France-based RadioKing, a streaming internet radio platform, has announced its launch of an Alexa skill development program. the idea is to offer stations (broadcast and pureplay internet) a turnkey entrance to voice control on the Amazon Alexa ecosystem of devices. Continue Reading
Drive Time Metrics (DTM), a connected car tech startup, announced that it has been awarded a patent for its core technology which collects, measures, and analyzes in-car media use. After four years in process, the patent positions DTM to provide a key measurements and in-car audience behavior insights to audio publishers such as broadcast radio and music services. Continue Reading
Presenting RAIN’s 6th annual Predictions feature, provided by industry leaders around the world. 2019 will carry forward the audio industry’s reputation for ongoing, disruptive change. Continue Reading
In a new-year press release, Townsquare Media announced that co-CEO Dhruv Prasad will step down and his counterpart, Bill Wilson, will step into the sole CEO role at one of the largest radio groups in the U.S. Wall Street investors appear to like the news. Continue Reading
RAIN’s most important 2018 coverage of research and metrics in digital audio. Continue Reading
The online audio industry was eventful in 2018, especially on the consolidation front. Here are the top M&A events: Continue Reading
Webcast listening in September was 8% higher than the year-ago period, as Spotify widened its upward trend advantage compared to Pandora. This according to Triton Digital’s Top-20 Ranker, a monthly report based on Triton’s Webcast Metrics streaming measurement technology. Continue Reading
Voxnest has released an ambitiously titled State of the Podcast Universe Report, summarizing recent data. It is a meaty summary that includes key metrics from outside sources, and also reveals very interesting internal metrics. Continue Reading
In a milestone that potentially moves the podcast measurement needle away from downloads and toward listens, NPR has formally launched RAD (Remote Audio Data). It has been in development for a year, supported by a broad consortium of podcast hosting and content companies. Continue Reading
For years, radio professionals have started their day by reading Tom Taylor NOW Newsletter, delivered promptly at 4:00am (ET). After December 21, that habit could be a memory. In today’s edition of NOW (December 11) entitled A Radio Goodbye, Tom Taylor announced his retirement, and the final edition of the newsletter. But is it really the end? Continue Reading
Diversification and digitization were the twin keynotes for Australian radio in 2018, according to Josh McDonnell writing in AdNews. There, he presents predictions from leaders in Australia’s biggest radio groups Nova Entertainment, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Macquarie Media, iHeartRadio Australia & Asia, and trade group for the Aussie radio industry Commercial Radio Australia (CRA). Continue Reading
Google is reinventing a standard feature in smart speakers: the news update. Made famous by Amazon Echo’s “Flash Briefing,” Google’s version is invoked by “Play the news.” The initiative would bring the vast news collection capability of Google News into the voice activation realm. Continue Reading