Premier Radio Growth Continues as Broadband Advances Open New Doors

Premier Christian Radio has been praising new technological advances and has been using them well over the past few years to spread the gospel to more and more people. Now driving forward even more, Premier Radio for the first time is facing the prospect of being able to broadcast to the whole nation through broadband and Freeview.

As one of the UK’s most active and growing Christian ministries, Premier has set its goals high by hoping to achieve its new goal by the end of the year.

The new excitement around the radio station has come about as Ofcom state that by the end of 2005, more than 99% of the British population will be able to access broadband internet. This will facilitate the nation’s public being able to download music and video clips as well as listen to the radio, all from the comfort of their houses through their computers.

Premier Radio has reported that as it continues to develop, its numbers of listeners too keeps on going from strength to strength. Much of this success has been because so many of its listeners can tune into the station through the web.

Currently, Premier can now broadcast live through the Internet, Freeview, Sky as well as NTL.

The Chief Executive of Premier Radio, Peter Kerridge has been particularly excited at the prospects the new advances in technology can mean for the station. He said, "This advance in technology is wonderful news for Christian radio stations like Premier, listeners across the country can now tune in to Christian news, teachings and music 24 hours a day through their computers, radios and through their TV using set top boxes. We thank God that we are able to share the Gospel and reach so many people through these technologies."

Kerridge continued, "Every day we have emails and letters from people not just from Britain but throughout the world who have accessed Premier Radio through the Internet and have been touched by the Gospel. Our listeners are very important to us and these letters touch all the staff at Premier."

Premier has been one Christian organisation that has been able to benefit greatly from the advances in technology. By broadcasting on Freeview, Premier boasts that it can currently reach more than 60% of households as they have digital television. In addition to this, the potential for growth seems endless as more than 250,000 new homes are signing up for either Sky, Freeview or cable each month.

Premier is currently the only Christian broadcaster on Freeview, and has been running a campaign saying that "your TV is born again, it’s now a radio."

A Premier Radio press release also states, "Premier benefit from an extremely loyal audience, who spend an average of 13 hours per week tuning in, with...more listener hours than all other UK Christian TV and Radio stations combined."