New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Comcast and iHeartMedia today announced a partnership that will make iHeartRadio, the free all-in-one digital music, podcasting and live streaming radio service, available on Xfinity X1, giving people a new way to enjoy more than 1,000 radio stations from across the country - directly on their TV - with custom artist radio stations, playlists, podcasts and more iHeartRadio favorites coming soon. According to Nielsen, nearly half of all music listening (44%) happens in the home.
Beginning today and rolling out to capable X1 set-top boxes in the coming weeks, customers of both services will be able to use their voice remote to launch iHeartRadio or browse and select stations integrated throughout related sections of Xfinity On Demand.
"We are excited to team up with Comcast to bring iHeartMedia's massive catalog of live radio stations to the highly innovate Xfinity X1 platform," said Michele Laven, President of Strategic Partnerships Group for iHeartMedia. "We will continue to push boundaries and explore new opportunities for consumers to interact with the iHeartRadio brand. Our goal is to ensure that the music and trusted personalities our listeners love are seamlessly available whenever and wherever they are, across the products and services they use most. The new iHeartRadio X1 integration is a perfect addition to our platform offerings that we know listeners will love."
Following the initial roll out, iHeartRadio will continue to expand the music offering available on X1, including iHeartRadio's curated playlists, custom artist radio stations, podcasts, as well as the ability to call up a specific station or DJ directly with the voice remote. Specifically, customers will be able to:
Listen to their favorite radio stations by saying "Listen to iHeartRadio" into the voice remote, or by navigating to the iHeartRadio app located in the apps section of X1.
Future phases of the app will include the ability to search and access popular stations and DJs by saying voice commands like, "New York's Z100 on iHeartRadio," "Chicago's 103.5 KISS FM on iHeartRadio," or "Listen to Elvis Duran on iHeartRadio."
Explore and listen to curated playlists and individual stations integrated throughout the Xfinity On Demand menu. For example, during the week of the Country
Music Awards, customers might find featured country music stations within the music section of Xfinity On Demand.
Find and keep a list of favorites, including their hometown station, for quick access. X1 customers can listen to all of iHeartRadio's live radio stations without any signup, but users can also sign-in to their iHeartRadio account to access their personalized listening experience.
"Music continues to be an important part of the X1 in-home entertainment experience, and we are providing X1 customers with even more choice in how, when and where they enjoy it," said Nancy Spears, Vice President,
Digital Media Distribution and Monetization, Comcast Cable. "Whether they are looking for background music or want to entertain a crowd, the addition of iHeartRadio to X1 will add even more value to their Xfinity TV subscription, and continue to differentiate X1 as the go-to destination in the home for accessing all of their favorite content in one place."
