Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Warner Music Nashville streaming promotion; Germany moves to make FM-only radio receivers illegal; Spotify valuation still growing. Continue Reading
Cumulus Media-owned Westwood One has partnered with iHeartMedia-owned Katz Expressway, a programmatic advertising exchange powered by tech company Jelli. The immediate result is that radio stations in major Cumulus market have some commercial inventory in Expressway, available for automated buying. Continue Reading
NextRadio was introduced in August, 2013, as a tuner for SmartPhones to receive over-the-air radio reception with enhanced on-screen interactivity. In the nearly four years of NextRadio promotion, Emmis has faced challenges. In this week’s earnings call, Emmis head Jeff Smulyan put NextRadio prominently in the discussion, and framed it as an early-stage product undergoing growth and improvement. Continue Reading
Triton Digital announced today that it successfully completed the annual accreditation process performed by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its Webcast Metrics measurement product. Triton was first accredited by the MRC in March, 2014, following a rigorous two-year evaluation period. The accreditation certifies Triton’s technology, methods, and measurement definitions. Continue Reading
Hot out of the box today for public consumption, the annual Techsurvey from Jacobs Media digs into podcasting, smart speakers, and other media consumption details. The survey groups consists largely of people in radio station databases, so while it is not a pure P1 population, we assume a built-in favorability to radio. That is useful for questions about radio pros and cons, and also an interesting lens for non-radio questions. Continue Reading
Amazon’s voice-activated Alexa operating system, the leading voice assistance platform, introduced a new product today: the Echo Show. Echo Show joins the original Echo smart speaker, Echo Dot miniature device, and Echo Look style assistant. Amazon says it’s about “ambient computing.” Continue Reading
In one of the most eventful days in company history, Pandora released its Q1 earnings, disclosed the first subscription numbers for Pandora Premium, announced a new $150-million investment, altered its board rules making it easier to change directors, and accepted the resignation of its board Chairman and another board member. Continue Reading
This year, 36% of Americans will use a voice-assisted smart device at least once a month — a 129% jump from last year, according to eMarketer. Over 70% of that usage is through Amazon Alexa, the operating system which lives in the Echo, Dot, and Look devices. Continue Reading
Jovem Pan, the largest radio network in Brazil with 142 stations, has allied with Audio.ad, the audio advertising company serving Hispanic market in the Americas, to put its digital audio inventory in Audio.Ad’s automated platform. The partnership gives Jovem Pan advertisers access to Tail.digital, an audience data and segmenting platform. Continue Reading
Webcast listening in February spiked upward by eight percent compared to the previous month, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics monthly Top 20 Ranker, released today. Year-over-year listening to streams gained 12%. Click through for long-term trendlines. Continue Reading
Ad-tech company AdsWizz is now in the Alexa development business, partnering with iHeartMedia on the publishing side, and ad agencies Assembly, Mediavest|Spark, and Mindshare. Alexa is the voice-controlled home assistant platform developed by Amazon and embodied in the Echo, Dot, and Look devices. Skills involve interactive listening and voice-activated responses to advertisements. Continue Reading
Registration for the June 21 RAIN Podcast Business Summit opens today, as tickets for the milestone conference go on sale at the Early Pricing level for a limited time. Between now and May 16 attendees may register to be part of the event at New York’s AXA Event & Production Center for $299. Continue Reading