Virgin Radio is the first national UK radio station to be available via Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3. Along with the middle-of-the-road, Virgin Radio itself will be three sister stations, Xtreme, Classic Rock and Groove proving that old media never dies, it merely pops up again in different formats and works its way into the new media landscape.
The move, however, does indicate that a major UK media outlet with no serious ties to either platform holder is taking the much-vaunted "media hub" (or Trojan Horse) concept seriously.
James Cridland, the digital media director at Virgin Radio, informed SPOnG earlier today, "PlayStation 3 or Wii will become the entertainment hub in your front room. We have worked hard to make the station available on as many different platforms as possible… We’re looking into providing the station via the Xbox 360 as well, but for now it’s only available via the PS3 and Wii browsers.”
The observant (or simply Microsoft fanboys) among you will have noted the Xbox 360 crops up in Cridland's assessment of the future only as an afterthought. Whether this is down to MS intransigence; to Virgin Radio's dismissal of the platform as 'hot', or too a wider strategy is yet to be seen.
"People now treat consoles as part of their home entertainment media centre. Plus the platform has great growth potential, particularly among early-adopters and the 25-44 audience popular with advertisers," Cridland said.
Virgin’s online player is the only national UK radio station which offers an mp3 streaming connection, hence the compatibility with PS3 and Wii.
While SPOnG has to admit to not being massive fans of Virgin’s rock-lite MOR programming, it’s surely a good thing in that it can only encourage other radio stations to follow suit.
SPOnG will be contacting the BBC and a number of our favourite independent digital radio stations over the coming days to find out what other stations are soon to be made available via our home consoles.
The move, however, does indicate that a major UK media outlet with no serious ties to either platform holder is taking the much-vaunted "media hub" (or Trojan Horse) concept seriously.
James Cridland, the digital media director at Virgin Radio, informed SPOnG earlier today, "PlayStation 3 or Wii will become the entertainment hub in your front room. We have worked hard to make the station available on as many different platforms as possible… We’re looking into providing the station via the Xbox 360 as well, but for now it’s only available via the PS3 and Wii browsers.”
The observant (or simply Microsoft fanboys) among you will have noted the Xbox 360 crops up in Cridland's assessment of the future only as an afterthought. Whether this is down to MS intransigence; to Virgin Radio's dismissal of the platform as 'hot', or too a wider strategy is yet to be seen.
"People now treat consoles as part of their home entertainment media centre. Plus the platform has great growth potential, particularly among early-adopters and the 25-44 audience popular with advertisers," Cridland said.
Virgin’s online player is the only national UK radio station which offers an mp3 streaming connection, hence the compatibility with PS3 and Wii.
While SPOnG has to admit to not being massive fans of Virgin’s rock-lite MOR programming, it’s surely a good thing in that it can only encourage other radio stations to follow suit.
SPOnG will be contacting the BBC and a number of our favourite independent digital radio stations over the coming days to find out what other stations are soon to be made available via our home consoles.
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Comments
James Cridland 10 Apr 2007 10:15
1/8
Rock-lite MOR programming? Pschhh. :)
Worth pointing out that all four Virgin Radio services are on this service: including Virgin Radio Xtreme and Virgin Radio Classic Rock.
Try http://network.virginradio.co.uk/ for a taste of the full breadth of our output. You'll like one of them, or your money back.
Worth pointing out that all four Virgin Radio services are on this service: including Virgin Radio Xtreme and Virgin Radio Classic Rock.
Try http://network.virginradio.co.uk/ for a taste of the full breadth of our output. You'll like one of them, or your money back.
TimSpong 10 Apr 2007 10:53
2/8
James Cridland wrote:
Worth pointing out that all four Virgin Radio services are on this service: including Virgin Radio Xtreme and Virgin Radio Classic Rock.
Paragraph the first... "Along with the middle-of-the-road, Virgin Radio itself will be three sister stations, Xtreme, Classic Rock and Groove..." ;-)
So, no Xbox then? Come on... now you're here, are you lot not talking to Microsoft?
Cheers
Tim
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Dreadknux 10 Apr 2007 10:55
3/8
Pretty sweet idea. I'm a fan of the Branson, so this news pleases me - although the implementation is a bit "use your web browser" hax but hey, you work with what you've got, so no big deal.
I can see how this can be a problem for the 360, but if Virgin really wanted to utilise the 360, they could try this if it's possible: allow players to turn off the game music via the XBOX button/dashboard, and add an option alongside local device music to connect to a Virgin station. You could play radio stations while playing a game. I mean, Project Gotham's music's pretty poor (especially when you compare it to Metropolis Street Racer, which was done in a 'radio station' style) so the concept could work there too.
Maybe I'm just waffling. But this opens the door for new Wii Channels from third party companies I would hope.
I can see how this can be a problem for the 360, but if Virgin really wanted to utilise the 360, they could try this if it's possible: allow players to turn off the game music via the XBOX button/dashboard, and add an option alongside local device music to connect to a Virgin station. You could play radio stations while playing a game. I mean, Project Gotham's music's pretty poor (especially when you compare it to Metropolis Street Racer, which was done in a 'radio station' style) so the concept could work there too.
Maybe I'm just waffling. But this opens the door for new Wii Channels from third party companies I would hope.
TimSpong 10 Apr 2007 11:04
4/8
Svend Joscelyne wrote:
Pretty sweet idea. I'm a fan of the Branson, so this news pleases me - although the implementation is a bit "use your web browser" hax but hey, you work with what you've got, so no big deal.
Now, I know I've been out of the country for a while, but didn't Lord Branson of Pickle sell his UK Virgin Radio stake to Chris Evans who then sold it to SMG? Is there actually any Sir Branson of Hatch influence on VR?
Tim
Dreadknux 10 Apr 2007 11:16
5/8
Ah well. Never mind about that then. Virgin Radio's still cool, it's not exactly full of nonsense that Radio 1 tends to be. Anyhow, the 360 idea I had is still pretty cool, I think.
Joji 10 Apr 2007 13:07
6/8
Is about time we got some radio on these consoles. I'd prefer proper online internet radio access though, like Live365, than just Virgin Radio. Internet radio stations are really cool, if you don't want the cookie cutter stuff we get spoon fed nationally.
Why have a town when you can have the audio world at your fingertips?
Using radio music while playing your games I feel is overstepping the mark a bit though (not bad as a temp option mind). Developers do a lot to get that music right for games, and to a degree its an unappreciated part of games as a whole. Saying that though, perhaps there's options to raise its status with online radio for game music.
Why have a town when you can have the audio world at your fingertips?
Using radio music while playing your games I feel is overstepping the mark a bit though (not bad as a temp option mind). Developers do a lot to get that music right for games, and to a degree its an unappreciated part of games as a whole. Saying that though, perhaps there's options to raise its status with online radio for game music.
day 10 Apr 2007 13:49
7/8
42" HDTV... SNIP!
Yes, very good... now go away.
Tim
[10 Apr 2007, 15:59: Message edited by 'TimSpong']
Yes, very good... now go away.
Tim
[10 Apr 2007, 15:59: Message edited by 'TimSpong']
day 10 Apr 2007 13:51
8/8
42" HDTV... SNIP!
Yes, very good... now go away.
Tim
[10 Apr 2007, 16:00: Message edited by 'TimSpong']
Yes, very good... now go away.
Tim
[10 Apr 2007, 16:00: Message edited by 'TimSpong']