Virgin and O2 launch visual radio

Listeners will be able to to 'visually interact' with their favourite shows

O2 has announced the launch of 'Visual Radio' on Virgin Radio across London this week, a 'visually enhanced' way of listening to radio on mobile phones.

Virgin Radio is the first station in the UK to offer listeners the service, in partnership with O2, HP and Nokia.

O2 customers can listen to any FM station, but when tuning in to Virgin Radio in London with a Nokia Visual Radio enabled handset, they can choose to receive interactive information and graphics that are synchronised with the broadcast.

Customers can get information and images of the artist playing, DJ and programme information, participate in quizzes and enter competitions. In the future users will also be able to download ringtones, wallpapers and songs.

'Visual Radio is the perfect complement to enhance the listening experience, adding the permanency of a visual medium to the immediacy of radio,' said James Cridland, Director of Digital Media at Virgin Radio.

The service extends to GCap Media’s GWR FM in Bristol launched on 10 August . New features will be added over time where listeners can read gossip, artist information, dedicate songs and access news, traffic and weather information.

The Visual Radio service opens up new business models to broadcasters and content creators, as listeners can be reached in different and interactive ways.

'Sixyt-five per cent of people use the radio function of their Nokia mobile phone with 40 per cent of people using the radio at least once a day. The Visual Radio service can easily be switched on or off,' said James Parton, Head of Music, & Moving Pictures at O2.

Customers can listen to the FM radio on their phone free of charge. When turning the Visual Radio service on, the cost of using the service depends on the amount of data used. A typical 20 minute session using the enhanced Visual Radio experience would cost around 40p for the GPRS usage. If a user decides to click through and download additional content such as ringtones, then other asosciated costs will apply.

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