iHeartMedia will make it easy to create ‘pop-up’ radio stations
Podcasters will also have a place among the company's giant network.
Radio giant iHeartMedia, which runs more than 850 stations throughout the US, is expanding into the world of "pop-up" broadcasting following its acquisition of audio tech company Radiojar. The online radio management and streaming solutions platform helps its users create, distribute and monetize podcasts and other broadcasts in real-time, from anywhere. According to iHeartMedia, the deal means that in the "near future" it will be possible to launch a brand new radio service across broadcast and digital "within minutes of the original idea."
iHeartMedia already dominates the US radio scene, and as podcasts and hobbyist radio broadcasts play an increasing role in the media mix, it makes sense for the company to leverage the tech that will help them expand into this area -- Radiojar and its cloud-based capabilities offers exactly that. The deal also suggests that iHeartMedia's previous bankruptcy woes are now a distant memory, although its bid to future-proof itself by getting Radiojar on board may be an effort to guard against a similar situation happening again.
