Apple on Monday expanded its iTunes Radio streaming service to feature a unique news channel in partnership with National Public Radio (NPR). As first reported by Re/code, the new channel mixes live news updates with pre-recorded episodes of popular NPR shows such as All Things Considered and The Diane Rehm Show.
NPR has long offered much of its programming in the form of podcasts on the iTunes Store, but today’s introduction of the NPR iTunes Radio channel bridges the gap between traditional and Internet radio. Zach Brand, NPR VP of Digital Media, told Re/code:
The public radio audience is very digital savvy, but there are certainly some of the millennials and other folks who are looking for their listening experience exclusively on digital, so we want to reach them wherever they are.
The NPR channel is the first major move away from music on Apple’s streaming service. For music, Apple sells ads and then pays labels and rights holders each time a song is played by a user. Due to the NPR’s novel long-form content, the relationship between Apple and NPR to generate revenue via the channel is not yet clear, although Mr. Brand stated that Apple has “been very understanding of the business model and the connection that public radio has with their audience.”
The NPR iTunes Radio channel is available now on iDevices and through iTunes.
