DR (Danish Broadcasting Company): From Broadcast to Podcast.

Last Updated (Wednesday, 29 October 2008 12:27)

Per Jauert
The introduction of digital radio on different platforms has taken place in a tension field between technology driven and technology appraising positions, wherein the social shaping of technology and its cultural implications seem to have played a decisive role.

The development of the ‘new’ radio based on the ‘old’ analogue platform, and the transformation to digital platforms (DAB and other digital formats) and to the Internet, has differentiated radio as a medium, perhaps most radically from a ‘here and now’ medium, to also being a source for ‘audio on demand’.

This project will investigate how radio is creating opportunities for interaction with the audience on new digital platforms, through audio, print, and visual elements, and in which role DR is playing with the blurring of borders between public and private spaces, and between political and cultural arenas.

The strategic planning and implementation of  ‘differentiated’ radio, and the consequences for the public service remit are vital parts of the project. The project is coordinated with similar projects regarding European public service and private radio developments, with the digital radio research group, DRACE (www.drace.org).

Three perspectives on the empirical part of the study will be included.

The media system approach:
The aim is to analyse the policy-oriented and strategic planning in DR, the formatting of the analogue FM Channels (P1, P2, P3, P4), of the DAB Channels, of DR radio on www.dr.dk/radio/ and mobile platforms (phones), in order to identify programmes inviting audience participation and interaction, and establishing communicative forums: debates, chat rooms, blogs, etc.

Reception studies:
The aim is to analyse audience reactions to, and experiences of ‘new radio’, as a part of the survey for the overall project, and specifically for this part of the project, to perform qualitative interviews, focus groups, diary reports among dedicated audience members/users who are experienced in the use of radio on different platforms.

Qualitative content analysis:
The aim is to analyse specific programmes on all four FM channels, and their integration/relation to ‘other services’ on the internet

The aim and goal of the empirical studies is to shed light on:
• the relation between the social shaping of technology and the institutional strategy of a public service institution (DR)
• the social uses of DR radio and audio products among users in their capacities as audience, participants (interaction), and content producers (blogs, podcasts, etc.)