Four MediaCorp radio stations relaunch on the internet

According to local reports, simulcasts of free-to-air radio broadcasts online were suspended in March due to changes to the law which made such streams subject to copyright licensing.

The four stations which will resume broadcasts online include 987FM, a popular youth station, Class 95FM, Lush 99.5FM and Singapore’s leading Chinese radio station, YES 93.3FM.

Under the new licensing agreement, MediaCorp also has the option to expand such simulcasts to more of its radio stations in future. The local media giant seems intent on finding new platforms for its radio stations to grow and branch out to.

Bharad Ramesh, deputy leader of Mindshare Singapore, noted that the development provides advertisers with another good platform.

“The simulcasts should be attracting more listeners to radio, and give advertisers another option of engaging with radio listeners particularly during work,” he said. “The question is whether the offline radio ads will also be streamed online, or is that going to be a separate buy?”

“There could be a lot of interesting opportunities for drive-to-web from radio with this format. Another question is whether the advertising revenues will be large enough to cover the licensing costs.”

In August, Lush 99.5FM shifted operations into shopping mall Orchard Central, where MediaCorp currently operates its outdoor media walls.