WERE YOU PRANKED? This was an April Fools Day joke.

As foreshadowed in an earlier report, radioinfo can confirm a radical new format, based on crowd sourced content, will hit the airwaves next week.

radioinfo can exclusively reveal today that the new format, internally code named Radio for Dummies, but expected to be known as Radio 4D when launched, will ditch the network’s announcers and replace them with crowd sourced podcasts from Australia and around the world.

Speaking under condition of anonymity, a senior member of the launch team confirmed the plans to radioinfo after we heard whispers and discovered new website domain names had been registered several weeks ago.

Readers yesterday also alerted us to an under-development Facebook page.

The new format is expected to launch next week, allowing the network three months to give notice to its staff before the end of the financial year.

The plans will see massive redundancy costs, which will be shown as write downs on the company’s 2016 financial return at the end of June.

“It’s not about the cost savings, although those will be significant, it’s about finding a new way to make radio into the future,” said the source.

The callsign, Radio 4D, suggests the format of Britain’s Radio 4, and also evokes a futuristic theme of the 4th dimension, one step beyond 3D.

It is believed the strategy will include extensive online promotion to lure podcast and streaming listeners back to formatted radio.

The group has spent months negotiating with APRA and the PPCA for special licence arrangements to allow it to source podcasts and rebroadcast them on air and online.

Based in Australia, but with world wide programming and advertising ambitions, the new format is aiming to become a podcast aggregator as well as a free to air broadcaster. Social media pages are believed to have been created ready for launch.

The station is believed to have inked deals with the biggest podcast production houses in American for its prime time programming, and is negotiating with a range of other personality podcasters to bring their professional sounding but not well known offerings to a larger audience. Late nights will also be a “proving ground” for people making podcasts in their bedrooms and garages as hobbies, who show potential in experimenting with either music or talk formats.

“Advertisers are showing huge interest in this concept,” said the source. They want individual engagement with listeners and agencies want to showcase their clients with embedded native advertising in this format. “The top 1000 podcasts in America are making more money than most Australian radio networks, so we think this is the right time to jump on board this trend.”

As this story develops further today, we will update you on further developments. Refresh this page later to see the latest updates.