Last year we told you about an easy way to get an Alexa Streaming Skill for your radio stations. You’ll still need a free developer account, but now they’ve made the onboarding process much easier. Check out their launch blog article: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/blogs/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/2023/04/alexa-skills-radio-kit-march.
Amazon has launched the Alexa Radio Skills Kit (RSK) console, making it easier for radio broadcasters to stream on Alexa-enabled devices. With RSK, broadcasters can improve user interaction without needing to code. They simply submit their station information and the Alexa Radio Skills Kit Console handles the publishing and discovery process.
Once a station is onboarded, it becomes available on Alexa-enabled devices within 72 hours. RSK also improves skill discovery through location-based search. When a user requests a specific station or music genre, Alexa considers nearby stations that match the request, providing a more personalized experience for the listener. Additionally, you can choose a specific name for each station to be identified, enhancing your brand recognition.
RSK also supports multi-room playback, setting alarms to a particular station, and creating routines that include radio station playback. This enables listeners to seamlessly incorporate radio playback into their daily routines.
Whether or not your stations are currently available on Alexa, there are several benefits to using the Alexa Radio Skills Kit (RSK) over custom Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) skills:
- Reduced customer friction: RSK skills are automatically enabled, eliminating the need for customers to take additional action to enable a skill after requesting the station. Customers can simply ask to “play Skyrocket Radio” and it will work. In contrast, ASK custom skills require customers to enable the skill in their Alexa app before they can play the station. So, if you’re currently asking listeners to enable your skill, this is a better alternative.
- Support for “play” utterances: RSK supports customers asking to “play” a station by name, alternate name, call sign, or frequency, without needing to ask to “open” or “launch” a station skill. ASK custom skills typically require customers to ask to “open” or “launch” the station skill or “ask” a skill to play a specific station.
- Location-based search: RSK supports location-based search, which means that when a customer asks for a station, Alexa considers nearby stations that match their request. This improves accuracy for playing the correct station to match a customer’s request.
- Enhanced feature support: RSK supports features such as multi-room playback, setting alarms, and creating routines that include radio station playback, which are not currently available through regular ASK custom skills.
- Non-technical onboarding: Partners can onboard to RSK without requiring technical expertise or investment in building/maintaining their own skills. This provides a simpler and more accessible means of onboarding to RSK for broadcasters who may not have technical resources readily available.
The Alexa Radio Skills Kit console is readily available on Amazon’s website, providing broadcasters with an easy-to-use platform to enhance their presence on Alexa-enabled devices and offer a more engaging experience for their listeners.
Have you used the Alexa Radio Skills kit? Let us know how your experience was.
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