Radio’s digital revolution has come to John Lewis & Partners with the launch of a brand new microsite on johnlewis.com celebrating today’s radio content offering and designed to help consumers understand and navigate the exciting range of audio devices for radio listening currently available.
The microsite, which is themed Radio’s Digital Revolution, is the first execution of a wider campaign which has been developed and created by Digital Radio UK to roll out for retailers and manufacturers to help them communicate the great live and on demand radio content currently available to consumers from the UK’s radio and audio broadcasters.
The campaign showcases a host of UK radio and audio talent in a video montage, alongside eye-catching artwork featuring Capital’s Roman Kemp; Heart’s Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden; Scala Radio’s Angellica Bell; Magic Radio’s Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott; BBC Radio 1’s Greg James; and BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball.
Digital innovation has led to an explosion in the range of radio services, and there are now 53 national BBC and commercial digital stations available, offering a variety of different music genres, news, talk and sports, plus hundreds of local and community stations available reflecting the diversity and interests of UK audiences. New stations continue to launch with the most recent being Times Radio, a brand new national news station, which launched two weeks ago.
The audio content offering has been further boosted by the growth of on demand content, with broadcasters offering hours of additional podcasts and catch up programming to complement their live schedules.
89% of the UK population tune into radio every week (RAJAR Q1 2020), and radio’s role and value has come to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing listeners with information, news, entertainment and companionship throughout lockdown in the constantly evolving public crisis. Research published by Radiocentre in the weeks after lockdown showed that 38% of commercial radio listeners were tuning in for an extra hour and 45 minutes each day during lockdown[1] and many broadcasters saw immediate rises in listeners to the live streams of their content.
Roshni Chauhan, Partner & Buying Assistant, John Lewis & Partners, said: “John Lewis & Partners has seen sales of digital radios and smart speakers boom during the lockdown period as our customers have had more time at home to enjoy the expanded range of digital stations and podcasts, and look to upgrade their devices. We are delighted to be able to offer customers additional help and guidance through the launch of the radio’s digital revolution microsite, and our partners are ready to equip customers with the information they need, either on line or instore, and welcome then safely back to our stores as they now begin to re-open.”
Ford Ennals, CEO, Digital Radio UK, said: “UK radio’s digital revolution is underway and has really accelerated in the last few years when we have seen a boom in new digital stations and the majority of radio listening shift to digital platforms. Now with hundreds of radio stations and thousands of podcasts available on digital devices and record levels of listening it is a perfect time to unite with John Lewis & Partners to celebrate how far UK radio has come.”
Visit Radio’s Digital Revolution at John Lewis & Partners here. Watch the video here.
The artwork and visuals for Radio’s Digital Revolution were created for Digital Radio UK by design agency, Hearts and Minds. The video was edited by Paul Collins-Reddin and is voiced by Vicky Blight.
[1] Source Staying Connected During the COVID-19 Crisis Radiocentre/DRG, 1027 participants