One-man radio station now has 35,000 listeners

Story by James Cridland

When Chris Stevens returned home to the UK after a spell working in Dallas, he missed one thing more than anything else – the music. While country music is the most popular music genre in much of the US, when he returned to the UK he discovered that it was hard to find a radio station that broadcast the kind of music he wanted to hear.

So, he made one.

He put “Chris Country” online in 2012 – and earlier this year, the station became available in parts of the country on DAB Digital Radio.

It’s been available in London since March, and the first radio listening figures have just been published that include Chris Country’s figures

Those figures reveal that in London, 35,000 listeners tune into Chris Country every week; and each listen for an average of 8.2 hours a week. 8.2 is a very high figure for a digital-exclusive station: the most popular digital station, Kisstory, only achieves 5.5 hours a week.

The figures don’t include other areas where Chris Country is available, like the Suffolk multiplex and a number of smaller trial multiplexes in Manchester, Portsmouth and Cambridge; as well, of course, as nationally-available apps.

The station now has a number of presenters and syndicated programming.

New technology has made it easier to launch new stations at a fraction of the cost. Chris Country shows the future of radio really can be as simple as someone with a passion.

Read the full story on media.info

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