Web Design Case Study: River 94.9

Posted in Case Studies on November 28th, 2007 by Talita

” Thank you so much for your commitment to our website you have done a fantastic job, and I look forward to working with you on the next website.”

Danni Stevens
HITZ FM

Thank you…it look great:)….you’re awesome….

Larry Cann
KIX Country FM

River 94.9 Radio Station

River 94.9 is a commercial radio station based in Ipswich, Queensland.

Reach:

Australia

Launch Date:

September 2005

Completed to budget:

Yes

Completed to time-lines:

Yes

Website Address:

http://www.river949.com.au

Tasks:

Website Redesign, full featured CMS

Technology:

PHP, MySQL & XHTML/CSS

The previous website was very basic – it’s sole purpose was to capture names and email addresses. It required users to create an account and login to access any information at all. This was very restrictive and not at all user friendly.

The new website incorporates:

Retro design style with a gradient background
3-day weather forecast updated daily by rss
Fading image slideshow of album covers to promote artists being played on the station. Content management allows staff to update the album covers quickly at any time.
Flashing icon display of who’s on air right now. The icon changes dynamically based on the timeslot of a given radio segments.
Live streaming integration – listen to River 94.9 from their website!
Dynamic horizontal scrolling display of title and artist of currently playing song. This scrolls across the top banner behind the River 94.9 ‘Hit Machine’ vehicle.
Web Cam – integration of a live web cam updated every few seconds

The website encourages visitor interaction and participation through:

Online competitions
Community Event submissions
Contact form which can be sent to any number of departments withinn River 94.9
Tune-in-to-Win section to show visitors what prizes are up for grabs right now
Photo Gallery featuring River 94.9 in the community
Web cam competitions – what colour is my shirt?

The custom-built and comprehensive cms allows River 94.9 staff to:

Manage profiles of on air personalities
Update album covers
Update website content (text, images & links)
Manage community events, promotions, photo galleries, sponsors and promotions
Setup and manage website competitions

Since the launch of River 94.9 in 2005, the website template has been rolled across 5 other Rural Press owned radion stations. The websites vary from station to station with different colours and functionalities however the template layout has remained consistant enabling it to be quickly adapted to new stations.

Kix Country – Bundaberg, Queensland Launched: February 2006 www.kixcountry.com.au	Hitz FM – Bundaberg, Queensland Launched: April 2006
4BU – Bundaberg, Queensland Launched: December 2006	MyMagic FM Portal – South Australia Launched: July 2007
Magic 93.1 – Riverland, South Australia Launched: July 2007	Magic 89.9 – Port Lincoln, South Australia Launched: July 2007