In late November 2007, I was proud to chair Radio at The Edge, a really thought-provoking day around what new technology brings to radio.

As a scene-setter for a great panel session ably produced by one of my colleagues Alan Phillips, the above video was played - which demonstrates the tremendous strides we’ve made in the UK. Whether it’s as simple as “now-playing” information, click-to-buy, or some really interesting prototypes that the BBC has been working on in terms of visualising radio, this is a great video to watch.

As other radio commentators repeatedly say, radio must remain relevant to the audience of today and tomorrow. As a demonstration of the benefits of adding more information to radio broadcasting, it couldn’t be clearer. When radio and new platforms collide, great things happen. Watch it, share this with others, and enjoy.

My thanks, particularly, to Michael Gray, who’s Interactive Platform Producer in BBC Audio & Music Interactive’s Distribution Technologies team, for his excellent work; and I’m particularly pleased that this video shows off the strides that all the radio industry has made in the UK - especially my old team’s work at Virgin, the team at Unique Interactive, and GCap’s XFM.

UPDATE
As a piece of clarification for my overseas visitors, since this blog post is already getting plenty of hammer, it’s worth pointing out what are simply “ideas” right now, and what is launched:
- Now-playing info: live now on almost all DAB radio stations. (5m+ sets in the UK)
- Buy the songs you hear - Cliq live now on seven commercial radio brands
- BBC Radio 1’s TV visualisation: a prototype; a simpler version is live now on the Radio 1 website
- Listen-again: live now on all BBC and some commercial station websites
- Rewind live radio: available on a number of DAB sets now
- Record radio: available on a number of DAB sets now
- Radio electronic programme guide: live now on many stations; available on a number of DAB sets now
- Watch live sessions: live now on most major radio station websites
- Podcasts: live now on most major radio station websites
- DAB Digital Radio iPod plugin: two different makes instore now
- Downloadable videos: from some commercial radio stations
- Texting radio stations: live now on all stations
- Picture-messaging radio stations: live now on many stations
… i.e. everything you see is actually launched, and live. These aren’t purely ideas.

(I’ve posted this on my own blog without getting copyright clearances for the commercial music involved. I’d like to claim it’s fair use; but that’s why I’m a little concerned about sticking this into an official BBC Radio blog. I’m not posting this on behalf of the BBC, so if you’re Billy Idol and you’d rather I removed this, please do get in touch.)