6 Dec 2012 07:50
6 December 2012
UBC Media Group plc
Contracts for mobile apps
UBC Media group is pleased to announce two important developments in its Unique Interactive ("UI") division, which supplies software and digital services to the broadcast industry.
Astral Media Canada
UI has developed for its client Astral Media Canada ("Astral"), a suite of mobile applications for the NRJ and Virgin radio networks, which offer for the first time an on-demand music and video streaming service. These new applications make Astral Radio the only radio broadcaster in Canada to offer such a service. The new versions of the NRJ and Virgin Radio mobile apps offer music-lovers the ultimate mobile experience - listeners are able to listen to their favourite station, access hundreds of songs by popular or emerging artists on demand, view videos, interviews and exclusive performances and choose among a variety of web-radio stations. With these innovations, listeners can also discover new artists, buy music they hear on air, share what they listen to and save their favourite songs and video clips in a personalised playlist.The iPhone applications built by UI for Astral Radio are now approaching 1 million downloads in Canada and this number is expected to grow significantly with these new apps and the rollout of Android apps coming in the first quarter of 2013. UBC will receive a share of the revenues from the sale of mobile advertising in the apps.
Absolute Radio
UBC is pleased to announce the launch today by Absolute Radio of the first licenced version of the mobile music game, developed by UI as a 'white label' product, which can be customised to suit individual stations.
The game, branded as 'Rock Off', is a free interactive Mobile Gaming app which tasks listeners to be the fastest to identify a song from a short clip or intro allowing them to show-off their knowledge and love of music from some of the world's biggest acts.
Available on iPhone, iPad , iPad Mini or iPod Touch, the game comes with 25 pre-loaded free tracks and for an additional micro-payment of 69p, users can buy additional decade-specific song bundles, from core artists, some of which can be heard on Absolute Radio 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Scores can be shared via Twitter and Facebook or saved onto a leader board where app users can compare entries with others in the Absolute Radio Rock Off community.
Absolute Radio will market the game and will share the micro payment revenue with UBC.
Commenting on the launch of the Astral apps in Canada, Rob Farina, Astral Radio EVP of Content and Platforms said:
"Astral Radio, Canada's largest radio company, chose UI to build our mobile applications primarily because of their ability to break the mould of what radio station apps offer the consumer. With them, we were able to build the best apps in the radio business offering our consumers a fully interactive mobile experience. We scoured the planet for a provider and Unique Interactive won the project by a sizeable margin".Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer of Absolute Radio commented:
"Mobile apps are a significant growth area for Absolute Radio. Unique Interactive have helped us deliver a fantastic app in 'Rock Off' as part of that strategy"
Simon Cole, Chief Executive of UBC commented:
"The smarter players in the Broadcast industry are now moving from simple streaming apps to mobile experiences which give listeners new and exciting ways to interact with stations. These are the developments that we have been preparing for. The rich multimedia and on-demand music content in the Astral apps and the addictive gaming experience from Absolute Radio are great examples of innovation. We are proud to be at the forefront of these developments with two global leaders in digital media and to open up new opportunities for shared advertising and in-game purchase revenues."
Enquiries:
UBC Media Group 020 7453 1600
Simon Cole, CEO (@uksimon)
Chris Dent, Finance Director
FinnCap 020 7220 0500
Charlotte Stranner / Rose Herbert, Corp. Finance
Victoria Bates, Corp. Broking
Notes to Editors
About UBC Media Group
UBC is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. UBC is a leading provider of digital content, software and mobile applications. The Group is the largest independent producer of radio programming for the BBC and a provider of entertainment programming to radio stations and online media. Its software division, Unique Interactive, is a global supplier of digital radio text and data services.
www.ubcmedia.com