Radio Stations Have the Worst Websites
Ever notice how Radio Stations have some of the worst websites on the Internet? In a world where the Internet has reshaped the way commercial music is distributed, paid for, and listened to, the major radio stations continue to treat their websites as little more than online billboard for on-air personalities. These websites look they were designed and maintained by the world’s slowest interns.
Pictured above, WBCN.com is at the top of the list. Each of the content areas you see in the thumbnail above contain moving pieces. I nearly had an epileptic seizure upon visiting the homepage.
The website for WYSP in Philadelphia has a splash page. It looks half-way decent, in that I don’t feel the need to consult my doctor after viewing their website. These days, however, it is customary to have more than 1 page on your site.
KROQ in Los Angeles is one of the better sites I saw, but still not that great. Too much content (scrolling way down below the fold), and some placeholders for features that just didn’t work, such as “Now Playing.”
Curious as to what I assumed was a Rock-Radio-Internet-phenomenon, I did some Google searching on “worst radio station websites” and found a link to “Radio Mall: Programming Your Radio Station’s Website,” pictured above, and all became clear. Evidently, everyone in radio has taken this guy’s course. By the looks of his own site, he clearly is neither a designer nor a programmer. Nobody will fully know how many Radio Stations have been contaminated by this online predator, but in looking at the overall landscape, I’d say quite a few.
Matt –
Interesting opinions voiced on radio station websites. I tend to disagree. Although at first glance, they seem to be avoiding all known logic or reason with regards to traditional site design, you have to understand WHO your target is. I’m guessing from the stations that you mention, their target is the 16-34 yr old male. Research would say that these guys are wired, probably gamers, and most likely listen to their music at ear deafening levels. They want big, bad, “flashy” and seizure-inducing media. Look at the latest Toyota truck commercials and you’ll see that the general marketing folks are realizing that they need to connect with their audience in ways that they can understand and maybe that is what the stations are doing. I could be giving them too much credit but I would hope that the folks that created the site know their audience well enough that it looks this way for a reason. Having said that, I’m sure that particularly to the WBCN site, there are some folks that visit that want to chat about sports or network with other guys in a much more traditional way and do not want to be bombarded by the slew of intoxicating visuals that they present. I’d argue that maybe radio station sites need to better understand who is visiting their site and then create unique landing pages for that target to best suit them, their lifestyle, and their needs. But segmenting out one’s visitor base might be a little too sophisticated a move for this industry. Or is it?
Beth Bayer
Sorry for the late comment… was just surfing around today and found your post.
I agree that radio station sites are not very good… but that’s because they’re still very new to the web game. Coming from the radio side of things… I’ve seen first hand how radio just doesn’t understand how to capitalize on their place on the web. They just see money to be made, and they rush towards it with no thought to how it will look or function.
I personally take care of a small market radio station website, and I’m not a web developer at all! So that tells you the type of talent they hire out to do their sites as well.
It’s getting better, I promise… it just takes some time for an industry that has very little experience with getting their brand across graphically, etc.
When radio figures out that the web and the radio should basically be treated as two separate mediums that get across the same brand… that’s when things will get better.
Who knows if anyone will ever read this, but I have to cite the worst radio station website ever. I’ll try to keep this succinct, but WVOX & WVIP are not so much radio stations as self-aggrandizing tools for the station owner/raging egomaniac William O’Shaughnessy. I defy anyone to find any radio station website that has not one, not two but THREE photos of the station owner (!) on their splash page. Yes, he put his face in the masthead. Yes, it’s probably the only radio station that hawks a book by the station owner on the front page of the site.
Max, Thanks for your comment, and thanks for letting us know about WVOX & WVIP, their websites certainly help prove my point!