Oneword
Encyclopedia
Oneword Radio was a British
commercial digital radio station
featuring books, drama
, comedy
, children's programming, and discussion. The station was available in the UK
via digital radio
(DAB
) and digital television
(Freeview DVB-T
and Sky Digital
DVB-S
) and was streamed
on the internet 24 hours a day worldwide. It was launched on 2 May 2000.
Ownership was shared between UBC Media Group
and the UK's Channel 4
between early 2005 and December 2007. In October 2005 Channel 4 increased its stake to a majority by buying 51% of Oneword for £1 million. Oneword carried the Channel 4 Radio
daily news broadcast at 7.30 on weekday mornings, The Morning Report, which is produced by the Channel 4 news team.
Virgin Media
removed OneWord from their ex-NTL channel lineup on 4 October 2007. Oneword was not on ex-Telewest at the time.
In December 2007 Channel 4 decided to withdraw its funding, selling its share back to UBC Media Group
for £1. All programming was replaced by repeats of previous output. On January 1, 2008 the remaining staff were dismissed. Oneword ceased broadcasting on DAB on Friday January 11, 2008.
After broadcasting ended, birdsong
was broadcast on the channel until a permanent replacement, Amazing Radio
, came on air on 1 June 2009. It has been claimed that the audience for the station was higher while the birdsong was playing than when the station was broadcasting normally.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
commercial digital radio station
Digital radio in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the roll-out of digital radio is proceeding since test transmissions were started by the BBC in 1990. The UK currently has the world's biggest digital radio network, with 103 transmitters, two national DAB ensembles and 48 local and regional DAB ensembles...
featuring books, drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
, comedy
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
, children's programming, and discussion. The station was available in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
via digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
(DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
) and digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
(Freeview DVB-T
DVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...
and Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
DVB-S
DVB-S
DVB-S is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Satellite; it is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and demodulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997...
) and was streamed
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
on the internet 24 hours a day worldwide. It was launched on 2 May 2000.
Ownership was shared between UBC Media Group
UBC Media Group
UBC Media Group is an independent supplier of services to the radio industry. It provides content to BBC and commercial stations, as well as private clients...
and the UK's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
between early 2005 and December 2007. In October 2005 Channel 4 increased its stake to a majority by buying 51% of Oneword for £1 million. Oneword carried the Channel 4 Radio
Channel 4 Radio
Channel 4 Radio was a radio brand launched by Channel 4 in January 2007. On October 11, 2008 the closure was announced. It incorporated Oneword, in which Channel 4 purchased a 51% share in 2005, although it relinquished this share to co-owner UBS Media in January 2008.Listeners were required to...
daily news broadcast at 7.30 on weekday mornings, The Morning Report, which is produced by the Channel 4 news team.
Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
removed OneWord from their ex-NTL channel lineup on 4 October 2007. Oneword was not on ex-Telewest at the time.
In December 2007 Channel 4 decided to withdraw its funding, selling its share back to UBC Media Group
UBC Media Group
UBC Media Group is an independent supplier of services to the radio industry. It provides content to BBC and commercial stations, as well as private clients...
for £1. All programming was replaced by repeats of previous output. On January 1, 2008 the remaining staff were dismissed. Oneword ceased broadcasting on DAB on Friday January 11, 2008.
After broadcasting ended, birdsong
Birdsong (digital radio channel)
Birdsong was a temporary radio channel which used to broadcast on national digital radio in the United Kingdom. The transmission consisted of a continuously looping recording of bird song. It was available via the Digital One DAB network. The recording is also available via the Digital One website...
was broadcast on the channel until a permanent replacement, Amazing Radio
Amazing Radio
Amazing Radio is a national radio station broadcasting on digital radio in the United Kingdom. The station plays new music from a number of music genres including pop, rock, indie, hip hop, electronica and jazz...
, came on air on 1 June 2009. It has been claimed that the audience for the station was higher while the birdsong was playing than when the station was broadcasting normally.