BANGALORE: UK's commercial rock music station Virgin Radio will now be featured as a premium channel on WorldSpace Corporation's satellite service. This strategic partnership has been announced recently.
According to a company release, the radio station will be available for free during a promotional period, but will later become a cornerstone of WorldSpace's new international premium subscription service Home Team Radio. This subscription service is specifically created for US and UK expatriates as well as military stationed overseas.
Once the service transitions to a paid subscription, both companies will benefit from additional revenue streams.
With a weekly audience of almost three million people in the UK, Virgin Radio has been providing 'today's best music and classic tracks' since 1993, the release says.
It quotes Lee Roberts, Virgin's sales director as saying, "Virgin Radio has one of the world's best media brands and this deal with WorldSpace allows us to reach millions overseas." Roberts says, with this alliance Virgin can expand into mobile satellite listening across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "This continues our strategy to expand onto all potential platforms," he says.
Different targeted versions of Home Team Radio will be offered to customers in the various geographic markets covered by WorldSpace’s two satellites: AfriStar (the Middle East, Africa and Western Europe) and AsiaStar (Asia and the Middle East). Virgin Radio will initially be available on WorldSpace’s AfriStar satellite, the release says.