Let us clear up a confusion first. “Radio software” is used to describe two separate things: the streaming server that delivers the audio to the listener (SHOUTcast, Icecast, AutoDJ and the like), and the radio station’s website. This guide is about the second — the content system that runs the station’s news site, programme pages, podcast archive and live player together.
The distinction matters because the needs are different and the two systems do not replace one another. The streaming server keeps the audio flowing; the site is where you find listeners, publish news and archive your programmes. The great majority of stations have solved the first and left the second incomplete.
Why a station’s site is not an ordinary corporate site
A radio station’s site does three jobs at once, and those three require different software capabilities.
- Winning listeners. Playing the live stream from the site and keeping it uninterrupted on mobile.
- News publishing. Publishing what the station’s newsroom produces in written form — which is what makes your site an online news site in law.
- Programme archive. Storing and distributing broadcast programmes as podcasts.
The third is neglected at most stations and is the biggest missed opportunity. A live broadcast is momentary and missed once; a podcast archive is searched for years. Stations that build a programme archive gain a steady flow of listeners from search.
The modules a radio site needs
The live player
The most critical technical detail is this: the player must not stop while the visitor moves between pages. A site that restarts the stream on every page load loses the listener within a few clicks. The solution is to build the player so that it survives page transitions.
- Uninterrupted operation across page transitions
- Background playback on mobile and appearing on the lock screen
- The “now playing” information from your streaming server connected to the site
- Automatic reconnection when the connection drops
- Memory for volume and mute
- An alternative quality option for low bandwidth
The schedule and programme guide
The information listeners look for most often is the answer to “what is on now, what is on next”. The weekly schedule should be kept as an hour-based table and should highlight the current programme automatically. The programme guide is also a page that is regularly searched for.
Programme and presenter pages
Every programme should have its own permanent page: its description, broadcast times, presenter and past episodes. Presenters should have their own pages too; in radio the brand is often the recognised voice rather than the institution. Those pages produce both listener loyalty and search visibility.
The podcast archive
Recordings of broadcast programmes should be archived episode by episode, each episode with its own address, duration, description and cover image. If you can produce a standard RSS feed, listening platforms pick the content up by themselves; you do not need to upload to each one.
Interaction
Request lines, live messages, polls and competition entries are radio’s natural interaction channels. Collecting them through the site both leaves a record and lets you turn the data you gather into newsletters and notifications. An obligation to give a privacy notice arises for the personal data collected; the detail is in the reader privacy notice guide.
The legislation: two regimes overlap
This is the point radio stations most often overlook. Radio broadcasting is subject to Law No. 6112; but if you publish news on the station’s site, that site counts as an online news site under Law No. 5187. The two regimes do not replace one another; they overlap.
| Obligation | Basis | What it concerns |
|---|---|---|
| Retention of the broadcast recording for one year | Law 6112 Art. 25(1) | The radio broadcast |
| Providing a copy within ten days on RTÜK’s request | Law 6112 Art. 25(2) | The radio broadcast |
| Retaining a broadcast that is the subject of an investigation | Law 6112 Art. 25(3) | The radio broadcast |
| Compliance with the broadcasting service principles | Law 6112 Art. 8 | The radio broadcast |
| The six masthead items | Law 5187 Art. 4(3) | The news site |
| Date stamp on content | Law 5187 Art. 4(4) | The news site |
| Two-year retention of internet content | Law 5187 Art. 10 | The news site |
Note that there are two separate retention periods for two different things. The radio broadcast recording is kept for one year, the internet content on the site for two. Doing one and skipping the other is a common mistake.
Internet broadcasting and licensing
Article 29/A of Law No. 6112 (added by Law No. 7103 of 21/3/2018) regulates broadcasting over the internet. Under its first paragraph, media service providers holding a temporary broadcasting right and/or a broadcasting licence from the Supreme Council may also offer their broadcasts over the internet under those rights. The same paragraph goes on to require: media service providers wishing to offer radio, television and on-demand broadcasting services solely over the internet must obtain a broadcasting licence from the Supreme Council.
The practical meaning is this: if you have a terrestrial frequency and also stream from your site, your existing licence covers that. If you have no frequency and broadcast only over the internet, you must obtain a broadcasting licence from RTÜK.
You can run the pre-broadcast principles check with the RTÜK broadcasting principles checklist, and see which sanction group a breach falls into in the RTÜK fine guide.
Performance and SEO on a radio site
A radio site’s performance problem differs slightly from a news site’s: the live player stays open continuously and puts a load on the page. Keeping the player light, not loading unnecessary scripts and serving images from a delivery network are therefore more critical here.
On the search side the two opportunities stations miss most are:
- Programme pages. A permanent, described page for each programme answers the searches made for that programme’s name.
- Podcast episode pages. If each episode has a text summary, it is found when the subject discussed is searched for. Publishing only the audio file loses that traffic entirely.
The counterpart on the KEYDAL side
For radio stations the core of the site is the news software; the radio-specific parts sit on top of it. In the panel the Podcast module manages and publishes episodes and is enabled at the Infinity plan tier. The Omni module distributes a single piece of content to push, X, Instagram and WhatsApp; it is useful for putting out programme announcements from one place.
On the news side the masthead sits under Corporate → Masthead as a structured record, the content date stamp is applied at system level and the archive is retained — so the Law 5187 side is met independently of the theme you choose. Media files are served over the content delivery network set up automatically for every site; the bandwidth problem of podcast episodes is solved at that layer.
If you also want the streaming server side from us, that is a separate service: radio streaming hosting packages with SHOUTcast and Icecast support run independently of the site infrastructure and the two can be set up together. The full documentation is open at keydal.wiki.
Summary
If what you are looking for under “radio software” is not a streaming server, what you need is a news site system adapted to radio: an uninterrupted player, a programme guide, presenter pages and a podcast archive. On the legislative side you have to carry two regimes together — Law 6112 for the broadcast and Law 5187 for the news on the site.
The two items most often skipped: one-year retention of the broadcast recording and two-year retention of internet content, and the need for an RTÜK licence if you broadcast solely over the internet. The general framework of software selection is in the news software guide and the order of setting up from scratch in the setup guide.