The BBC is pulling its radio streams from TuneIn at the end of August because the streaming service in unable to furnish the data the broadcaster wants to collect.
Their audio content is available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer Radio as well as a range of third-party apps, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Radioplayer and Acast as well as a multiple internet enabled smart speakers and radios with whom they have data sharing agreements.
These platforms either allow you to sign into your BBC account or provide meaningful data directly, something TuneIn is currently unable to do.
In a BBC blog, Director, BBC Distribution & Business Development, Kieran Clifton, says data collection is becoming more important “…– as it helps us to make more types of programmes we know people like, and equally importantly, identify gaps in our commissioning to ensure we’re making something for all audiences. We also use the data collected about what you watch, listen to or read online to offer personalised programme recommendations – and make our services even more tailored to you.”
A number of listeners have commented about the difficulties streaming the BBC in multi rooms through Amazon’s Alexa as the current BBC skill uses TuneIn for multi-speaker playback, something that will need to be addressed before the end of the month.
Podcasts on TuneIn will be unaffected by this change.
There is the old adage that "...there is no such thing as a free lunch..." This applies to TuneIn. According to Radio Info's contributor Mr James Cridland, TuneIn is a site that aggregates radio streams, https://www., quora.com/What-is-TuneIn-Radio-and-how-does-it-work. The TuneIn app can be used on mobile phones, smart speakers and car audio systems supporting Tune In's system, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TuneIn.
Tune In aggregates over one hundred thousand IP streams, and its apps are available as "free" or or "pro" or "premium". The "free" version displays advertising banners while the "pro" does not display adds and banners. The "pro" and "premium" versions allow for the recording of the IP stream while the "premium" allows for sporting programs and commercial-free music stations, https://help.tunein.com/what-is-the-difference-between-pro-premium-and-free-r1xeqA9uwM
What is the real price of Tune In? Going back to the "..no such thing as a free lunch..." Tune In appears to rely on the information the user and IP streaming service provider.
Thus the average 'intelligent' person in the age of information gathering and online shopping habits can determine what Tune In can do with the user and service provider information is to "commodotise" the data and sell that information to whovever wants to know who's listening to who, how much time is spent listening to a particular IP stream. Definitely more accurate than the diary system used in measuring audience ratings!
But alas, the BBC could not obtain data that the BBC wanted from TuneIn as other streaming services https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/12/bbc-to-pull-all-radio-services-from-tunein-uk/, so the BBC withdraws from TuneIn.
Lesson: if a broadcaster wants to know who's listening to its IP streams, it may have to offer some other incentives to the prospective listener in exchange for information. The broadcaster must make software compatible with smart speakers that don't have to rely on TuneIn. A broadcaster's web pages may have to include meta-search terms and negotiate with a search engine provider that inform the listener to listen to its IP stream.
Thus a terrestrial broadcaster relying on its licence area as its market area can reach out to a larger world-wide market. It could benefit advertisers as well. Imagine the "Blind Factory" ads targeting someone in LA.
Thank you,
Anthony from the exciting town of Belfield