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FYI

Media Beat: December 16, 2019

Earlier in this column, we reported on the self-acknowledged success of Radioplayer in Cana

Media Beat: December 16, 2019

By David Farrell

Earlier in this column, we reported on the self-acknowledged success of Radioplayer in Canada. It stood to reason that we were going to hear from Bell Media, which has its own iHeartRadio app in the market.


We were right. Last week, Rob Farina, Head of Radio Content, Strategy and iHeartRadio, Bell Media Radio, fired back with the following…

I felt your story gave the reader the impression that Radioplayer Canada is being adopted by Canadians as their choice for streaming audio. It’s not.  We are currently clocking at over 20 million hours tuned monthly – compared to their 3.7. Even the Stingray app has more engagement then RadioPlayer Canada. The other factor – they got to 1M downloads in 3 years – we hit that within six months of launch and now have almost 3 million downloads in Canada. But downloads are a useless figure – you can get lots of downloads, but what matters is the engagement. How many apps have you downloaded and never used?  

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The attached chart should give you an accurate picture of where Canadian radio plays – and it’s on iHeart. Also – we have been onboarding Canadian broadcasters onto iHeart platform – Evanov, MyFM, Canadian Association of Community and Campus broadcasters, etc.

He tips us that two more “major broadcasters” are to be announced as part of the bandwidth of stations on offer through the iHeartRadio Canada app toot sweet.

So, it would seem, the iHeartRadio app is winning the race to date, but let's also take into account that the more the merrier adds to more radio audience engagement and that's a good thing.

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Neil Young
Courtesy photo

Neil Young

FYI

Music Biz Headlines: Canadian Stars Unite to Celebrate Neil Young, Justin Bieber Sets a Coachella Record

Other stories making headlines this week include the new Lilith Fair film documentary, the CCMA Award winners, Lee's Palace's 40th birthday and more.

This week, a star-studded cast of Canadian performers is announced for a Massey Hall concert tribute to mark the 80th birthday of rock 'n roll icon Neil Young.

Cameron Whitcomb and Josh Ross confirm their star status with major wins at the 2025 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Kelowna, M for Montreal unveils its impressive 2025 lineup and Coachella announces its lineup very early.

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