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Published on Monday, 16 April 2012 17:51
Midway Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of WVON-AM 1690, announced today that it has signed on with the Clear Channel-owned iHeartRadio service. Effective tomorrow, Tuesday, April 17th, WVON becomes iHeartRadio's first ever Urban Talk radio station stream.
While iHeartRadio streams over 800 radio stations online, it's biggest advantage is that it has become the #1 free radio app on iPhone and Android smart phones. The iHeartRadio app offers commercial radio stations, Internet-only radio stations, and the ability to create customized stations, all through the web, mobile devices, certain automobiles, and other digital platforms.
Beginning tomorrow, WVON-AM will begin what it describes as "an aggressive promotional campaign" to let its listeners know of WVON's joining with iHeartRadio and how to use it.
Melody Spann Cooper, Chairman of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, said in today's announcement: "I think this is a win-win for both WVON and iHeartRadio. We'll reach a national audience, our listeners will have the benefit of taking the station wherever they go by using their smart phones, and iHeartRadio gets the benefit of our best-in-class urban talk format."
This is not the first time Midway Broadcasting and Clear Channel have partnered together. On September 18, 2006, WVON-AM moved its station to the Clear Channel-owned 1690 AM. Midway signed a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) with Clear Channel to use their frequency. (That LMA is set to expire later this summer.) The agreement allowed WVON-AM to broadcast on a 24-hour, 10,000-watt broadcast signal, greatly boosting their range & reach.
This new deal to allow iHeartRadio to stream its station worldwide is another way WVON is attempting to expand its range & reach.
In the last year, many Chicago radio stations, not counting the Clear Channel-owned stations, have signed on with Clear Channel's iHeartRadio. Those include WOJO-FM, WPPN-FM, WRTO-AM, WVIV-FM/WVIX-FM, WGN-AM, WLS-FM, and WLS-AM, as well as local college radio station, Radio DePaul. (WLS-AM & WLS-FM, while signed on to stream on iHeartRadio, along with all other Cumulus-owned stations, have not yet started streaming with the service.)
