{"id":235,"date":"2012-06-28T18:51:18","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T18:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olver.me\/?p=235"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:57:00","slug":"my-thoughts-on-radioplayer-online-first-slots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverneedham.co.uk\/blog\/2012\/06\/my-thoughts-on-radioplayer-online-first-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"My Thoughts on Radioplayer ‘Online-first’ Slots"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Update: Radioplayer has withdrew the slots. Read the update after the main post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve worked on Radioplayer<\/a> whilst at Cross Rhythms and even got recognised by the RP team for designing a player which is “a great example of what a small community radio station can do using very little resource<\/a>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However I’m not too sure about the way that Radioplayer is ‘opening up’ their platform to non-Ofcom Licence holding radio stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having met and spoken with Mike Hill, who is the Managing Director of Radioplayer in the UK, several times, I have voiced my opinion on letting Student Radio Association stations on to RP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understandably, RP only wants to have stations that have good quality broadcasts and also abide good journalism practices. That is why they initially said only Ofcom licence holders can stream on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that if a student radio station is part of the SRA then they should have these qualities already. For example, at One Media Radio at Staffordshire University<\/a>, many of the shows are part of students’ courses so they must be clean and suitable for that, so when they go to air on One Media Radio they are already a reasonable quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suggested to Mike that he speaks to the SRA and sees if there is some arrangement they can come to to get student stations on at a reasonable price. (I’m ignoring all the student radio stations that already hold AM or Community licences for the purpose of this discussion.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now RP wants to offer 30 slots on their platform for ‘online-first’ stations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at this as the Technical Manager of One Media Group<\/a> (at Staffordshire University), my main concern isn’t the quality of our broadcasting on One Media Radio, but the cost and what appears to be a ‘bidding’ process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the guidelines for stations wishing to apply (which can be found here<\/a>), the following stood out to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lot A \u2013 Non-profit community, student and internet radio stations
\nIn addition to the above, your application should cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n