Yet another online company for Triton Media to rep, but this time it’s a hybrid offering of online meets on-air: Jelli, which went live 10/20 with a beta release, is a multiplayer web-based game that lets people who listen to traditional radio stations completely control the songs that go on the air. It’s at www.jelli.net.
In June, Jelli launched a pilot with CBS Radio Bay Area affiliate LIVE 105 KITS. The Sunday night “Jelli Show” on LIVE 105 has been a ratings success, and two freshly inked deals have put Jelli in the pipeline for thousands more stations worldwide.
A syndication deal with Triton Media will make Jelli available to Triton’s more than 4,500 radio affiliates in the US beginning in early 2010. Triton Radio Networks, via Dial-Global, will syndicate two daily Jelli programs – Top 40 Jelli and Rock Jelli – while Triton Digital will offer affiliates customized, 24/7 online Jelli experiences.
Jelli also struck a distribution deal with Australian broadcaster, Austereo, which next month will launch a hits-oriented Hot 30 Jelli show on stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Hot 30 Jelli will be broadcast daily on FM and digital radio, and available online 24-hours a day.
Jelli gives a community of listeners real-time control over what gets played on their streaming or terrestrial radio stations. Players search a deep catalog of song titles and pick tracks to add to the on-air playlist. Other players vote songs up or down one position at a time. Rockets and Bombs, Jelli currency earned by participating, shoot a song up to the top of the playlist or knock it off altogether. Jelli also lets communities band together to pull a song off the air instantly. A Jelli chat room gives all listeners a place to socialize, lobby for their favorite songs, and organize community-controlled playlists. An iPhone app will make Jelli mobile starting in early 2010.
RBR-TVBR observation: As we’ve stated before, stations that plug Jelli in to one of their time slots should play close attention to the songs folks pick–especially stuff that’s not already on the playlist. For many Alternative stations, that could quickly morph their Alternative playlist into an Indie Rock playlist. Whatever a station’s format, the regular playlist should be patterned after what’s being picked–it’s a good tool to use and more than one day a week should be exercised.
