Apple Adds ESPN and Local NPR Stations to iTunes Radio

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Why listen to it on FM for free when I could use up all my data?!

That's why. I think that's (data burn) was most of what it is about. Apple's biggest customers are not us. It's AT&T, Verizon, etc. They pay the subsidies and they want results. I often think Apple innovation has been biased toward making those key partners happy… which is why the big innovations from the last few years have been data hungry apps like Siri, maps, FaceTime, iRadio, iCloud, iTunes Match, etc.

 

[ineedamac]

Wow I just downloaded the ESPN Radio app. Now I can delete it. Thanks Apple

Other than this, I see no reason to have ESPN radio available in iTunes. Will having ESPN in iTunes radio offer the same features as the ESPN radio app? I doubt it.

 

[lewismayell]

Early 2014 is coming to an end now, bring it to the ****ing UK

 

[afsnyder]

NPR stations (and all of their streaming content) have been available through the NPR app for years, so it's difficult to see it being added to iTunes Radio as big news.

Spotify and Pandora was around before iTunes Radio, it's not difficult to see, it's just news. You clicked the link and commented on it, they did a good job.

 

[GeneralChang]

I only read about half of this headline when I first glanced at it, and was a little confused. I mean, they already have ESPN on the Apple TV, and what would be the use of NPR on the TV?

iTunes Radio makes a bit more sense.

 

[satcomer]

This service was launched a year ago and it's still not available in the UK. What's with that?

Local DRM laws and Lawers.

 

[gmanist1000]

Other than this, I see no reason to have ESPN radio available in iTunes. Will having ESPN in iTunes radio offer the same features as the ESPN radio app? I doubt it.

Now while driving, I can ask Siri to play ESPN radio. The integration has me intrigued

 

[TheIguana]

Agreed. Why it's not yet here in Canada escapes me. That it got to Australia before Canada is bizarre.

Not bizarre... pathetic

 

[wikiverse]

Agreed. Why it's not yet here in Canada escapes me. That it got to Australia before Canada is bizarre.

Not really. Australia has one of the highest iPhone adoption rates. Also there are only a handful of music distributors, and all of them are members of APRA - the Australian performers rights association - which actually administers the licensing for most media. So apple has a huge market base and really only has to deal with one licensing body.

Also, Australia has excellent mobile reception which is needed for streaming services. I'm using iTunes Radio in the uk at the moment and I can barely get through one or two songs without it stopping or having to buffer on ee's 3G network. I can switch to 4k, but my battery is dead in 2 hours or less.

I am sure these are all factors.

 

[apollo1444]

a year later, only two countries...iOS 8 transit directions absent from maps....

Eddy what have you been up to?

 

[Plutonius]

And still no iTunes Radio in Europe. And because of that, I left iTunes and iTunes Match and started using Spotify.
iTunes is declining, and Apple doesn't seem to be aware of that. They need to bring iTunes Radio to Europe, and need to have a Spotify-like service. And they need it NOW! Tomorrow may be too late.

Blame the music industry. If Apple could license the content in Europe, they would.

 

[Tech198]

This seems good, although i never use this....

It's a iOS-ey mash-up...

 

[OllyW]

... eventually bringing the service at least 100 countries...

Should only take around 40 years at the current rate of expansion.

 

[stuffradio]

Should we take this as an indicator that Apple is still clueless about what the competition is doing? Or is Apple confused about who their competitors are? It sounds more like Apple is trying to outdo I Heart Radio, which I don't think can be done (how could you possibly beat free, nearly every station, and available on every device?), but shouldn't their target be Pandora and Spotify?

They should have bought Pandora or Spotify if they really wanted to buy their way into this arena... Buying Beats for it was just dumb.

Or Rdio. Apple should take note of how Microsoft got XBox Music into Canada (not sure about if it's in the other countries, I assume it is though).

----------

That rumor is the latest? Gosh, we will never see iTunes Radio over here...

You think that's bad? We live right beside the US and we don't even have it.

 

[576316]

Local DRM laws and Lawers.

To be entirely honest, I don't think I'd be too interested in it even if it was available over here. I tend to find new music via national radio stations when I'm in a car. I can't imagine going out of my way to listen to a 'radio' on my phone. If I listen to music on my phone, I usually know what tracks I want to listen to and I'm not usually in a position to discover new music.

 

[dec.]

Not bizarre... pathetic

It's the same with Spotify, Googles-whatever-it-is-called-music service and several others. Too many legal hurdles? I know that the Canadian market isn't massive but whoever would get their foot in first would automatically gain a large percentage of potential listeners.

 

[OS-SEX]

None of these NPR channels or ESPN work in conjunction with Air Play from a Mac. They're useless to me as I send all my audio to a proper stereo with Airport Express.

 

[Explorz]

No Airplay

Worthless since neither ESPN nor NPR can be played through airplay speakers.

 

[kds1]

I wish Apple would unlimited track changes for iTunes Match customers and choice of radio edit version of songs not only that improving where the same song does not repeat when changing tracks. Maybe one day iTunes Radio will be like Spotify only time can tell.

Was that English?

 

[Arndroid]

Should we take this as an indicator that Apple is still clueless about what the competition is doing? Or is Apple confused about who their competitors are? It sounds more like Apple is trying to outdo I Heart Radio, which I don't think can be done (how could you possibly beat free, nearly every station, and available on every device?), but shouldn't their target be Pandora and Spotify?

They should have bought Pandora or Spotify if they really wanted to buy their way into this arena... Buying Beats for it was just dumb.

Both way overpriced and what do either of those have to do with offering espn and npr radio stations?

----------

It's the same with Spotify, Googles-whatever-it-is-called-music service and several others. Too many legal hurdles? I know that the Canadian market isn't massive but whoever would get their foot in first would automatically gain a large percentage of potential listeners.

I think you have to play 70% Canadian artists to play music in Canada.

 

[kds1]

None of these NPR channels or ESPN work in conjunction with Air Play from a Mac. They're useless to me as I send all my audio to a proper stereo with Airport Express.

Erm, do it from your iPhone or iPad then.

----------

Worthless since neither ESPN nor NPR can be played through airplay speakers.

See above.

 

[kplayaja]

Well now we know why the ESPN Radio app hasn't been updated and has gone to ****!

 

[elgrecomac]

Who in the hell actually uses iTunes Radio? With much better alternatives I understand that Apple employees don't even use it.

 

[wiimixer]

They should have bought Pandora or Spotify if they really wanted to buy their way into this arena... Buying Beats for it was just dumb.

Isn't the issue that with buying Spotify (maybe also Pandora), that the rights to stream the music aren't transferable (grandfathered) in the event of such a sale? If that contractual limitation wasn't placed on Beats by the labels, it might explain why they were attractive to Apple.

 

[pauliaK]

Agreed. Why it's not yet here in Canada escapes me. That it got to Australia before Canada is bizarre.

Canada is a nightmare when it comes to licensing and copyright protection. Why do you think so many services that are available in US or worldwide are not available in Canada? It's not that no one wants Canadian dollars, it's that Canadian government with all those laws and restrictions makes it REALLY hard to take those away.

You can check cantada.ca for a few examples, though not sure whether that site gets updated anymore.