Today The Sun will reveal details of its plans to launch a new online radio station – a first for The Sun, and UK newspapers.

Publishers such as the Telegraph Media Group have invested in launching Telegraph TV, and Guardian News and Guardian Media also produce well-received podcasts and video.

However, to date no newspaper has launched an audio-only, online radio station – so a first and perhaps model for the future?

‘Sun Talk’ goes live in a month’s time, April 20 and is set to run from their new purpose-built £1million multimedia studios from its Wapping headquarters.

Former TalkSPORT host Jon Gaunt, The Sun columnist will be hosting their first programme, a three hour morning show set to feature Conservative leader David Cameron MP as its first guest (a bold statement in itself). According to a Wapping source, the new station aims to reach 150,000 listeners in year one, but it is not clear whether The Sun’s three million readers will take the time out of their day to tune in….

The sunonline.co.uk reached 21.9 million unique users to its site during January 2009, according to ABCE. So will its new radio station and audience loyalty transfer to online radio also?

Journalists will be able to use the studios for all of its titles (The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and News of the World), and is part of the bigger picture for News International’s vision to expand its audio and video content – and step up its media/digital activity.

markettiers4dc are already ahead of the game – having embraced the concept of convergence for a long time now with our onsite TV and Radio studios, enabling us to produce content via live or pre-recorded items, WebTV online (live, interactive or on-demand), podcasts, vodcasts and more as and when we wish. So now the big boys are also branching out into integrating mediums, does this mean The Sun will pave the way for more?

Certainly, if a force as strong as News International Corporation is moving into convergence then surely this is a sign of things to come? And unless companies keep up with this, and use these modern channels to communicate with their audiences – then are they in danger of getting left behind?

Learn more about convergence come to one of our workshops here in our studios.