iHeartMedia today announced multiple new consumer technology integrations for iHeartRadio, the company’s free all-in-one digital music, on demand, podcasting and live streaming radio service, during the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The integrations include the Honda Dream Drive Platform, the new Bixby from Samsung, Roku devices, and Google’s Android TV and Android Auto. Additionally, iHeartRadio today launched its fully redesigned iHeartRadio Family app on Amazon Fire Tablet with iOS and Android coming soon.
“2018 was a momentous year for iHeartMedia, filled with acquisitions, partnerships, integrations and the development of an unprecedented podcasting platform”
“2018 was a momentous year for iHeartMedia, filled with acquisitions, partnerships, integrations and the development of an unprecedented podcasting platform,” said Darren Davis, President of iHeartRadio and iHeartMedia Networks Group. “Thanks to our ever-expanding list of platforms, iHeartRadio can be enjoyed nearly everywhere — from cars to wearables to gaming consoles and more. We’re excited to announce even more integrations this week as we look forward to another successful year of providing listeners everywhere with an exceptional music and audio listening experience.”
Full details on the iHeartRadio Family app redesign and integrations can be found below:
iHeartRadio Family
iHeartRadio Family now boasts new features, content, parental control settings and more. Live Radio, Playlist Radio and Podcasts are now available in the app for a total of more than 80 pieces of family-friendly content. Improved navigation now includes a scrolling mechanism that moves top to bottom instead of left to right, and now has three tabs (All, Music and Stories) for more intuitive browsing.
Additionally, parents now have more control over the app experience with “Hide this Station” and “Hide this Story” features, which enable parents to manage certain content through the “Parental Controls” tab on the Settings page. Download iHeartRadio Family on Amazon Fire Tablet, with iOS and Android devices coming soon.
Honda Dream Drive
Honda is demonstrating its prototype Honda Dream Drive, the automotive industry’s first integrated driver and passenger infotainment, commerce, services and rewards dashboards within the vehicle environment. In partnership with iHeartRadio, Honda will also explore in the Dream Drive platform the integration of live broadcast radio content (AM/FM signals) simultaneously with digitally streamed audio content. Drivers will be able to access and interact with their favorite iHeartRadio content, including thousands of live stations from across the U.S., custom artist radio stations and more than 20,000 podcasts. Experience Honda Dream Drive in the all-new 2019 Honda Passport at its CES booth in LVCC North Hall #7900.
Bixby from Samsung
iHeartMedia continues its strong partnership with Samsung and unveils a voice-enabled integration with the new Bixby, Samsung’s intelligence platform, that will enable users in the U.S to seamlessly call up specific live and iHeartRadio original radio stations. Now, listening to iHeartRadio on Bixby-enabled devices will be easier than ever. Soon, listeners will also be able to enjoy music playlists and their favorite podcasts. Experience the integration at Samsung’s booth in LVCC Central Hall #15006.
Roku Devices
iHeartRadio users can now use simple voice commands with Roku streaming players and Roku TVs with Roku TV Wireless Speakers connected to listen to all their favorite live radio stations, artist stations and podcasts. With Roku TV Wireless Speakers, users can bring music to life with powerful performance via stereo separation, vibrant high frequencies and rich bass, plus, full, clear sound. For a frictionless experience, users can give voice commands like “Play iHeartRadio Countdown on iHeartRadio” to a Roku TV Voice Remote or a Roku Touch™. Roku TV Wireless Speakers are the first speakers built by Roku and are designed exclusively for Roku TV™ to be incredibly easy to set up, simple to use and deliver premium sound.
Android TV
Android TV devices with the Google Assistant built-in allow for a more seamless listening experience. With this integration, listeners can easily pick radio stations, podcasts and playlists from the personalized recommendations curated by iHeartRadio that appear automatically on their home screen using just their voice. Additionally, listeners can activate devices with far field microphones by saying, “Hey Google,” or by pressing the mic button on the remote to quickly find their favorite iHeartRadio live radio station.
With a complete design refresh and the addition of podcasts, free music playlists and the Google Assistant, users can now enjoy a more delightful and frictionless iHeartRadio experience in their living rooms on any Android TV devices including smart televisions, set top boxes and streaming devices.
Android Auto
Listeners can easily access even more of their favorite iHeartRadio features in the car including music playlists and podcasts in addition to thousands of live radio stations and custom artist stations with the latest version of Android Auto. Discovering new and existing iHeartRadio content is now more intuitive—the new large album art views makes it easier to quickly select something to play, while the improved voice search experience enables drivers to just say “OK Google” to find music without taking their eyes of the road. Drivers and passengers can also view alternate iHeartRadio search results and browse through optimized imagery.
iHeartRadio currently has more than 125 million registered users, a milestone that it has reached faster than any other digital music service, and has surpassed two billion downloads. In 2018, iHeartMedia acquired Stuff Media, the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content, which includes the HowStuffWorks (HSW) podcasting business as well as a slate of premium podcast content. This acquisition increased iHeartMedia’s position as the solid No. 1 commercial podcast publisher globally, and No. 2 overall (Podtrac, 2018). Following its acquisition of Stuff Media, iHeartMedia acquired Jelli, Inc., the technology company that powers its SoundPoint programmatic platform. In addition, iHeartMedia can be heard in every vehicle reaching more than a quarter of a billion people monthly through its 850 broadcast radio stations nationwide.
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