We’ve talked about the amazing NPR One app over the past year, and even gave it our “Radio’s Most Innovative” seal of approval. It was originally referred to as a Pandora-like app for NPR and local public radio programming, with the ability to skip stories, pause, and even rewind 30 seconds.
The NPR One app is a novel mobile application that is informing the network about the intricacies of how consumers use their product, listen to their stories, and prioritize what’s important to them. In much the same way the geniuses at Spotify study music skipping and “scrubbing” (where listeners move to their favorite part of a song), NPR is using this app as a human behavior laboratory.
Not to be outdone, the BBC has a plan of its own in the mobile app department, and it is ambitious. Mark Friend (left), who has the title of Controller Radio & Music Multiplatform for the BBC, describes how a new app might revolutionize the way consumers listen to their programming:
“Our plan is to create a personalised radio station, for every listener.”
And with that statement, Friend goes on to talk about how the app will combine sophistication and simplicity in order to help consumers create their perfect, customized mix of BBC content. The app will be designed to respond to a person’s location and time of day, combining real-time and on-demand audio from the entire range of the BBC’s music and spoken word content.
Here’s a schematic of how the app would be set up, showing how a listener could time shift and personalize BBC programming to conform to personal desires, tastes, and parameters:
And there’s a car angle to the app as well. To provide customization while limiting distraction, the app is designed so that drivers can press a steering wheel button to switch to a new option.
The plan is ambitious, innovative, and could be the next step in radio’s move to mobile and personalized content. We often talk about the amazing potential for mobile to offer a richer, different experience than what listeners can get from radio’s over the air broadcast or even our stream. While mobile apps have allowed radio to get its portability back, there is so much more than can be done in this space.
The BBC is imagining how it can take its brilliant content and offer it in a very different, consumer-controlled environment. By announcing their plans and soliciting audience feedback, they are one step closer to moving from the theoretical to the here and now. It makes you wonder why more broadcasting companies aren’t studying the mobile space with this level of creativity and intensity. As more and more activity shifts to mobile, a better, more satisfying experience will become even more important in order to stand out in increasingly crowded app stores.
When I stroll down the hall and visit the jācapps team, I’m often wowed by some of the innovative things they’re doing in the mobile space. That’s one of the reasons I respect this BBC wireframe, because you can see the beginnings of how mobile can interface with a great user experience.
It’s the early days for this app, but for the concept alone, “Bravo!”
Thanks to Greater Media’s Tom Bender for the tip-off on this story.
Full disclosure: Jacobs Media conducts research for American Public Media, the distributor of BBC Newshour.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Great read! 🙂
Appreciate that, Pawel.