.de will be home to more than 150 German radio stations from Munich to Berlin, from Cologne to Hamburg. In addition to the FM streams, stations will transmit their simulcast web-only streams too. 18 radio station and groups in Germany founded the company “Radioplayer Deutschland GmbH” in August 2014. The launch is planned for early 2015.
Radioplayer FAQs
1. What does Radioplayer offer for consumers?
Radioplayer aims to make radio listening easy on connected devices. It gives users in a given country access to commercial and public service broadcast radio across their PCs, tablets or mobiles.
2. What are the steps for Radioplayer to launch into different territories?
a. Various parties agree to work together as an industry to address the consumer need.
b. An independent and neutral vehicle is formed to run the project.
c. Radioplayer Worldwide strikes a deal with the new entity to give access to the platform.
3. Who is responsible for the technology to run Radioplayer?
The platform is hosted in the cloud by Radioplayer Worldwide. Radioplayer Worldwide is responsible for setting up new territories with the technology needed to run their own Radioplayer service. Each territory runs slightly differently, however, when the platform is handed over to a new territory they manage and control it themselves and Radioplayer Worldwide is available for support. Radioplayer Worldwide was created by Unique Interactive, a radio services company within 7digital Group Plc.
4. Where does the content for Radioplayer come from?
Radio stations in the territory sign up individually for Radioplayer to have their streams included in the product. A new participating radio station will get a login to manage their data and create a console. Their console will be branded with their own station information and broadcast stream(s).
5. Is there different content for Radioplayer in Germany than what is offered in the UK or other territories?
Yes, each Radioplayer Worldwide licenisng territory only includes stations from that territory. None of the stations from one country are available in other countries. This is because streaming rights are territory restricted and Radioplayer is designed to help a territory grow its own radio listening.
6. What is the significance of this deal to German radio listeners?
15 shareholders have come together to form Radioplayer Deutschland. It is a neutral and independent body that will give any user on a connected device access to commercial and public radio streams. It means that users can flip between their favorite radio stations on their mobile phone, PC or tablet without having to go to separate websites or apps.
7. How will users find out about Radioplayer in Germany?
Each territory promotes Radioplayer differently. Since it is a major move by the stations and industry, we expect a lot of support through on air promotions, social media and other advertising. Radioplayer Deutschland will create a marketing plan that works for their territory.
8. Are there any special rights-holder agreements needed for a new Radioplayer to launch?
No, radio stations already have their rights to broadcast their streams through their existing licenses. The only thing that is licensed is the technology from Radioplayer Worldwide.