Radio Needs More Digital Platforms--Clear Channel Gets It

Implications: Clear Channel's iHeartRadio application is now available for the Apple iPhone, bringing hundreds of existing radio stations to mobile users.

Analysis: Clear Channel has been bedeviled with all sorts of nasty names, like "The Evil Empire" because of the number of radio stations the company owns.  Despite the outcry, Clear Channel has been an innovator in the radio industry, and they are breaking new ground with the release of a new application for the iPhone called iHeartRadio.

With this new free application, iPhone users will have access to 10 of the top stations available plus two Internet only stations.  More will be added in the future, no doubt.  Using the iTouch technology, the user will also see album art and song lyrics, with the ability to stream advertising, opening another revenue stream.

Radio needs more efforts like this.  Some people may scoff at the idea of radio stations being available on mobile phones, but it's the way to reach younger audiences for sure as well as find new listeners. 

Smart move by Clear Channel, and more staitons and groups should follow suit--not just with the iPhone, but all types of phones.