Commercial speech station joins podcasting crowd

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 22-Sep-05

LONDON - Digital radio station Oneword has extended its competition with the BBC in the on-demand arena thanks to sponsorship from Volkswagen Passat backing free downloads of one of its shows.

The culture-focused spoken word station has made its daily 'Between the Lines' show, in which presenter Paul Blezard interviews famous authors, including 'Bravo Two Zero' author Andy McNab, Frederick Forsyth and Minette Walters, available for download from audioville.com, iTunes, and other podcasting sites.

The BBC, whose digital station BBC7 competes with Oneword, has led the way on free downloads, with highbrow content including the Reith Lectures and 'In Our Time' alongside Radio 1's Chris Moyles breakfast show.

James Thomas, media planner at MediaCom, said: "We are delighted that listeners now have another way of listening to this fantastic programme. This highlights Volkswagen's commitment to facilitating quality programming."

Oneword is owned by radio group UBC Media and Channel 4, which has a 51% controlling stake.

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