Philadelphia FM station WBEN will be having some fun this Friday.
Beasley Media said that as part of the launch of a new 95.7 Ben FM skill on Amazon Echo, “Alexa” will guest DJ on the station from 2 to 6 p.m.
The parent company recently announced that it is rolling out Alexa skills on most of its 63 stations. SonicAi is its tech partner for the project, aimed at making it easier for listeners to play Beasley station streams and access on-demand content on Amazon Echo smart speaker systems.
The U.S. radio industry in general — which has fought hard to stay top-of-mind in the automobile environment in recent years — is hoping the smart speaker trend can reenergize its presence for listening at home or work.
The Philly announcement quoted Program Director Chuck Damico: “We thought having “Alexa” do an air shift and give away some Amazon Echo Dots is a really fun way to help launch the Ben FM skill and introduce it to our audience.”
