Does CC Have a Shot at Pandora and Sirius XM?

From Rick Aristotle Munarriz at fool.com

Despite Clear Channel's nasty rep as the juggernaut of commercial-laden terrestrial radio with its wafer-thin playlists, iHeartRadio has been one of music's more popular downloads on Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) App Store since its 2008 rollout. Versions for Android, BlackBerry, and more recently Windows Phone 7 have been subsequently introduced.

The allure of iHeartRadio is that it streams more than 750 of Clear Channel's local terrestrial stations wherever an online connection can be established. Smartphones, tablets, and even computers -- of course -- can go on an aural road trip to cherry-pick the AM and FM channels that they like best.

The personalized music-discovery engine of Pandora and the deep commercial-free play lists of Sirius XM haven't lost a whole lot of sleep over iHeartRadio in the past. There are plenty of listeners to go around, and who would fear terrestrial radio's desperate attempt at relevance these days?

Well, the music festival is set to coincide with fall's refresh of an updated iHeartRadio app.

"The new version is everything you want in one place," Seacrest revealed this morning.

"Real radio stations from cities across the country, and coming soon custom radio like Pandora but with more songs, more control, and no commercials through the end of the year."

Yes, iHeartRadio is calling out Pandora by name. Going the commercial-free route through at least 2011 will also challenge Pandora to scale back on its ads, likely explaining why Pandora opened lower than the general market today.

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