Late last week, Arthur and Barbara Sheridan’s ABS Entertainment company launched a new legal foray for copyright royalty charges against iHeartMedia in Illinois. However, three days after filing the suit, ABS filed to dismiss the charges. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: iHeartMedia talks programmatic; Virgin + Guvera in Australia; is Sony/ATV on the chopping block? Continue Reading
Traditional radio is now a litigation target over music licensing of pre-1972 recordings, thanks to an action filed in a California state court by ABS Entertainment. Will the lawsuit reach beyond the webcast streams of the radio groiups targeted? Continue Reading
Pushing forward the digital initiatives that complement its vast over-the-air holdings, iHeartMedia has hired veteran media executive Carter Brokaw as President, Digital Revenue Strategy. Brokaw will report to iHeart’s head of sales, Tim Castelli. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia announced the launch of a new Hispanic brand management team. The new group will offer strategic guidance to the company’s Hispanic brands and connect advertisers with iHeartMedia’s Hispanic audience. Hispanic listeners are a growing category for the U.S. radio and music markets, and many media companies are working to better serve them. For instance, last week, Univision announced plans for an IPO. Continue Reading
Over the last 15 years, FM radio has gradually extended its brands online, either via simulcasting or creating original streams derived from the broadcast signal. Much less common is an FM extension of a popular pureplay Internet-only station. 96.7 Pride Radio launches today in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia and Unified have jointly announced a long-term partnership to develop audience-targeting datasets that can be applied across iHeart’s sprawling radio, streaming, mobile, and event portfolios. The deal includes an unspcified investment by iHeart in Unified. Continue Reading
Sponsored by AudioBoom
The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Apple rumors; Spotify gets richer; Grooveshark goes down in deep water; Pandora in the FM business; no streaming in the Vermont State House. Continue Reading
This week’s earnings report from iHeartMedia encompassed financial results and strategic updates ranging across the many dimensions of a media conglomerate. Within that scope, Richard Bressler (President, COO, and CFO) landed on topics of particular pertinence to online audio. Continue Reading
Last week iHeartMedia hosted a “Soundfront” to introduce a slate of new podcasts to advertisers. Today NPR is hosting a podcast upfront, promoting its most successful existing programs. The era of podcast upfronts has arrived. Continue Reading
Sponsored by AudioBoom
The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: “Serial” wins a Peabody; Apple Watch launch day — what can you listen to?; new iHeartMedia podcasts; Tidal reaches out to indies; Norway targets FM switch-off. Continue Reading
Sara Morris has joined iHeartMedia as senior director of government affairs. She comes to iHeart from the Federal Communications Commission, where she was director of the legislative affairs department. Morris also spent time as a deputy director and telecommunications policy analyst in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Congressional Affairs. Continue Reading