Cleveland, OH - August 4, 2015
Today, Futuri Media, one of the leading providers of social and mobile technologies to power interactive programming for broadcasters worldwide, announced a major evolution of its popular LDR1 product. The new LDR1 includes new and improved features and refreshed, modern user experience and design, all conceived with increasingly mobile audiences in mind and designed to grow occasions, TSL, Total Listening Hours, and revenue.
"Hundreds of radio stations worldwide use Futuri's LDR1 on their websites and mobile apps to connect live playlist data and engage audiences through social media," says Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. "This evolution of LDR1 will enable us to keep our clients on the cutting edge of listener engagement and further move the needle on ratings, revenue, and digital engagement. All current LDR1 stations will be migrated to the new version by September 1."
New features include in-depth artist pages; news, social, and timed voting session information right on the front of the module; and native advertising opportunities. Several other features have been reenvisioned and refreshed.
Core components of the new LDR1:
- LDR1's patented Instant Alert technology allows stations to automatically notify listeners via text, tweet, and/or email when their favorite songs are about to play, a proven occasion-driver. Increasing engagement with Instant Alerts was a core focus of this product evolution.
- Listeners are able to drive programming by voting on their favorite songs, while Futuri's proprietary security technology prevents playlists from being hijacked by superfans.
- When listeners interact with a station's playlist, that back-end data is made available to Program Directors to add to their music research arsenal.
- The LDR1 module's flexible design, envisioned with increasingly mobile audiences in mind, allow listeners easy access to recently played songs, social feeds, content, and advertisements, while allowing stations to customize the module for their brand.
- Increased automation around social capabilities makes it easy to grow engagement with listeners and artists without significant additional time spent by busy station staffs.
- Integrated content on artist pages, such as instant previews, featured tweets, and news from Futuri's TopicPulse, help extend user engagement and fuel social conversation.
- LDR1's local artist integration capabilities allow stations to deepen their connection with local audiences and engage new listeners.
- New native sales inventory and increased support for sales teams are designed to help grow local revenue generated by LDR1.
- All LDR1 systems tie in directly with a station's automation system via Futuri's LDR.Echo system.
Futuri hired former iHeartRadio designer, Jordan Cooperman, to design the new LDR1 user experience, based on an analysis of how audiences currently use LDR across a variety of radio formats. The Futuri team also interviewed several program directors and digital/social managers to shape the new product. Former iHeartRadio executive Zena Burns led research on the LDR1 product evolution.