East Side Radio is an independent online radio broadcasting live Mon–Fri 10h–22h from a studio in Beato, Lisbon East. Founded in 2018, it has grown from a small operation in the back room of Mercado de Arroios into a full broadcasting studio in the Duro De Matar venue, serving listeners worldwide through a 24/7 stream of replays and archives.
Most of the schedule is regular shows with new episodes every 4 or 2 weeks, always on the same weekday and time. Three shows every day run for 2 or 3 hours at the same time every week. The schedule also includes biweekly and monthly regulars sharing reserved time slots on alternating weeks, and 2–3 daily Guest Mix slots open to anyone wanting to run a DJ set, a talk show, or experiment with something else.
The technical stack is built on modern streaming infrastructure: OvenMediaEngine delivers low-latency HLS video streams at sub-2-second latency, with an Icecast server providing a pure audio alternative. The website is built with Next.js and deployed on Vercel, with all show and schedule data managed through a custom backoffice called ControlRoom.
East Side Radio started in 2018 in the back room of Mercado de Arroios, a neighbourhood market in East Lisbon. The setup was modest: a small studio space, a handful of weekly shows, and a streaming server. The station quickly became a gathering point for the local music community.
In 2021, the station expanded with a food truck that served as a mobile broadcasting unit, bringing live radio to events and festivals across Lisbon. This period established ESR's reputation as more than a radio station — it became a cultural connector in the city.
By 2023, the operation moved into a permanent studio at Duro De Matar, a cultural venue in the Beato neighbourhood. The current studio supports live video and audio broadcasting with professional-grade equipment, and the schedule has grown to over 40 shows per week.