‘First-ever’ social radio stations to launch in US

Jelli announced today it will launch in June 2011 the world’s first terrestrial radio stations completely powered by the social web. In a first for traditional broadcasting, Jelli’s social radio platform will take over all programming operations of two terrestrial radio stations in Las Vegas under a multi-year agreement.

Las Vegas is the first market to launch Jelli as a revolutionary, new 24-hour radio format.  On KHIJ-FM and KVBE-FM, listeners will be able to choose in real time every song that plays on the air via Jelli’s website or Jelli’s free iPhone app.  One station will generally play Pop music, and the other Rock music, but both will be branded “Jelli.”

“There are over 150 million people in the USA that use the social web to share, communicate and consume content every month.  The radio medium has seen little innovation in decades but is still massive, with 242 million listeners weekly,” said Mike Dougherty, Jelli’s CEO. “Jelli combines the power and fun of the social web with the reach of a terrestrial radio broadcast, to create something new from something old.”

Jelli has entered into a multi-year agreement with LKCM Radio Group and Aurora Media, the owners of KHIJ-FM and KVBE-FM. “Jelli is the most significant innovation in radio format programming in a decade,” said Gerry Schlegel, President LKCM Radio Group. “We want to transform the market in Las Vegas by engaging with our listeners directly through the web and mobile, and building a strong community around an amazing music experience.”

Jelli users can vote for songs, share songs on Twitter and Facebook, discuss what is playing with the other community members, and use two unique Jelli “power-ups,” a Rocket and a Bomb, to further influence what will play next. In addition, users will be able to access a much broader selection of music than is typical on the radio, and connect with other music fans around special nightly segments.

KHIJ-FM and KVBE-FM will be completely automated by Jelli’s unique cloud-based platform, which enables local broadcasts to be easily customized and shaped to local tastes while being managed on a centralized basis.

Jelli’s listener controlled experience has been validated nationwide over the last year in over 25 markets including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and San Francisco.  Over this period, Jelli proved that it can drive strong ratings performance, time spent listening and user engagement.

(Source: Jelli via Radio Netherlands Media Network Weblog)