One shared infrastructure for two national brands
French media group Lagardère has chosen RadioKing Pro Solutions to run the websites and the iOS and Android mobile apps of two of its music stations, Europe 2 and RFM. The new versions are already live at europe2.fr and rfm.fr. The stated goal behind this change of provider is primarily financial: the group wants to rationalise its technical costs, whether for maintenance, hosting or future development.
In practice, both stations now share the same technical foundation, with updates managed centrally. Each one nevertheless keeps its own identity. The interfaces have been refreshed, especially the home pages, without overturning the main navigation paths, so regular listeners still find their way around.
Geolocated streams retained
Existing features have been carried over, including one that matters a great deal for networks such as Europe 2 and RFM: geolocation of audio streams. The system automatically selects the programme that matches the user's location. Local opt-outs and regional content are therefore served online just as they are on FM, extending the local logic of terrestrial radio into the digital world.
Four advertising levers on mobile
The most notable change concerns monetising smartphone listening. On top of the classic audio spots played before listening starts (pre-roll) and during programmes (mid-roll), the platform adds two interactive formats:
- "Shake Me": listeners shake their phone to respond to an ad, for instance to open the advertiser's website or receive an offer, without the audio stopping.
- Companion banners: visual banners displayed at the same time as the audio spot, reinforcing the message and steering users towards the advertiser.
RadioKing presents these tools as a way to diversify the campaigns sold by the two stations and to measure interactions, a strong argument with advertisers used to display and social media metrics.
A signal for the whole web radio ecosystem
For RadioKing Pro Solutions, the rollout is a new reference among professional broadcasters, both national and local. The company, well known to web radio operators, aims to grow in three areas: digital infrastructure, distribution and monetisation. Alain Liberty, managing director of Europe 2 and RFM, describes the modernisation of the stations' digital environments as a "strategic issue for the future" and highlights better-performing apps and websites for listeners.
For an independent web radio, several lessons stand out:
- Pool resources rather than build everything in-house: if a major group finds it more cost-effective to rely on a shared platform, this is even truer for a small outfit without a dedicated tech team.
- Mobile at the heart of revenue: pre-roll, mid-roll and interactive formats show that a stream played in an app has become an advertising medium in its own right.
- Measurement makes the difference: being able to prove that a listener reacted to an ad is a commercial asset, including with local advertisers.
- Local relevance through the stream: geolocation makes it possible to offer different content by region, an idea for web radios targeting several areas.
Key takeaways
Lagardère's decision reflects a deeper trend: even the most established stations increasingly entrust their digital technology to streaming specialists. Tools long reserved for big networks, such as synchronised ad formats or geolocated streams, are becoming standard building blocks of platforms open to broadcasters of all sizes. For a web radio, the challenge is no longer just delivering a stable stream, but building around it an app and an advertising model able to fund the station.
Source: La Lettre Pro