Companies like to time their announcements and new feature launches around industry events like the NAB/RAB Radio Show, Apple’s iTunes Radio launch, and so on. That’s made for a big of a back-up in reporting some of these developments. That’s not to say each one of these news items is directly tied to the show, but Rather, news like this tends come fast and furious around conferences. But we think it’s of interest to our readers, so we wanted to get it out there, at least in brief form.
Hosting and streaming services company Liquid Compass had two announcements this week. First, the company unveiled three new premium services for broadcast clients that simulcast online. “GeoFencing” allows broadcasters to limit the reach of streaming access by country or DMA. Also new is the “synchronized terrestrial banner” for simulcast streams, and a beta of geo-restricted subscription services, so stations that forego out-of-market ad replacement can charge non-local listeners for access. Second, Liquid Compass launched three new turn-key product packages for broadcasters, service providers, and ad sellers and agencies called White Label, Reseller, and Affiliate.
Leading public radio outlet KCRW has debuted live streaming on its YouTube channel. The station, long known for being ahead of even most public radio when it comes to digital, says the stream will feature live in-studio performances from musical artists appearing on “Morning Becomes Eclectic” (as well as archived sets).
“We believe Pandora is cultivating a better musical future by enabling an effortless and endless exchange where music flows freely from the artists who create it to the audiences who love it.” Pandora says, in its blog, this thinking is the foundation of its “evolved brand strategy,” begun yesterday with its new logo and iPad app (see RAIN here). There’s even a video about it here.
Broadcast group Federated Media has named online tuning software provider TuneIn the official mobile app and online audio player for all 15 of its stations. All Federated Media stations will migrate from their existing mobile apps and audio players to TuneIn Radio’s app and custom-branded TuneIn audio players, and will promote TuneIn on-air.
Focus 360, which provides programming, syndication, and national ad sales to radio, will deploy the Jelli cloud-based ad platform to sell and serve advertising for station groups and show producers. The multi-year deal will have Focus 360’s ad network using Jelli’s RadioSpot platform, the first time Jelli has used a third party to power ad-serving and reporting.