Press Release 

RadioU Network programming now available to stations at no charge

Groundbreaking Christian “hard music” format relaunches for national syndication through FM, HD Radio™ multicast channels

Columbus, Ohio – RadioU, the only Christian “hard music” format available to radio stations nationwide, announced today that its programming will be made available at no cost to broadcasters interested in adopting the format for their FM stations or HD Radio™ multicast channels.

The RadioU network’s programming is geared toward a “huge, untapped audience of music lovers in their twenties and younger that much of radio seems to have lost the ability to reach,” says the network’s vice president, Michael Buckingham. He and his team appear to have unparalleled passion for connecting 12-24s with the music played by RadioU. “Whether Christian or not, RadioU’s diverse, young audience eats this up because the music is mostly new and different than anything else on the radio,” he says.

“Some of our more familiar bands like Relient K, P.O.D., Switchfoot, or Thousand Foot Krutch have achieved various levels of airplay among mainstream rock and pop formats and on FUSE or MTV,” says RadioU’s music director Nikki Cantu, “but these artists are just scratching the surface of an industry – Christian music – which is continuing to sell records like crazy, despite losses experienced in other formats.” Indeed, sales figures for Christian music are higher than for latin, soundtracks, or jazz and classical combined, according to Nashville’s Gospel Music Association.

“According to the GMA, Christian rock album sales are basically tied with Christian adult contemporary and black Gospel – but where do you hear Underoath, Kids In The Way, or Showbread on the radio? You don’t – yet – unless you’re listening to RadioU.” Buckingham says these artists are left unplayed by most Christian pop or adult contemporary stations because they’re more aggressive than what so-called “family friendly” adult formats will allow; yet sales and research data show there to be an audience starving to discover these bands and artists through radio.

“RadioU was created on a single FM station in Columbus, Ohio nearly ten years ago to be a format that actively embraces these bands that radio seems to ignore,” he says. “Now, with HD-ready digital satellite delivery, we want to give these bands a voice to be heard on FM stations or their new HD multicast channels all across the nation. Maybe at the same time, we can help radio to reclaim some of its appeal among younger audiences becoming distracted by shiny objects like their iPods, MySpace, and satellite radio.”

Unlike satellite radio, RadioU’s programming can be localized by each radio station that carries it. Emerging from its test marketing phase on a small number of stations, RadioU claims to be the nation’s only customizable programming source available to local radio stations with this type of Christian “hard music,” and claims to do so without coming off as “trite” or “preachy” to its intended audience. With award-winning imaging and a well-thought-out approach to the music it plays, RadioU has captured the musical and cultural “vibe” necessary to play to the loyalty of its listener base.

With programming available for both commercial and commercial-free outlets, whether for an hour a day or 24, RadioU is now offering its programming to stations for free in an attempt to “simply get this music played on the radio where it belongs,” according to Buckingham. Network programming formats available to local radio stations are generally fee-based or require stations to air national advertising in exchange for the rights to carry the music. “No cash. No barter. We’re just serious about wanting stations to pick this music up and do something with it.”

Interested stations can learn more about the network and its offer at its newly-relaunched network.radiou.com website.

Cantu believes there to be interest among mainstream radio owners in this format. “They’ve been circling around, sniffing at Christian music to see what it can do. They’ve seen the sales data. Perhaps even unknowingly, they’ve experimented with playing it on their stations. The fact that it’s ‘Christian’ isn’t really the issue anymore. It’s just got to be good music inside an authentic, well-executed radio format. RadioU is that format – and it’s the only one out here,” she says.

More information about RadioU and its programming options for radio stations and HD Radio multicasting is available at network.radiou.com and by contacting Michael Buckingham directly at 614-839-7137 or via e-mail to michael@radiou.com.

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