Apple Music is to host another live radio station alongside the likes of Beats 1 – as CBS Radio launches a sports channel on the music streaming platform.
CBS Sports Radio is a 24/7 channel that offers a live simulcast of national sports coverage and programming from the CBS Radio network, including original content featuring commentary, analysis and interviews hosted by sports figures.
CBS Sports Radio joins CBS Radio News, NBC Sports Radio, and a handful of other news and sports channels in the US market which are available for streaming on Apple Music.
Others include BBC World Service, Bloomberg Radio and NBC Sports Radio.
All of these third-party ‘stations’ are only available behind Apple Music’s paywall, while Beats One can be accessed for free.
“The appetite for compelling and hard-to-ignore sports analysis, commentary and fan debate continues to grow across all audio platforms.” chris oliviero, cbs radio
Discussing the deal, Chris Oliviero, Executive Vice President, Programming at CBS RADIO said: “The appetite for compelling and hard-to-ignore sports analysis, commentary and fan debate continues to grow across all audio platforms.
“CBS Sports Radio delivers this to fans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so it’s an ideal next step to launch a channel on Apple Music, one of the most popular streaming services today, as yet another way we continue to meet the evolving desires of this passionate audience anywhere and everywhere.”
The news comes shortly after Jimmy Iovine confirmed a move into original video content, while Apple Music’s content chief, Larry Jackson, recently told Complex the goal is to “make something that’s the intersection of all things pop-culture. To make it more than just a utility.”
Apple Music competitor Spotify hosts a range of podcasts, but is yet to welcome simulcast live radio.
CBS Radio launched CBS Sports Radio as a standalone service in January 2013.
In addition to being available across local radio stations, online and via the Radio.com app, sports fans will now have access to CBS Sports Radio’s coverage and commentary via Apple Music on a variety of devices.
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