On one level Tunein is a competitor, but not really. Tunein was a web site and now apps that allow streaming radio on the Internet. They also maintain program schedules – the people involved have investment capital, employees and contacts in the radio business.
They pushed a new version of their iPad app today with interesting functionality which suggests what they think the future is
You can configure the types of things you want to listen to – it then cycles your 8 choices showing you various things you might want to listen to
The main thing is this list blurs the difference between live radio shows and non radio podcasts. I’m listening to a 20 minute Howie Carr podcast. It’s not a “live” feed of a rebroadcast. If I get bored, I can go back and get some other random list of shows.
Tunein is getting placements in automobile entertainment systems. Some folks think they have the right concept
I am one of the folks that think they have the right concept and if they execute right will be an alternative to Sirius XM. The Tunein app for the Logitech internet radios works the same way.
“TuneIn lets you listen to music, sports, comedy and news from around the world. With over 70,000 stations and two million on-demand programs, TuneIn places the sounds of the world right within your grasp.” ( from http://ue.logitech.com/en-ca/articles/smart-radio-services )
There is not need to pay for a live satellite feed to hear Beatles songs with no commercials, or to hear talk shows discussing Matt Drudge headlines. Either works well as a pre-drivetime podcast.
Live connections are needed for traffic, weather, sports and breaking news and even those delayed by a few minutes are normally no issue. The point is that even an a spotty internet connection in a driving car would allow enough buffering so to eliminate the loss of signals users have with Sirius/XM.
I’d dump Sirius XM except even after all these years, I still enjoy listening to Martha Quinn’s perky voice. 😉 A couple weeks back, as she introduced Devo’s Whipit on the 80’s channel, she suggested that Ihop should consider licensing the song for a new advertizing campaign because for their pancakes because they “Flip It good” 😉
the TuneIn app for my kindle fire is more user friendly that the program for the computer. On the fire I get the station and the program listing. I have a nice lobby for my customers so I just switch from Pandora to TuneIn for ambient music.
I have worked with iHeart and TuneIn for a while and find Tunein faster to use on many levels. iHeart I use to get WABC and WMMB and that is about it. Tunein for 1710 Antioch MI, 20th Century Radio, and Oxford. Browsing information is more complete on iTunes and seems more extensive as well.
IHeartRadio pushed them into this. Clear Channel and Cumulus have decided they want to force listeners into their mobile apps by denying access to Tunein. All that is going to do is speed up the demise of terrestrial radio.
After people use this web site for a couple weeks, they realize there is no magic and very little use to choose to listen to their local radio station to listen to a syndicated show. It’s the show that matters, not which station. Some stations do have strong brand loyalty because of their history (WABC comes to mind), but the people running radio now spend their days staring at spreadsheets and computing EBITDA and free cash flow multiples instead of managing their people.
So many radio stations are no longer available to Tunein – the result is they go right to the source. The smarter people in radio push to own their own shows and the web site. They’re building an income stream and their own brand, independent of their syndication company. Tunein can’t get Mark Levin from WABC? Just go grab the podcast. It isn’t live? No problem. The ability to skip through the 26 minutes an hour of commercials and local news makes tat a worthwhile tradeoff. At the point it sprouts a +30 seconds button, all bets are off
I’ve always had the sense that iHeart was trying to be an alternative to SiriusXM. They are right that they can be, but to hide their commercially sponsored streams and require listeners to use an app they don’t like is foolhardy. I would make sense if the subscribers were paying and that may be their unstated end game.
Glen Beck has it right, start your own program, add Buck and a few others and stream 24/7, with constant pleas for listeners to lobby their cable companies to send him a monthly check.
Speaking of WABC history and SiriusXM, listen to SiriusXM’s 60s on 6 DJ in this 50 second clip announcing a contest. “Cousin Scottso” is the legendary Scott Muni. Pay particular attention for a zip code in the address 😉 :
http://www.musicradio77.com/images/pmobtlspcm.mp3
I grew up in Pittsburgh 16, PA and our phone number began with Fairfield.
I am using tunein iphone for 50% of my listening. The other 25 is sxm for two stations, and 25% podcasts.
Most shows I want are available somewhere on tunein and the app is very easy to use.
I would shit can sxm but I listen to Nascar very infrequently and PGA, mostly around the bigger events. Sometimes if a bomb goes off, I can get caught up on cnn. (oh yeah, I can get that from tunein) Yah, they should just get ’em installed into cars…