The Battle for Personalized Radio

Terrestrial (AM and FM) radio has weathered the onslaught of online (and satellite) radio options well. Compared with a decade ago, terrestrial radio has lost little, if an, of its reach, although the online and satellite radio and other music streaming services have cut into the time listener spend with terrestrial radio. Terrestrial radio companies understand that these other options have upped the ante. Pandora, in particular, has proven to be a significant player.

Now, Clear Channel has rolled out the first version of its personalized radio product. The new version of Clear Channel's iheartradio app offers users the chance to create their own stations, like Pandora. As of the beta release, listeners had to login via Facebook to create a custom stations. They can enter any song or artist to create custom station. While listening to any of the existing Clear Channel stations, listeners can create a custom station based on the song that's playing at that moment. For example, if Pink Floyd is playing on a station, the listener can click on the song to create a custom station. The app also adds a scan button, letting users jump to other, similarly-formatted stations, with the push of a button.

Clear Channel is the latest to enter this space, but it's not the only one.