Entercom’s Radio.com digital platform is now part of Xperi’s DTS Connected Radio hybrid radio ecosystem.
The announcement gives insight into how Xperi is positioning its system. Senior VP, Radio Joe D’Angelo was quoted: “DTS Connected Radio continues to build on its mission to give today’s car-owners the visually rich, immersive listening experience they expect from the digital dash, while ensuring broadcaster editorial control.”
The platform recently came to market in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and Xperi says more vehicle launches are pending.
For Entercom, the benefits here are “increased engagement, expanded reach and turnkey management and control of content for each of our local broadcasters,” according to VP, Corporate Business Development David Rosenbloom.
[Related: “Hybrid Radio Picks Up Momentum”]
With the hybrid system, Radio.com radio stations will appear with artwork, artist and album information and playlists. The DTS system allows listener personalization and also provides “service following” capability — when a vehicle drives out of broadcast range, it switches in the background to the online version.
The companies said the integration also means economies of scale. Radio.com is home not only to Entercom’s 230 stations but hundreds of affiliates.
With this new relationship, they said in the announcement, “Broadcasters can easily integrate and manage their services, station information, and streams in one place via the RADIO.COM platform integration, all while maintaining control of their content, with all changes reflected in vehicles with DTS Connected Radio.”
