U.K’s Tesco sells Blinkbox video service; music service could be next

Beleaguered retailer Tesco, which owns 3,300 stores in the U.K., and a portfolio of media assets under the Blinkbox brand, has reportedly sold its video Blinkbox service to phone company TalkTalk. Blinkbox Music, which announced a million streams last September, is not part of the deal, but a buyer is reportedly lined up. Continue Reading

TuneIn prescribes listening for post-“Serial” withdrawal

The well publicized success of audio programming Serial, which achieved cult status and breakthrough metrics for a pureplay podcast (online only, not an archived radio show), has the podcast industry hoping for rising tide which lifts all boats. It’s not only podcast creators looking at 2015 as a potential growth year for the category. Distribution platforms have much to gain from an anticipated surge of interest in on-demand talk-based audio. Continue Reading

adStream: When audio ads topically match the audio stream

Getting the right ad to the right listener at the right time is accomplished in different ways. We spotted examples of a matchup that is possible with streaming audio — matching product type with playlist type. Specifically, when auditioning Pandora’s “Brunch” playlist (one of Pandora’s house-built listening options, which the company has been promoting lately), we heard ads by McDonald’s and Community Coffee in rotation. Continue Reading

3

Editor’s Notebook: From digital dashboard to self-driving cars

by Brad Hill

The digital dashboard is a gold-rush scramble for territory. But what if there were no dashboard at all? Autonomous (self-driving) cars are rolling toward us, and will be on the road sooner or later. How will audio competition be shaped when the car is a WiFi-connected living room? Continue Reading