Cumulus/Westwood One leveraged Amazon Prime Day by commissioning an Ipsos study of advertising effectiveness in promoting the event. With the result favoring traditional radio ads, the survey turned a pure digital story into a testimonial of analog reach and power to drive consumer action. Continue Reading
Sirius XM reported its Q2 earnings, and raised guidance on annual revenue and subscriber growth. The report followed and exceeded an exceptionally bullish Q1 report in April. Continue Reading
Music subscription service Rhapsody sent a notice that its Android app has been refreshed with new design and usability features. Version 5.0 includes several key changes, which we tested. Continue Reading
BPI and the Official Charts Company reported that weekly audio streams in the UK have exceeded the 500 million milestone. It’s the first time to reach that metric. The country is now forecast to reach 25 billion audio streams by the end of the year. Continue Reading
Samsung has entered into a partnership with Google Play Music, offering the owners of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices a free subscription to the service for six months. This new arrangement means the end of Samsung’s bundle with Deezer, which gave six months access to the Premium+ plan. Continue Reading
In an unexpected announcement by NextRadio that will be greeted warmly by all advocates of FM reception in smartphones, AT&T has added FM chip activation to the specification list that it gives OEM phone makers. This development carries a hopeful message to Emmis-owned NextRadio, and the stations which participate in that app. Continue Reading
Apple Music has reportedly signed up more than 10 million people in its first month. The data point comes from Hits, which credited unnamed sources from major labels. Apple Music is still in its free trial stage for any listeners, so these alleged millions haven’t yet paid for the service. Continue Reading
Pandora’s Sponsored Listening program, which began a beta launch period last October, emerges today as a full-throttle marketing opportunity for all advertisers. We spoke to Lizzie Widhelm, VP of Digital. Continue Reading
The Voltair controversy is a many-sided issue. When Randy Kabrich posted a piece of research that examined whether the audio processing technology increases ratings in Nielsen PPM markets, as Voltair claims to, Kurt Hanson was impressed — but suggests a different conclusion. Continue Reading
Audio ad sales company AdLarge Media notified us today that it has acquired exclusive ad-rep rights to Associated Press (AP) on-demand news reports on AudioBoom. Along with extending AP’s exposure to marketers, there is a reach play in the deal, which allows affiliaste radio stations to host AP audio updates on their websites and mobile apps. Continue Reading
What does it mean when industry observers criticize radio for failing to tell a better story about itself? What should it mean? Larry Rosin thinks radio should take a lesson from what it preaches to advertisers. Continue Reading
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James’ review of the new BBC iPlayer Radio app; how radio can intersect podcasting; changes at CBS Radio Continue Reading