4. RADIO STATION WEBSITE – CAPITAL FM

Capitalfm.com is the online site for the radio station Capital FM. It is replacing the conventional ways of listening to the radio as you can listen online, as well as listen to shows you may have missed such as flirty at 9.30. It is relevant to show how interactivity and the internet can increase interest in a product and get the audience even more involved. The internet and the radio equipment is the main technology involved.

Everyone who listens to capital will find something to do on this website; however the website also appeals to people who may not necessarily listen to capital by having general features such as news, in a scroll bar across the top of the page. If you have a favourite DJ on capital, you can use the website to get in touch with that DJ or find out more information about them. If you just want general information, you can use the links across the top of the page to navigate. There are also the top stories to entice you to find out more, centred in the middle of the page. This includes a section on live sessions, which any music loves may find interesting, Culture vultures, part of Lucio’s drive time, which allows you to win tickets to the hottest gigs in town such as Macy Grey, and Artist of the month, which is currently the Killers, again something of interest to music lovers.

The page also has a search bar, again meaning the audience can find out anything they want. A log in box is also present, for people who want to join the V.I.P club. By doing this you get extended access to features, and can access special things, as well as having the chance to enter competitions. On the home page, there is also a listen live section. This encourages people to tune in, and means the radio station can be broadcast all over the world, as even people who are not in London can listen. Underneath the listen live section there is a contact box. This encourages the listener to get in touch with the station. Across the top of the page, a wide selection of features is offered, this narrows down the choices, and provides the audience with umbrella heading which they can then look further into. For example you may choose to look at pictures where you can then see pictures from various events capital has hosted.

For institutions, the main one involved is capital. They are using the internet to further market their radio station, and by doing this they can attract new listeners. They can also offer new features, and the fact that you can listen to past shows allows people to stay up to date with a feature if they miss something. This encourages loyalty to the brand. The website also encourages distribution all over the world due to the listen live section. This is also encouraged by allowing people to listen to past shows. This is because if you are in Australia for example, you may not necessarily want to listen to the current show, and instead want to listen to you favourite DJ, who presents the breakfast show. You can do this by listening to the past shows from the breakfast time through the computer. The other institution involved is Mini, who are using the website to advertise their product. The website, has allowed them to create an interactive advert, which you have to roll over if you want to see it in full.

The key thing for this site is interactivity. There are many interactive features encouraging the audience to get involved even further for example the competitions – win an iPod nano. Quality improvement is also seen, as crystal clear quality is available by listening through the computer, reach is also possible, as mention before, people all over the world can now listened to the radio. Diversification can be seen as people can easily listen to shows and music that interests them specifically rather than having to listen to a whole music show. Convergence can be seen, between the radio and the internet. Finally we can see broadcasting, as everyone has something offered to them, which will appeal to them on the main page. For example news and weather.