TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.[19]
 | |
 TuneIn app running on a smartphone | |
| Initial release | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Platform | List of platforms
|
| Available in | 22 languages |
| Type | |
| License | Proprietary software |
| Website | tunein |
TuneIn is operated by the company TuneIn Inc. which is based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by Bill Moore in 2002 as RadioTime in Dallas, Texas. Users are able to listen through the TuneIn website, using a mobile app, smart speaker, or another supported device. As of 2016[update], TuneIn was also available on more than 55 vehicle models.[20] In 2013, the company raised more than $47 million in venture funding from Institutional Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, GV, General Catalyst Partners, and Icon Ventures.[21]
In November 2020, TuneIn appointed Richard Stern as Chief Executive Officer and Rob Deichert as Chief Revenue Officer, with a new investment led by Innovation Endeavors.[22]
Functions
In August 2015, TuneIn launched a premium service called "TuneIn Premium" that covers audiobooks, sports content from MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, news content from MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and more.[23] Initially, subscribers were able to record any content played through the TuneIn service,[24] but the feature was first discontinued in the UK in early 2017, with a global discontinuation following on September 14, 2020, citing legal issues.[25] However, the feature remains accessible through older versions of the TuneIn Pro app.
In 2017, the company raised $50 million and was valued at $500 million.[26]
In March 2018, TuneIn launched another premium live audio subscription called "TuneIn Live," which offers play-by-play calls from thousands of live sporting events, plus access to premium news stations, talks shows and other content. The company launched the subscription-based radio service exclusively for Alexa-enabled speakers, allowing subscribers to prompt Alexa to stream news programs as well as play-by-play broadcasts of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL games.[27][28] TuneIn Live marked the first time TuneIn premium content was available over a voice platform.[29] In October 2018, the company launched a commercial-free news offering through TuneIn Premium, which included news programs from CNBC, Fox News Talk, and MSNBC, as well as news podcasts from Progressive Voices, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal.
From 2019, the TuneIn website and apps allowed users to listen to more than 100,000 global radio stations including AM, FM, HD, LP, digital and internet stations, along with podcasts.[30] TuneIn's directory lists various sports, news, talk, and music broadcasts from around the world. TuneIn's website is available in 22 languages, each with its own content tailored for the specific language or region. TuneIn also offers 5.7 million on-demand programs.[31]
Content
The platform has deals with various broadcasters of sports, news, talk, and music worldwide such as ESPN Radio,[32][unreliable source?] NPR,[33] Public Radio Exchange (PRX), CBC / Radio-Canada, C-SPAN Radio, All India Radio, Emmis Communications,[34][unreliable source?] Hearst Radio, iHeartMedia, Urban One, mvyradio, Wu-Tang Radio (Wu World Radio),[35] ABC Radio and Regional Content (Australia), Bonneville International,[36] Sport Your Argument, talkSPORT,[33] and Westwood One Podcast Network.[37][unreliable source?]
On June 25, 2018, Audacy, Inc. (previously Entercom) announced that it would move online streaming of its stations from TuneIn to its then-named in-house Radio.com platform as an initiative of CBS radio.[38] In turn, Cumulus Media joined the TuneIn platform on August 9, 2018.[39]
On July 29, 2021, TuneIn and iHeartMedia announced a partnership, enabling TuneIn to distribute iHeartMedia's digital stations. The deal also granted TuneIn access to local advertising demand from iHeartMedia's monetization assets.[40]
In January 2022, TuneIn launched TuneIn On Air, which alllows non-profit broadcasters, podcasters and other long-form content creators to access the company's apps and connected devices for digital distribution of their content.[41]
In June 21, 2023, Audacy signed a partnership with TuneIn, returning all of its stations, including the former CBS Radio Stations back to the platform as well as adding its podcast library to the service.[42]
Music
In May 2018, the company announced it would stream concerts exclusively from several summer music festivals including Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival (San Francisco), Newport Jazz Festival (Newport, RI), Hangout Fest (Gulf Shores, Alabama), Firefly Music Festival (Dover, Delaware), and the Newport Folk Festival (Newport, RI).[43][44]
In September 2018, Cathleen Robertson, better known as DJ Carisma of KRRL, joined TuneIn to head Hip-Hop/R&B curation and artist relations initiatives. DJ Carisma launched and hosted "The Element" and "The Element West" as part of this initative.[45]
Sports
In August 2015, TuneIn announced deals with the MLB, the Premier League and the Bundesliga for live play-by-play coverage.[46] The deal also included the ability to cover minor league affiliates. In October 2015, NFL announced a deal with TuneIn to broadcast live, play-by-play coverage of all NFL games to its premium subscribers.[47]
On December 22, 2015, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that TuneIn would gain radio rights to the NHL. TuneIn would create an individual station for every NHL team to simulcast their home market broadcasts on. Additionally, TuneIn would create a replay channel for each team so fans could listen to the games archived. They would also create a 24/7 NHL Channel, and the NHL would embed TuneIn's player onto the NHL.com website. All TuneIn NHL items would be made available to the public for free. The first broadcasts for TuneIn began January 1, 2016. [48] On September 22, 2022, the Anaheim Ducks announced that TuneIn would become the home for all of their game broadcasts, and launched a 24/7 station called Ducks Stream to broadcast team-related content.[49]
On February 15, 2019, the Oakland Athletics of the MLB announced that TuneIn would be launching a 24/7 exclusive A's station which would include free streaming of all the team's games within the team's market as well as exclusive team programming.[50] In 2020, it was planned for TuneIn to become the exclusive home of the A's in the Bay Area after the team abandoned radio. However, the team later struck up a deal with iHeartMedia to have KNEW serve as the team's flagship station and A's Cast moved to the iHeartRadio app.[51][52]
In August 2020, TuneIn removed MLB and NBA content from its platform with no explanation given. The following month, TuneIn also removed NFL content from its platform without explanation.
As of August 2021, NFL content returned on TuneIn's platform.[53]
In March 2022, TuneIn signed a multi-year agreement with Major League Baseball to be an official audio partner of MLB, giving premium users access to live and on-demand play by play of all games, post-game analysis, and Spanish language broadcasts.[54]
On August 5, 2022, TuneIn announced they would carry all English Premier League matches.[55]
Audiobooks
In August 2015, the service launched deals with book publishers, including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, to provide an audiobook library.[56] In December 2017, TuneIn announced that it would remove audiobooks as of January 15, 2018. However, as of July 7, 2023, TuneIn continues to offer audiobooks via its website.[57]
Partnerships
In October 2018, TuneIn partnered with MSNBC to exclusively represent the sales rights of podcast, Bag Man: A Rachel Maddow Original Podcast.[58] TuneIn also partnered with Adobe Advertising Cloud in June 2018 to integrate targeted audio ads to consumers via smart speakers.[59]
In January 2019, TuneIn announced a partnership with professional golfer Greg Norman to integrate its audio streaming platform into his line of connected golf carts called 'Norman's Shark Experience.'[60]
In November 2021, TuneIn partnered with News Corp-Owned News UK to bring UK-based news, music and sports coverage to the streaming platform.[61]
In April 2022, TuneIn partnered with Amazon to bring its TuneIn Premium subscription service to all Amazon Alexa-enabled devices.[62]
Legal issues
In 2017, TuneIn was sued by Sony Music UK and Warner Music UK, alleging copyright infringement by offering access to international radio stations not licensed for distribution in the United Kingdom. The companies also took issue with a feature in its premium tier (which was later disabled in the country) that allowed users to record broadcasts. In November 2019, the English High Court ruled that, despite TuneIn's arguments that the premieum feature in question was merely an aggregator similar to a search engine, the TuneIn service infringed the labels' rights by making streams not licensed in the country available to its users (an infringement of the exclusive right to communicate a work to the public, under EU copyright law). The court granted a request for an appeal.[63][64][65]
In September 2020, TuneIn began to geoblock all international radio stations for users in the United Kingdom, citing the earlier court order.[66][63]
On March 29, 2021, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court decision, ruling that TuneIn infringed the right of communication to the public.[67]
In May 2022, TuneIn removed United Kingdom stations that were not registered with the music licensing bodies PRS and PPL.[68]