home    about    register  d.c.projects  login Australian Community Radio Stations are currently finding new-media solutions for their Stations by working with others. Station partnerships are forming nationwide to transition Stations into the digital media age. Current Projects Fill out the Expression of Interest Survey at the bottom of the page to  indicate the ones you'd like to access! .

Visual Radio Service  Enhance your online audience's experience by adding visual 'compliments' to your sound. A great resource for Journalism and Arts programs. find out more Community Radio Restream Service  Get your radio shows online for 'replay on demand' through easy to operate restreaming software. find out more Program Evaluation Service Get access to a suite of customisable surveys for radio show evaluation, training and development, peer-to-peer assessment and listener feedback. find out more Radio For Mobile Phones  Put your Station in the listener's pocket and be heard through millions of mobile phones locally, nationally and globally! find out more Community Radio Channels  Get your radio shows onto a web-based radio station 'Channel' that combines content from like-minded Community Radio programs. find out more Outside Broadcast Hosting System Access a central Sector resource to use Internet tools that reduce your Station's outside broadcast costs. find out more Electronic Music Log Forms  Ditch the paper and log your music with funky online forms. find out more Webstreaming for Stations Guide Get your station streaming on the internet 24/7. find out more Sponsor & Music Playout Software Syn Media are developing software for Stations to schedule Sponsorship announcements, for music playout   find out more How does the Digital Convergence Project Work? . The Digital Convergence Project is funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation to explore digital solutions and resource-sharing opportunities across Australian Community Radio Stations.The project aims to harness what you’ve got, what others have and what you collectively need. The Digital Convergence Process involves these key stages: 1. Identify Community Radio Stations that have a digital, online or new-media 'Resource' at their disposal that may be of interest to other Community Radio Stations, or the wider Community Radio Sector. 2. Identify if the Station with the 'Resource' is prepared to become a 'Project Manager' to develop the 'Resource' for others to use, if certain conditions are met. 3. Explore how Project Managers can be financed/re-numerated for their efforts by seeking a critical mass of Stations to become 'Collaborating Clients' to assist with Resource development. 4. Explore incentives for Collaborating Clients to finance Resource development. Incentives include (a) it's cheaper than building/buying the Resource by themselves, or (b) provides superior features to the Station if they created/purchased the Resource by themselves. 5. Connect Collaborating Clients with the Project Managers so the Resource can be moved into development/delivery stages. The purpose of the Digital Convergence project is not to deliver these Resources – Project Managers do this at the direction of Collaborative Clients. Onto It Media will only take a consultancy or project management role at the request of Collaborative Cli ents or the Project Manager. The digital convergence project is managed through Onto It Media and is auspiced through Triple R Broadcasters, Melbourne. Find out more about the Digital Convergence project click here . back to top Visual Radio Service . Project No: 200806 Visual Radio enhances traditional radio, by adding interactive content that can be viewed on the internet with a similtaneous radio stream. Visual Radio is not Television, it's a resource that allows you to put vision (music track details, photos, documents, images, short video clips, phone numbers, website links, webcams) live 'onscreen' to complisment what your announcers are saying on air. Listeners won't sit in front of the screen while listening to your program, but they will refer to vision 'on screen' when it enhances what they're listening to. Listener demand will increase for this service as: - Web Streaming increases: many listeners choose to Web Stream radio stations over the Internet rather than using AM/FM receivers. Adding a visual component enhances this experience and will drive more listeners to your Web Stream. - Digital Radio Broadcasting rolls out in Australia: The generation of Digital Radios that Australians will purchase will have some form of visual display. - Mobile telephones are become the new 'radio receivers' in Australia: Whilst the number of mobile phones with FM receivers plummets, phones are becoming increasingly enabled to receive your station from your internet Web Stream. Over 4.5 million 3G mobile services are active in Australia (April 2008 figures). Many radio listeners are abandoning portable Am/FM walkmans and using these phones to listen to online streams of their favorite radio stations. Adding visual content to compliment your stream adds an extra dimension to your programming. GET ONTO IT: This Resource will be built if there is sufficient demand. Express your Station's interest to contribute content to this resource here . If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here. . back to top Community Radio Channels .. Project No: 200807 Many Stations have talked about the value of collaborating to create 'hybrid' online (or digital) radio stations containing a combination of content from participating Stations. This project explores how this can be done without a heap of extra work from contributing Stations. This project will explore technology to collect radio program audio from Community Radio Stations, aggregate the programs into 'content groups', and then retransmit the programs through a number of online radio station Channels. These Channels will contain that is relevant to distinct Audience types (defined by demographic, by music interest, talk content interest, or other Audience groups). Rather than being entirely new Radio Stations, the resource provides a series of radio 'Channels' that broadcasts the content on a continuous (but ever-changing) loop. Imagine if you could stream the best radio shows in the sector on a 24/7 stream of : - Australian music programs shows - Sports programs shows - News, current affairs and talk-back shows - Comedy/variety shows - Science & technology shows - Specific genre music shows (from a 24/7 'new-music' channel to jazz classics!) The number of Channels is limitless! The value of providing new outlets for your radio shows is invaluable! GET ONTO IT: This Resource will be built if there is sufficient demand. Express your Station's interest to contribute content to this resource here . If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here . . back to top Program Evaluation System .. Project No: 200805 All broadcasters benefit from constructive feedback on their on-air performances. All Stations can benefit from honest feedback from listeners and stakeholders. Get access to a suite of surveys containing commonly asked questions for specific Stakeholders. Edit and customise these forms to suit your Station's needs. Make these surveys available online and track and manage the information you receive. Evaluation surveys available include (but are not limited to): - Induction training quizzes: Your training/induction coordinator can get new Broadcasters to fill out quizzes after training sessions to demonstrate what their knowledge. - Program Manager assessment forms: Your PM can review specific programs and provide feedback to the Broadcasters through a quick online form, and/or store the information to track a Broadcaster's progress. - Self-assessment forms: Put the onus on the Broadcaster to review their own work. Make a logged recording of their program available online with a survey form and let them assess their own performance. Empower Broadcasters to make recommendations on areas they would like to improve. In doing this you get to cut down on suggesting areas of improvement that they are aware of, whilst getting an indication of 'blind spots' they have to their work. - Peer-assessment forms: Delegate the task of assessing Broadcasters to other Broadcasters. Get a like-minded program (ie punk rock show and rock show) broadcasters to listen to a recording of someone else's show and make an assessment. Get an experienced Broadcaster use their skills to evaluate/support new Broadcasters. - Listener program assessment: Give your listeners the chance to give frank and fearless recommendations to you on your Station, or invite them to assess a specific Station Programs. GET ONTO IT: This Resource will be built if there is sufficient demand. Express your Station's interest to access this resource here . If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here . .. back to top Radio For Mobile Phones . Project No: 200804 The good old days of portable transistor radios and walkmans are gone! People are not carry FM radios in their pocket anymore, they are carrrying mobile phones. The number of mobile phones with FM receivers is steadliy plummetting, but phones are becoming increasingly enabled to receive Internet services. Over4.5 million 3G mobile services are active in Australia (April 2008 figures). 3g phones have advanced features to access the internet, and the price to use this feature is dropping rapidly (as low as $10 per month). Mobile telephones CAN become the new 'radio receivers' in Australia, but we need to stream our radio Stations via the internet in a format that phones can recieve. The problem is that many web streaming formats (that your Station may currently use to listen to your Station through a computer) are not compatible with mobile phone web browsers! This project explores how to provide you're listeners with access to your radio through their mobile phones, so we don't lose these listeners to alternative 'phone based' content. GET ONTO IT: We are seeking Stations to become Collaborative Clients to invest in this Resource. Express you Station's interest here. If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here . . back to top Community Radio Restream Service (CRRS) . Project No: 200803 Many Stations have developed online program archives so listeners can 'Restream' radio shows from the Internet. This is often labour intensive (uploading/configuring files) and can involve expensive hosting/streaming costs. The Digital Convergence project has identified Sector Station that has developed it's a great Restreaming program. The software takes a lot of the hassle out of restreaming and can become the foundation for the CRRS. This CRRS project activates this Station as a 'Project Manager' to take an economy of scale approach to designing, hosting and administering the Restream service. The CRRS can be developed in full consultation with your Station to provide the kind of service you want now, and prepares you for advanced Restreaming functions in the future. Collaborating in the development of the CRRS can save you Station time, money, and effort. There are multiple benefits for Collaborating Clients. The main features of the resource can: - Reduce your administrative workload when coordinating Restreams for your Station: identify the processes that waste time when configuring/uploading a Restream and minimise/eliminate these. - Provide a professional and user friendly restream 'calendar interface' that listeners access and use. - Include 'add play list notes' and 'add program notes' functions to associate additional information with restream files. - Provide CRRS access to your broadcasters through your Station's Computer(s) so they can administer their own restream when they finish their program. - Embedded your Restream information into your website to maintain your Stations branding, - Contain 'search by show' and 'search by date' functions on your Website ENHANCED RESOURCE FEATURES (These features can be negotiated for inclusion between Project Manager & Collaborating Clients) - All Client files are centrally hosted to generate cheaper rates for individual Stations. Project Manager Administers this hosting space and can charge Clients on a Volume basis (ie how much space your restream files take up/streaming costs). - An 'online interface' for your restreaming service is provided so broadcasters can manage their restreams remotely (not from a Station Computer). Your broadcasters can login to upload their programs to your online restream system with playlists and notes about the program. - Time/sound activated logging recorder to record program audio and prepare the files for Restream. You can access these files as soon as a a program has finished and administer them as restream files through the CRRS. - Automatic upload of program log recordings to your online Restream service. This function could allow you to predefine program names and this information is associated with audio files that are recorded from specific times of the day. The files are then instantly uploaded to your Restreaming webpage. - Other enhanced features and the architectural design of the resource can be negotiated between Collaborating Clients and the Project Manager.   GET ONTO IT: We are seeking Stations to become Collaborative Clients to invest in this resource. Express your Station's interest here . If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here . . back to top Outside Broadcast Hosting System . Project No: 200808 Your Station can cut down on hassle and costs associated with outside broadcasting by sharing an 'online space' with other Stations that can host and transmit your broadcast. Combine this resource with the 'Mobile Broadcasting for Community Radio' manual (see homepage - out in February 2009) and you cut out a lot of the messy stuff that you need to get an outside broadcast up and running for your Station. GET ONTO IT: We are seeking Stations to become Collaborative Clients to invest in this Outside Broadcast Hosting System. Express you Station's interest here. . .If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here. . back to top Electronic Music Log Forms Project No 200809: - Does your station find it messy logging music during APRA audit periods? - Do you want to know more about the music your broadcasters are playing, and how often some songs/artist/genres are being played? - Do your broadcasters want to be able to post their track lists on the internet for listeners to refer too? - Would you like to generate your stations very own ‘Chart’, to show listeners what music is getting most airplay? This project creates simple online forms that broadcasters use to provide the above services and much more. This Resource will be built if there is sufficient demand. Express you Station's interest here. If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here. back to top Webstreaming For Stations Guide Project 200810: - Is your station not sure how to setup a web stream? - Are you unsure about the costs, licensing fees and how to keep the web stream working? - Would you like a clear step-by-step guide that non-technicians can use to get a web stream running for just a few hundred dollars per year? This Resource will be built if there is sufficient demand. Express you Station's interest here. If you already have the know-how and you’d like to contribute/consult on the development of the guide let us know below. If you've already done the survey you can login to the discussion forum here . Sponsor & Music Playout Software Project No 200811: Sponsorship Software Project In Early 2008 Chris Johnson from the digital convergence project designed a sponsorship scheduling program for three community stations. The software is designed to manage quotes, bookings, communications with sponsors, trafficking and scheduling of sponsorship campaigns. This design is now in production through SYN Media’s ‘Retromod’ Project. If you're interested in getting access to this resource in the future express you Station's interest here. Project 20012: Music Playout Software Project (Flywire) SYN Media have also developed this software and asked that it be listed on the Digital Convergence Project Site: “Flywire is an intuitive and easy-to-use radio station playout application and client. It is primarily designed for stations in the community broadcasting sector who have a high turnover of volunteer presenters or cannot administer thorough broadcast training. Flywire takes sound files from a set of directories and displays them in various lists on the screen. The user then selects items from these lists to construct a playlist, which can be played when ready. When used as a client in conjunction with the Retromod Project, it has automated updating functions for Station IDs, Promos, Show Media, and scheduled Sponsorship Announcements, and also has an automatic playout function for when the studio is unattended. While Flywire can be used as a standalone application, it very much benefits from an administration interface such as Retromod.” Express you Station's interest here. Checkout Syn Media’s website here . PLEASE FILL OUT THIS EXPRESSION OF INTEREST SURVEY . . THE MORE STATIONS WE GET ON BOARD, THE CHEAPER THE COST TO YOUR STATION! These projects can only become reality if Stations are prepared to support and invest in them. If everybody 'hangs back' the projects won't get off the ground.Become a 'Collaborating Client' and your Station is entitled to consult on the features and direction of the resource, and benefit from the final results. Please let us know which projects take your fancy, and how much you'd be prepared to pay to make the resource a reality.We appreciate that money is tight but please be realistic about your offer. Please ask yourself: "How much value can my broadcasters and listeners gain from this resource?" "How much would I pay for a 'commercial version' of this product?" "How much time and money would it cost me to make/activate this resource by myself?" "What benefits can I gain by working with a pool of Stations and IT professionals to develop this service?" Expressing your interest does not commit you to the price you've quoted - costs will be shared evenly accross all Collaborating Clients.