Radio meets the Web: Listen to Ugandan Radio online from these top 5 places

The mobile phone changed the way we listen to radio in Africa. In fact it made radio is more popular, fun and interactive. But the web is the mothership of all media.

The web has the ability to carry all forms of media. It has so far done pretty well combining text, audio and video messages all in one channel — something which was previously achieved through using different media. Tim Berners-Lee,  the inventor of the World Wide Web of course didn’t know that soon he would start streaming BBC radio from his browser. Probably you also don’t know, so here are top 5 websites you can stream Ugandan radio online.

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#1. UGO

UGO, the site that bills itself as Uganda’s #1 portal is the ultimate place you want to go and listen to online radio. Among everything else we’ve seen, it delivers the most consistent, reliable and great listening experience thanks to a radio widget on the home page. The site boasts of over 30 radio stations in Uganda hosting popular stations like capital FM , Sanyu, Power FM, Radio one, Simba and CBS.

They also have radio stations outside of Uganda. For instance, for the folks in the diaspora, they have Radio Uganda Boston, Radio Uganda Seattle, among others. If you like East African focused stations, they have you covered with Bongo Radio, Kass FM among 5 others. They also have radios that play music in various genres such as Gospel, Hip pop, jazz among others.

#2. Streema

Streema is a global radio streaming site. Currently they have up to 27 Radio Stations from Uganda including Sanyo FM, Radio Simba, CBS radio Buganda, Radio One, KFM, Touch FM and Radiocity. The App uses the radio stations Ustream channels to do the streaming and other methods. We found that the experience is just horrible. So many pop-up Ads and an inconsistent user experience. But of course, you have little choice here.

#3. Listen FM Radios

Listenfmradios.com is another place you can stream radio online. They have about 10 radio stations from Uganda. The site has content about each radio station before displaying a streaming widget for what ever radio station you visit. It has less intrusive Ads and seems to incorporate social networking aspects. For instance you can share a station or comment.

#4. Odyovi

Odyovi is another international radio streaming service. It has not just radios but also TV stations from all over the world that you choose from based on your country of origin. The site has 19 radio stations from Uganda by the time we visited. Like all the other streaming sites, the platform is littered with Ads all over the place, so if you bare with that, then you are good to go.

#5. Radio Website

Most radio stations now have their own websites, most of which allow you to stream radio immediately you visit them. For instance KFM starts playing radio immediately you open the site. Power FM too has something similar so does Simba FM.

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That’s all we could get. We are sure, there are other places you stream your favorite radio stations. The sites however, don’t seem to have added anything to radio as the mobile networks or phones did. You still listen to radio with the same experience as you did while on the stand-alone FM radios. No interactivity, comments, sharing, chatting etc that you would expect the web to add to radio listening experience.

Image: kelsey-jenney.com

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6 thoughts on “Radio meets the Web: Listen to Ugandan Radio online from these top 5 places

  1. great stuff informative… I have a sequel for you bro “Android Apps you can use to listen to ugandan FM radio “

    • Yeah thanks. The android apps I tried are extremely disappointing, at least those from our publishers, so I won’t do it. Perhaps when someone innovative comes up with something really cool and functional, that’s when I’ll look at it.

  2. RadioStar is a listener-supported, non-commercial, free-form internet radio station launched on March 3, 2013 and streaming on http://www.radiostar.fm . Programming ranges from flat-out uncategorizable strangeness to rock and roll, experimental music, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, electronica, dance, punk rock, synthpop, exotica, R&B, radio improvisation, chamber music, stoner rock, found sound, soundtracks, country, as well as audience-participation shows, interviews, spoken word collages, and general talk. All of the station’s programming is controlled by individual volunteer broadcasters and is not beholden to any type of station-wide playlist or rotation schedule.

    Free-form?
    Free-form is a radio programming format that encompasses diverse music genres because the volunteer broadcaster is given total control over his or her program and what music is played. Experimentation, variety, spontaneity and humor are among the station’s most distinguishing traits. RadioStar does not belong to any existing internet radio network, and most of its programming originates with volunteers.

    Listen in at http://www.radiostar.fm or use your favorite media player. RadioStar is available on all major media players, TuneIn Radio, Streema, and our site player works on all platforms, including mobile phones.

    For more information, email me – [email protected] .

  3. Wow… what a great post! I also can share my experience in filling forms. BTW, there is an online service through which you can fill out a IRS 943, the fillable blank is here https://goo.gl/1rwzr2

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