Case Study:
ONE AUDIO
PLATFORM
The ANTENNE BAYERN GROUP has been one of our customers for 10 years and unites Germany's most listened-to private radio station ANTENNE BAYERN and other station brands such as the ROCK ANTENNE stations under one roof. We took on a leading role in the project as part of the reinvention of the design and software of all of their digital platforms.
A standardised platform strategy for the future
As part of their strategy for the future, the ANTENNE BAYERN GROUP and SEDA.digital have launched the new digital ecosystem, the "ONE AUDIO PLATFORM", for ANTENNE BAYERN and ROCK ANTENNE. With a holistic strategy for all platforms, the aim was to create the foundation for expanding the digital reach of the current and other future station brands.
"Together with SEDA.digital, we have developed a fundamentally new technological basis with the ONE AUDIO PLATFORM, which allows us to react flexibly to the wishes of our users and content developers" , explains CDO Vasco Winkler.
A centralised CMS for the ONE AUDIO PLATFORM
All platforms of the channel brands can be managed via a centralised content management system. We use the latest version 3 of MODX CMS for this, which has a redesigned and simplified user interface. Individual editors can be authorised for the various websites via detailed user group control and then work on them. In this way, broadcasters benefit from synergy effects through the use of standardised features and the maintenance effort and associated costs for the client are significantly reduced.
There are several rock stations under the umbrella of ROCK ANTENNE, each of which has its own website. These include ROCK ANTENNE Germany, ROCK ANTENNE Austria, ROCK ANTENNE Bavaria and ROCK ANTENNE Hamburg. The administration of the content on all sites can be both centralised and region-specific. This means that individualised content can be made available for each local ROCK ANTENNE. In addition, shared content such as articles, media library content and quizzes can be created in one place to reduce the workload for the editorial teams. Integration into one or more pages is done via a simple toggle control.
Optimisation through a custom UI and time-controllable content elements
In addition to standard content elements within the CMS, we also implemented a custom UI according to specific customer requirements that allow for the handling of domain specific data communication. For example, breaking news can now be easily edited and sent as push notifications. The media centre has also in this way been reinvented to manage and highlight both in-house and partner productions.
SEDA.digital has developed a new open-source extension for MODX for the automated time-based display of content blocks: CBTiming. Editors can now use it to show and hide individual content elements as well as entire pages at customisable times, even repeatedly. CBTiming is now available to the community as a MODX Extra.
Website with integrated custom web player
The web player has moved further into the centre of attention on the new websites and is now permanently placed in the visible area of the browser. This makes the player easier to use and increases the interaction rate. The new player can be used to play both radio streams and media library content in a standardised way. Through our custom javaScript implementation, Playback is uninterrupted while users navigate through the pages. Current track information is always displayed in real time, even on the lock screen of mobile devices.
Interactive content to engage users
Improving user engagement was a central component of the project. By integrating interactive elements on the websites, users are encouraged to linger. One example is the new quizzes, which can be integrated on all websites and attract users' attention with various animations or flying confetti.
External API integrations to enrich the user experience
Data from external sources was integrated to enrich the platforms. For example, news from the German Press Agency (dpa) is automatically imported and current title information from the radio station studios is displayed. Current weather forecasts as well as traffic jam and lightning reports are provided for the user's respective location. By channeling this external data through the ONE AUDIO PLATFORM, we make information available to the radio stations' websites without editorial effort. This improves efficiency within the ANTENNE BAYERN GROUP team.
At the same time, we provided highly available API interfaces from the CMS to supply smartphone apps and voice assistants with content, for example, and to granularly control the rollout of this content.
Personalized user experience
After registering, users can personalise the website for themselves, by being able to save favourite content to their online profile, subscribe to podcasts and save their favourite songs. In addition, local information such as weather forecasts can be made available by using geolocation sharing features within the web browser. With the user's consent, various data is collected, which is then used to optimise the platforms, gamification and marketing efforts.
Monitoring & support
Comprehensive monitoring was set up for the new applications, which automatically monitors both the servers themselves and the content on each of the websites. In addition, the functionality of various features, such as the login and forms, are regularly checked via virtual browsers. In the event of errors, SEDA.digital is informed and can therefore take targeted measures quickly.
Following the completion of the project, we are already working together with the ANTENNE BAYERN GROUP on the further development of the platforms and other applications. In addition, we are available to the editorial team on a daily basis via a ticket system for questions and requests at short notice.
