Dial R for revolution

The humble wireless has not changed much over the past century. We turn it on and twiddle a dial to choose between a selection of national and local stations offered in our region. Technology is about to change this status quo forever, though. The latest radio tuners can be plugged into a telephone line to pick up thousands of extra channels from all over the world. It 's internet radio, but without the need for a PC.

Over the past couple of years, thousands of radio stations across the globe have started broadcasting, or "streaming", their signal over the web, which has allowed them to reach new listeners for virtually no cost. It has been a quiet revolution, mainly tuned in to by young, tech-savvy web users prepared to sit in front of their PC screen to listen to programmes from the other side of the globe through a computer's speakers. The hassle and know-how factors have combined to mean that, according to figures from web analysts Forrester Research, only one in 10 connected Britons can be bothered to boot up the PC rather than turn on their radio. But with radio sets being launched that can go online without owners needing to lift a finger, accessing thousands of extra radio stations in the front room is as easy as working a traditional radio set.

To make the vast range of additional broadcasters as easy as possible to sort through, the new internet radio sets feature a screen with a list of genres - such as "news", "pop " or "rock". After a type of broadcaster is selected, the names of individual stations appear on the screen and the user can use up and down buttons to go through the list and then select one with the click of a button. It could be a chance to tune in to a long-missed radio station you grew up with in a different area or country, or perhaps to listen to news from across the globe to see how current affairs are being debated abroad. Just as likely, though, it will be to tune in to one of thousands of niche stations set up to broadcast one style of music or talk about a specialist interest 24 hours a day. Many internet radio stations have been set up for ethnic and other minority groups who feel excluded from mainstream radio broadcasting.

Radio experts are agreed these new "internet-ready" radio tuners will alter the way we listen to the radio. "Since it first started, radio has only ever moved to stereo and FM which tweaks quality, but this is going to fundamentally change the industry," claims IT and media con-- sultant Gary McCloskey from Mason Communications. "You are going to get thousands and thousands who wouldn't have bothered to listen to internet radio stations on their computer tuning in to thousands and thousands of niche broadcasters - one I came across the other day, for example, plays Broadway musicals all day, it 's fantastic.

"These small stations are so cheap to set up and run that they are going to proliferate and reach out to people with similar tastes.It is going to fundamentally challenge the way that mainstream broadcasters fit us all in to five or six different genres."

Radio listeners are already being offered a few extra channels through digital radio tuners. Take-up has been unimpressive, though, because tuners are expensive, coverage can be patchy and only a few extra stations have bought digital licences from the government. Internet radio stations aren't restricted by licensing because they broadcast over the web, often from outside the UK, which makes them incredibly cheap to set up and run, hence the huge number on offer through the latest type of radio tuner. Apart from offering listeners a wider choice of stations, these new radios are also going to change the way broadcasters sell airtime. How many Birmingham-based businesses are going to pay extra to reach 50,000 additional internet listeners, many of whom may not live in the area? Virgin Radio claims to have been the first station in the UK to take up the challenge, so it is prepared to beam internet radio listeners national adverts that do not relate to a specific region.

James Cridland, the station 's managing editor of new media, admits that this need to send out different adverts on-air and online is a headache every commercial station is going to have to face up to now that internet radio is becoming more mainstream. "We're unique in that we already separate our internet adverts from our terrestrial broadcasts, so we can already sell separately," he reveals. "It's something you have to do because, for example, our net listeners are split down the middle between those in the UK and abroad - information an advertiser's going to be keen to know."

While Cridland admits that broadcasters are aware that many experts are predicting that niche online radio stations will chip away at previously loyal audiences, he claims that most station managers are still sleeping at night. "We 've been looking closely at the US market, which is ahead of us due to wider availability of broadband connections," he says. "We think these small net-only stations that broadcast, say, Beatles songs all day are a novelty. They might appear as if they could take small bites at our audience share but we think after a day or two, people get fed up with them."