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Audacy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Internet radio platform formerly known as Radio.com. For the namesake company formerly known as Entercom, see Audacy, Inc.
Not to be confused with Audacity (audio editor).

Audacy
TypeDivision
BrandingInternet radio
Music recommender system
Country
United States
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OwnerAudacy, Inc.
Key people
David Field
(Chairman/CEO, Audacy)
Launch date
July 2010; 14 years ago (2010-07)
Former names
Radio.com (2010–2021)
Affiliation(s)
Official website
www.audacy.com

Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform developed by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom).[1] The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national umbrella brand for the company's radio network aggregating its over 235 local radio stations across the United States. In addition, the service includes thousands of podcasts created for the platform, hosted elsewhere or station programming on demand. It was initially developed by CBS Radio and was acquired by the former Entercom as part of the company's takeover of CBS Radio. The service's main competitors are rival station groups iHeartMedia's iHeartRadio and TuneIn. Audacy is available online via mobile devices and devices such as Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV.

Audacy Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on January 7, 2024 (case no. 24-90024), along with 47 affiliated companies. The law firm Porter Hedges, LLP is representing the firm. The bankruptcy petition lists assets and liabilities of more than $1 billion and the number of creditors between 5,000 and 10,000.[2]

History

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Radio.com logo used 2017-2018

The radio.com domain was formerly owned by CNET Networks, which purchased it, and tv.com from the nonprofit Internet Multicasting Service for $30,000 in 1996.[3] CNET, and in turn the radio.com domain, was acquired by CBS Corporation (the parent company of CBS Radio at the time) in 2008.[4]

Radio.com launched on July 16, 2010, under CBS Radio. It was originally launched as a central website to stream all of CBS's then 130 radio stations, Last.fm and other CBS properties. The original features were currently-playing information, song history, station and genre search, presets, blogs, newsfeeds, and social media tools.[5] Later that year the service launched its first app for iOS. In addition the service added custom channels and music from AOL Radio and Yahoo Music.[6] In 2015, the service added a music video streaming option.[7] These deals eventually ended quietly, especially after AOL and Yahoo's mergers into Oath.[citation needed]

Entercom acquired CBS Radio, including Radio.com, on November 17, 2017.[8]

Throughout early and mid-2018, disparate individual mobile apps and sites for Entercom's legacy stations (sometimes developed outside Entercom by local third parties for individual stations and often not being hosted universally by one provider) were withdrawn from the iTunes Store and Google Play, uniting all of Entercom's web and mobile efforts for their properties solely under the Radio.com app and website. The CBS Radio stations, which were part of "CBS Local" sites with their former sister television stations, also saw their main web presences moved to sub-domains of Radio.com.[9] Some of the former CBS Local domains in markets where CBS only had radio stations remained online until late 2021 despite no longer hosting local radio content, instead carrying content from the nearest CBS-owned television station.[citation needed]

Final logo as Radio.com

On June 25, 2018, Entercom announced that Radio.com would become the exclusive streaming provider for all of its stations, ending its relationship with the third-party service TuneIn. Stations previously owned by Entercom pre-merger were removed on July 6, and former CBS Radio stations were removed on August 1. At that time, Entercom's stations would also begin promoting the service, in particular, suffixing "a Radio.com station" after their legal station identifications at the top of each hour.[10] Smart speaker integration of the service was launched within the same period.[citation needed]

In October 2019, the app debuted a feature called "Rewind", where several of Entercom's spoken word content stations maintain a 24-hour on-demand buffer of programming that can be accessed through rewind, fast-forward, and skip back/forward controls.[11]

On March 30, 2021, Entercom rebranded the company and Radio.com as Audacy. The end tag of Audacy's station identifications was then changed to identify them as "an Audacy station", along with a seven-note sounder whose tone varies with a station's format (such as a guitar playing it for a rock station, or a softer sound for a 'Mix'-like station).[12] The end tag for all Audacy's stations was changed once again in July 2022 to "Always live on the free Audacy app." Audacy, Inc. put the Radio.com domain up for auction on December 29, 2022, with a minimum required bid of $2.5 million (USD);[13] by June 1, 2023, the auction had closed without a winner.[14]

On July 19, 2022, Audacy announced a redesign of their player on their website and their app to include enhanced features such as "Enhanced Rewind" allowing listeners to rewind spoken-word programming, curated discovery of content, seamless cross-device functionality, and enriched podcast listening.[15]

In early January 2024, it was announced that Audacy would be preparing to file for bankruptcy within the upcoming weeks. On January 7, 2024, Audacy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Audacy has made a deal with its creditors to transfer control to them while cutting approximately $1.6 billion of its debt.[16]

Investment firm Soros Fund Management has emerged as the largest creditor in Audacy's prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, holding over $400 million of its highest-ranking debt. This debt is planned to be converted into equity in the restructured company, making Soros a significant shareholder.[17]

This investment aligns with Soros' recent media interests, including involvement in the acquisitions of Vice Media and a minority stake in Crooked Media. Under its proposed plan, existing shareholders will be wiped out, while high-ranking creditors will receive equity in the reorganized company. The plan requires court approval.[17]

Content partnerships

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On February 7, 2019, Entercom launched stations for CNN, CNN International, HLN, Bloomberg Radio and Bloomberg Television on Radio.com along with podcasts from Turner Podcast Network via deals with Bloomberg L.P. and Turner Broadcasting.[18] Two weeks later, Radio.com reached deals to add Bonneville International and Cox Media Group stations and podcasts to the platform.[19]

On September 25, 2019, Salem Media Group and Alpha Media stations were made available on the service.[20] Beasley Broadcast Group stations joined the service on November 11, 2020.[21]

On November 25, 2019, Disney Channels Worldwide agreed to terms to feature Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country's streams on the service; they were removed in January 2021 as Disney wound down their American radio operations, excluding ESPN Radio.[22] Disney-branded music stations returned to the Audacy app in a new deal in August 2022. [23]

On August 17, 2021, Audacy announced a content distribution partnership with Urban One to add its stations to Audacy.[24] On September 15, 2021, Audacy announced that Cumulus Media-owned radio stations and podcasts would be added.[25]

On May 23, 2023, Audacy signed a deal with Allen Media Group's The Weather Channel to carry the audio of the cable network, along with the streams of the Pattrn and Weather Channel en Español FAST channels.[26]

After a five-year absence, Audacy's stations returned to TuneIn at the end of June 2023 as part of a new content partnership with the latter.[27]

Availability and supported devices

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In addition to traditional desktop availability, the service is available via iOS/WatchOS and Android mobile and tablet devices, along with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant-compatible smart speakers and other devices.[28][29]

Streaming of Audacy content is Geo-restricted to the United States.[30] In addition, local advertising from the advertisers of the nearest Audacy cluster of stations to a listener is substituted over a station's advertising, along with traditional national advertising, public service announcements and Audacy features such as music news, trivia, and other minutia. Professional sports play-by-play are also geo-restricted to within the station's broadcast area, with either alternate/regular programming or a disclaimer airing instead online outside its market area.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Venta, Lance (March 30, 2021). "Entercom Rebrands As Audacy". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "AUDACY CORP. Bankruptcy Filing". bankruptcyobserver.com. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  3. ^ Nash, Kim S. (September 30, 1996). "Dueling for domains". Computerworld. pp. 61, 64. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  4. ^ Kramer, Staci D. (May 15, 2008). "CBS-CNET: CBS Will Own TV.com, Radio.com, MP3.com and News.com". Gigaom. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "CBS Radio Launches New Online Player". Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "CBS Radio Launches Radio.com App For iPhone". December 6, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2018.[non-primary source needed]
  7. ^ "CBS' Radio.com Launches Streaming Music Videos". TheWrap. December 2, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Hu, Cherie (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Finalizes Merger With CBS Radio, Becoming No. 2 Radio Operator in US". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  9. ^ "Radio.Com Expands To Include Entercom Roster – And Then Some". Inside Radio. November 21, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "TuneIn Tune Out For Entercom: Radio.com Gets Exclusive". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  11. ^ "On Radio.com, Listeners can Now Rewind Their Favorite Talk Radio Programs". PILOT. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  12. ^ Spangler, Todd (March 30, 2021). "Entercom Changes Name to Audacy, Kills Off Radio.com Brand". Variety. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  13. ^ Audacy Places Radio.com Up For Auction - RadioInsight (published December 29, 2022)
  14. ^ "'Radio.com' Auction Has Closed. Domain Remains With Audacy, For Now". Inside Radio. June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  15. ^ Rollout of Updates to Audacy App and Website Begins Today - Audacy, Inc. (published July 19, 2022)
  16. ^ "Radio broadcaster Audacy files for bankruptcy". The Wall Street Journal. January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Carman, Ashley; Pollard, Amelia (February 14, 2024). "Billionaire Soros to Become Biggest Stockholder in US Radio Company". Yahoo! Finance. Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  18. ^ Ink, Radio (February 7, 2019). "Radio.com To Launch Stations For CNN, Bloomberg". Radio Ink. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  19. ^ "Radio.com Adds Bonneville & Cox Stations To Streaming Platform". RadioInsight. February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  20. ^ Alpha Media & Salem Media Group Stations To Join Radio.com - Radio insight (published September 25, 2019)
  21. ^ Beasley Media Stations Join Radio.com - Radio Insight (published November 11, 2020)
  22. ^ Radio Disney Joins Radio.com - Radio Insight (published November 25, 2019)
  23. ^ "Digital Disney Station Debuts". August 22, 2022.
  24. ^ Audacy Strikes Content Distribution Partnership With Urban One, Bringing Additional Premium Live and On-demand Audio Content to Digital Platform - Audacy, Inc. (published August 17, 2021)
  25. ^ Cumulus Media Stations Join Audacy App/Streaming Platform - Radio Insight (published September 15, 2021)
  26. ^ Audacy Adds The Weather Channel Networks to Streaming Platform - Radio Insight (Published May 23, 2023)
  27. ^ "Audacy Extends Reach of its Streaming Content via Distribution and Monetization Agreement With TuneIn" (Press release). Audacy, Inc. June 21, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  28. ^ "How to listen to radio stations online at Radio.com: FAQ". Radio.com. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  29. ^ "Google Groups". Google Search. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  30. ^ "Geo-Blocking Explained: What to Know and How You Can Get Around It". CNET. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
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