Neil Hughes
Live 24-hour streaming sports content from ESPN Radio, as well as local National Public Radio affiliates from around the U.S., are now available to hear on Apple's iTunes Radio service.
The new ESPN Radio channel can now be found within the iTunes Radio section of the Music app on iOS devices. It's also available through the iTunes Radio section of the iTunes suite on Macs and PCs. Its availability was first noticed by AppleInsider reader Aaron.
Unlike the custom built stations available in iTunes Radio, which dynamically stream tracks to users based on their listening habits, the ESPN Radio channel is a live stream of the same content being beamed out to terrestrial radio stations around the U.S.
Also available are local NPR affiliates, which can be streamed live from major and even smaller markets around the U.S., including New York and Los Angeles. As of Tuesday, dozens of NPR stations can be found on iTunes Radio.
NPR had already launched its national network on iTunes Radio in March, and promised that local affiliates would be forthcoming.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
11 Comments
UK? Anyone?
I thought one of the reasons for iTunes Radio was to provide convenient "Buy Now" option of the music that's playing. How does that work with these third-party stations?
I thought one of the reasons for iTunes Radio was to provide convenient "Buy Now" option of the music that's playing. How does that work with these third-party stations?
As you said...
[quote name="Equality72521" url="/t/180546/espn-radio-local-npr-stations-come-to-apples-itunes-radio-streaming-service#post_2548461"]UK? Anyone?[/quote] I would love to be able to listen to UK stations here in the USA. But, I think you may be suggesting UK stations for the UK, which would be a great thing too. Do you feel Apple ignores radio outside of the USA or are the restrictions on use too hard for Apple to easily over cone?
I would think a majority of iphone/ipad users have never turned on iTunes Radio. These new stations might get them to use itunes natively to stream NPR or ESPN content, as opposed to using the current only alternatives, such as Stitcher Radio or TuneIn. Next question would be what the bit rate is on the live streams. I won't use 256kbps streaming on NPR.. it's not worth that much data :-P