Tom Coates
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BBC Radio & Music Strategy

Shaping how BBC radio and music met the web — the case for what these services should actually be, once "online" stopped being an afterthought.

01

The station is not the site

A radio station's web presence had to be its own thing — built for browsing, search and archive, not a schedule grid with a "listen live" button bolted on.

02

Programmes are data, not pages

Every broadcast needed a permanent, structured identity on the web — thinking that led directly into Programme Information Pages a year later.

03

Music needs a network, not a page

Music coverage worked best as a web of artists, tracks and sessions linking to each other — closer to how fans actually talked about music.

"Online" wasn't a department. It was what radio and music were going to be made of, from here on.

IMG PLACEHOLDER — Strategy deck page
© 1999–2026 Tom Coates 2004 · BBC R&D, Radio & Music
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