Spirit Level gives identity to spoken word radio

The identity of soon-to-launch spoken word digital radio station Oneword Radio has been designed by Spirit Level.

Launching in May, Oneword will be the world’s first non-publicly funded radio station to broadcast plays, books, comedy and reviews. It is initially expected to broadcast for 18 hours a day.

Transmissions will be accessible by digital radio sets, and possibly through other digital platforms such as digital TV, the Internet and WAP devices.

Oneword managing director Ben Budworth says “word” was chosen because of the station’s content, while “One” refers to its broadcast platform, the Digital One radio multiplex. “Once we had finally chosen the name it was a natural choice to spell Oneword out as one word,” he says.

Already signed are broadcast rights to readings of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, read by Martin Jarvis, and Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, read by Juliet Stevenson.

The station’s main backers are Guardian Media Group and Unique Broadcasting, with smaller stakes held by publisher Chivers Communications and audio book publisher Heavy Entertainment.

So far, the Digital One platform has signed up seven stations to its national commercial multiplex. Capital Radio recently revealed plans to launch an adult music station, Life, with an identity by New Solutions.