BRUSSELS — On Aug. 20 commercial radio station Joe launched two new stations, available via DAB+, online and the Joe-application.
The two stations, Joe 70s and Joe 80s, offer a non-stop musical format with news, traffic and weather forecasts, plus a morning drive show — Joe’s 6-9 a.m. — “Sven en Anke,” which is broadcast on the three stations simultaneously.
With “Sven en Anke,” presented by Joe DJ’s Sven Ornelis and Anke Bukinckx, Joe marks a first in Flanders. Listeners who tune into the 70s or 80s version of Joe still get Sven and Anke’s presentation, while listening to the hits of decades ago.
“For me this is quite unique,” said Ornelis. “It’s like when I first presented my own radio show in the self-op mode. Our morning show now runs on three stations and still you get the music you want — it’s great fun!”
Alain Claes, head of radio innovation at Medialaan, the owner of the three stations, explained that pioneering the multiple broadcast of the Sven en Anke show on three stations was the result of fine-tuning Joe’s DaletPlus playout system.
“Mind you, the presentation is not at all intrusive on the 70’s and 80’s station,” he said. “We stick to each station’s unique format and remain loyal to the track length of the songs. While the show runs on the main Joe channel, the two other stations get the spoken content in their playout schedule. The big advantage is that, in doing so, we get three full-fledged stations with presenters announcing music tracks on special recorders featuring generic use of spoken word files.” Claes says the whole system was engineered by Medialaan technicians, using dedicated macro’s and GPI/O-pulses.
Both new stations are fully digital and mainly operating in the cloud — but they can also use Joe’s vast radio studio landscape for special occasions. “Like, for instance, when Aretha Franklin died, we would have been able to produce a special in one of Joe studio’s to air it on the Joe 70’s station,” explained Claes.
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The signal flow of the two new stations is routed via LiveWire to the DAB+ headends for distribution via the Norkring transmission provider.
“We know that seven out of 10 listeners want to have more thematic stations offering specific musical styles or content, and this is a first step on the way. People who like music from the 70s or 80s and appreciate the ‘Sven en Anke’ morning show can now get up and listen to the hits of their favorite decennium,” concluded An Caers, director Radio at Medialaan.
