91Èȱ¬

Audiences will be able to watch some of their favourite radio shows being broadcast, as the 91Èȱ¬ launches its latest "radio visualisation" trial.

The trial – which runs until 31 July – begins by offering an enhanced, online version of Simon Mayo's 91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live show, before being rolled out to other shows including The Chris Moyles Show and Switch on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 1, Material World on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 and The Hub on 91Èȱ¬ 6 Music.

Online audiences will be able to view "glanceable" content – webcam streams, images, now playing and artist information, news and sports feeds – and interact with the programme through a pop-up console online and, later in the trial, by downloading an application to their mobile phone.

For example, listeners to Simon Mayo's show will be able to see what happens in the studios, watch guests being interviewed and read other listeners' text and email messages on screen.

And, in response to audience feedback from the first phase of the trial (January 2009), this phase also includes on-demand content, for those that miss the live broadcast, and a mobile version of the console. The first of these will be a 45-minute compilation of the best bits of Simon Mayo's programmes from the week, including star guests, reviews and banter, available every Friday.

The trial will also allow 91Èȱ¬ Audio & Music Interactive to assess the public's appetite for enhanced, visual radio offerings and share their findings with the rest of the radio industry.

Mark Friend, Controller of Multiplatform and Interactive, 91Èȱ¬ Audio & Music said: "The visualisation console is about enriching the digital listening experience. More people are consuming radio on different platforms and on devices that have screens.

"Just as DAB listeners might glance at their screen to see what track is playing or what DJ is coming up next, the visualisation console experiments with putting all of our glanceable content in a single place in order to create a richer user experience.

"I look forward to what we can learn from this trial and being able to share findings with the wider radio industry."

Notes to Editors

The mobile visualisation console

The console will be available to download on a selected number of mobile devices which have been chosen based on analysis of mobile traffic to Audio & Music sites. This includes the majority of high-end smartphones and most popular mobile handsets.

The mobile application will not include live video. Tests suggest that it is not currently feasible to offer a stable, good-quality feed of live video and live audio over the limited capacity of mobile data networks.

In order to keep data costs to a minimum, we highly recommend running the mobile visualisation console over a WiFi connection or flat-rate data bundle.

Trial programme details

1–19 June: Simon Mayo, 5 Live (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
22 June–31 July: The Chris Moyles Show, Radio 1 (Monday-Friday)
Switch, Radio 1 (Sunday)
Material World, Radio 4 (Thursday)
The Hub, 6 Music (select sessions)

Simon Mayo on Radio 5 Live

Online audiences can watch Simon Mayo's programme in-vision every weekday (except Wednesday), 1.00-4.00pm, until 19 June.

The Mayo trial is building on the increased visualisation and interactivity of Radio 5 Live output, such as live video streaming of programmes, including the Sony Gold Award-winning Mayo And Kermode Film Review; enhanced live football and cricket commentary behind the red button; 606 live on digital television on Tuesday and Wednesday nights; the launch of the 5 Live Football Player to over half-a-million unique users; and nearly 600,000 audio podcasts downloaded every week.

Other innovations include simulcasts with Newsnight, live shows on the 91Èȱ¬ News channel, creative video content across bbc.co.uk, and the multiplatform output for last year's Wimbledon tournament which received a Sony Gold Award.

JA