Hey Radio People, TuneIn is a Good Thing! Don’t Mess It Up Please!

I’ve been a satisfied, impressed TuneIn Radio user for several years.

And, as a big fan of sports radio play-by-play (True story for which I don’t care how much grief I get: I love to listen to games while I crochet.), I may even eventually take the plunge and pay for TuneIn’s advertised “premium” access to just about every pro league’s games.

But I’m not exactly thrilled about getting more involved in (and paying more into) the everlasting nuttiness of the media world. So I’m still a hold-out on that, for now. (My wife has a say in this, too, of course.)

Yes, I’m sorry radio people. You’ll still have to count me as just a regular ole’ “free” radio guy — you know, the kind of guy you’ve been happily serving (and making money off of ) for decades.

But that’s not the main reason I’m writing.  While I’ve got your attention, radio people, I hope you might indulge me in some unsolicited advice. (Don’t worry. I’m under no delusion that you will do that. The main reason why I’m not still a radio guy today is that you’ve never thought too much of my unsolicited advice over the years. Alas, I’ll offer it again now anyway, just for grins if nothing else. It’s my dang blog. I ain’t costin’ any of you money with this stuff, right? Maybe you’ll at least get a chuckle or two out of my ridiculousness. Who knows?)

Anyway…

As I say, radio people, I think TuneIn Radio is pretty awesome. Not sure you’ve noticed, but it’s installed in a lot of heck of a lot of cars these days, and many hotels have it readily available so their guests can conveniently keep up with their local stations on the road. (Well, we all know that guests these days aren’t going to be shy about turning on TuneIn via their phones or laptops. But, hey, its a neat little gesture from the hotels, anyway, right?)

I know I’m not the only person who thinks having just about every radio station in the US accessible via the Internet in an easy-to-use platform is a significant blessing. Have you noticed? TuneIn has a lot of users!  Knowing the media business as I do, I’m even willing to call TuneIn a miracle. What else would lead ya’ll to come together, as one,  to let one company host your streams. Nearly every last one of your stations are now easy to find from almost anywhere! Amazing! Yes, God has brought his saving grace to your industry! A miracle, indeed!

Wait. There were a couple of key words in the last paragraph. Did you notice them? I’m guessing you did. (Even if your listeners didn’t. You’ll have to forgive them, radio people. Your listeners are not as up on your business as you and I are?)

Just about. Nearly.

Please take heed, radio people. Those are important words for you.

They are words that tell me — and I hope you too — that at least some of you are messing with God’s miracle.

When you saw those words originally, I know you probably chuckled a little thinking, “Yeah, IHeart has the most stations in the country, and none of them have ever really been accessible via TuneIn. Not everybody is on board with TuneIn.”

Yes, you are right. But I’m sure you also know all about IHeart’s bankruptcy. Right? That’s just the kind of thing that happens to us poor little ole’ people folks when we put our plan ahead of God’s.

Am I right?

Didn’t all those Biblical figures — Adam, Abraham, David, and so many others– teach us that?

Oh boy, it’s August 3. That means my “just about” and “nearly” have now included 235 more stations since Wednesday.

In explaining his decision to drop all of Entercom’s stations (many of them legendary) from TuneIn, CEO David Field said this:

“Over the next several months, we will be rolling out new product features, distribution partners, advanced advertising products, and other improvements to enrich the user experience and enhance our value to customers. Our goal is to make Radio.com a daily habit for many millions of Americans.”

Well, radio people, I love listening to my man Broadway Bill Lee — afternoons on WCBS, New York. He’s an Entercom guy.

So, when I couldn’t find the station on TuneIn today, I went and ahead and dug up Radio.com, annoyed as I was. I suspect a lot of others will do that too. Who knows, really? It’s true that a lot of people still do use IHeart.

But this topic actually came up on Broadway’s show today: a confused listener called in saying “WCBS is now missing from my phone.” Good ole’ Bill politely got him on the right track, telling him to download the new Radio.com app. And the good natured man seemed eager to do that.

But, you know, I had a bit of a time getting Radio.com installed on my phone, and then, once it was in, finding WCBS took me a while. If I’d been even a little more busy on the job today, I might have easily decided to just forget Broadway Bill and stick with my local guys at Happy Radio in Bay City, Texas — even easier to find today now that all the Entercom stations are dark on TuneIn’s list.

I guess my point, radio people, is this: don’t ya’ll think Mr. Field is at least a little off.

Is causing your one’s listeners even a little extra hassle in finding your station really a good way to “enrich the user experience and enhance our value to customers”? And what about our legendary friend Broadway Bill? He’s spent decades building his fan base across the U.S. Is having him suddenly disappear from folks phones really the best way to honor his years of service?

I think God for my pastor always reminding me that God’s way must always come before my way. And I’ve learned that rule of thumb even works in business.

Just some food for thought, radio people. For whatever it’s worth.