Aug 18, 2012 at 11:53am

Continuing in its long standing mission to give its listeners and customers as many options for interaction and communication as possible, Accra based radio station 97.3 Citi FM, will be engaging its audiences through Google’s new platform, Google+ Hangouts on Air.

The platform, launched in Ghana on Thursday, will enable Citi FM and all other Ghanaians using Google+ to broadcast live Hangouts sessions for anyone to watch on YouTube. This means that in addition to the 10 people participating in any given Hangout on Google+, thousands more can watch a live stream of the Hangout in real time.

Google+, a social network operated by Google, Inc., launched on June 28th, 2011 with integrations across a number of Google products. One key element of Google+ is a focus on targeted sharing within subsets of your social group, which are what Google calls Circles. Circles are simply small groups of people that you can share to, each with names like friends, family, classmates and co-workers.

97.3 Citi FM, christened on Google+ as “CitiFM Fanpage”, went mainstream with its Google+ account over eight months ago and has since been interacting with a section of the over 250 million people on the platform.

Hangouts have been featured variously on shows such as Citi Breakfast Show with Bernard Avle, Brunch in the Citi with Jessica and Citi Drive with Nii Kpakpo Thompson on a wide range of topics. Some of the guests who have appeared on Hangouts include KSM, Eazzy of BBA fame, Keche, Hon. Fritz Baffour among others.

Bernard Avle, Host of the Citi Breakfast Show and Operations Manager of Citi FM pointed out in an interview, “The Google+ hangouts have opened a refreshing chapter in the CITI BREAKFAST SHOW in terms of scope and audience experience. The live interactive video sessions allow listeners not only to see for themselves what happens live in the studio, but also engage with the host and guests in real time on air.”

“It amazing how much the listener experience can change with the help of a little bandwidth and the ingenuity of an interactive platform.” he added.

On her part, Jessica Opare-Saforo, host of Brunch on the Citi and Programme Manager at Citi FM acknowledged that “to give listeners the opportunity to ‘virtually’ sit in the studio and interact with our presenters and guests is in line with our promise to deliver relevant radio, always”.

“With the introduction of Hangouts On Air, the prospect of reaching over 800 million people around the world through YouTube, I believe we have been offered the opportunity of a lifetime.”

According to Jessica Opare-Saforo, with the station’s acquisition of the exclusive rights to broadcast live the Barclays Premier League live in Ghana, soccer fans will now have the opportunity to engage actively in pre-match, halftime and post-match analysis and review only on Hangouts on Air.

Up to 9 other people can join and participate in the conversation, when a host starts a Hangout on Google. Now, Hangouts on Air allows users to connect and share with many more people at the same time. Hangouts On Air allows all qualified Google+ users to live stream their Hangout on their Google+ profiles/pages as well as their YouTube channels and personal websites. Once the broadcast is over, all Hangouts On Air will be automatically recorded and uploaded to the user’s YouTube channel as a public video.

"We know that looking someone in the eye and communicating in the normal social way we're accustomed to is hugely important. The announcement of Hangouts On Air in Ghana is significant because it symbolizes a key milestone in how we connect, share and communicate with each other online” said Estelle Akofio Sowah, Google Ghana Country Manager.

“Now, with Hangouts On Air, a teacher in a rural part of Ghana for example, can share their lessons in real time with the world, simply using a laptop or tablet with a data connection.”


Watch one of the Hangouts from the Citi Breakfast Show





By: Philip Kofi Ashon/citifmonline.com/Ghana