Media
Voice of America Expands to Canada on AudioNow
Washington D.C., February 22, 2012: Following launches in Latin America, West Africa, and the UK, AudioNow announced today the expansion of Voice of America’s Somali service. The service has been providing extensive coverage of the devastating drought in Africa, and is now available to mobile phone users throughout Canada. The release by VOA follows.
(PressZoom) - Washington, D.C. — February 15, 2012 — Canada’s large Somali diaspora community can now listen to the latest VOA Somali broadcasts on their phones. The new “call-to-listen” service is part of a growing partnership between Voice of America and AudioNow, a mobile distribution provider.
The VOA Somali Service, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary this week, is available in Canada on any phone, 24 hours a day, by simply dialing the number posted on the VOA website.
The Director of VOA’s Africa Division, Gwen Dillard, says a similar service introduced in Great Britain last year has been extremely successful. “The Somali diaspora community is an important audience for us,” Dillard says, “they have strong ties to Somalia, and are interested in what is happening in their troubled homeland. Our goal is to provide them with accurate and up-to-date news and information.”
As the service celebrated its 5th year of broadcasting to Somalia on Sunday, a statement from VOA Director David Ensor noted VOA Somali has become one of the country’s most respected news sources. “A recent survey shows that 73% of people in the regions that were polled, listen each week to the news and information the service offers, a sign of the trust that the Somali audience has placed in us. We look forward to many more years of serving our audience in Somalia,” Ensor said.
Last year, VOA and AudioNow also inaugurated new “call-to-listen” services in Guinea and Liberia. AudioNow's proprietary, patent-pending technology allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming across all mobile platforms.
VOA has been providing comprehensive coverage of the ongoing unrest in Somalia, and the East African country’s recovery from the devastating drought that affected the region last year. VOA programs are broadcast to Somalia on radio, television, the Internet, mobile (click here) and an array of social media sites.
For more information about this release, contact Kyle King at the VOA Public Relations office in Washington at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information about VOA visit our main website atwww,voanews.com.
AudioNowTM is the leading provider of mobile phone broadcast radio distribution in the country. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice design and patent-pending technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Public Affairs
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North American Punjabi Broadcasters Partner with AudioNow to Reach UK Diaspora
(January 30, 2012, Washington D.C.) Four Canadian and US-based Punjabi stations have joined forces with AudioNow® to provide mobile access to their station’s programming in the United Kingdom following a successful launch in North America. Service in the UK is available by calling 020-35.19.02.15 for Radio Chardi Kala, 020-35.19.01.35 for Punjabi Radio Dallas, 020-35.19.04.55 for Punjabi Radio USA, or 020-35.19.01.25 for Canadian-based CIAO-AM 530 from any mobile phone.
“Punjabi Diaspora in the UK will now have an easy way to listen to their favorite Punjabi programming on-the-go on any mobile device,” says Jennifer Friesen, AudioNow’s Director of Public Affairs. “Broadcasters who want to cross borders typically face enormous challenges and AudioNow fulfills a real need for low-cost expansion and outreach. This launch illustrates once more our commitment to expanding unique broadcasting services around the globe.”
Radio Chardi Kala serves the second largest Punjabi population in the USA. They cast a unique blend of Gurbani, Punjabi and Hindi songs, news, event coverage and talk shows addressing local to international levels issues. The mission of Radio Chardi Kala is to provide entertainment, knowledge and cultural ties to the Punjabi Diaspora of all ages here and worldwide.
Punjabi Radio Dallas, Texas is dedicated to Punjab Diaspora living in United State of America and worldwide who yearn to connect to their roots of Punjab culture and heritage.
Punjabi Radio USA, headquartered in San Jose, California, broadcasts from 11 stations in San Jose, Livermore, Berkeley, Sacramento, Yuba City, Fresno, Stockton, Tracy, Modesto, Bakersfield and Reno, an area home to more than 400,000 Punjabis.
CIAO-AM 530 (Brampton/Toronto, Canada) provides quality programming to hundreds of thousands of new Canadians in a variety of languages. Music, talk, news and sports whether local or international are blended together and delivered with a unique Canadian perspective. Whether something happens around the corner or around the world, CIAO’s experienced on-air personnel keep each of their respective communities apprised.
AudioNowTM is the leading provider of mobile phone broadcast radio distribution in the country. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice design and patent-pending technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Public Affairs
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Leading Jamaican Broadcaster Partners with AudioNow to Reach UK Diaspora
(January 20, 2012, Washington D.C.) Jamaica-based Power 106 FM, broadcasting to Jamaicans across the world, has joined forces with AudioNow® to provide mobile streaming for their station’s programming in the United Kingdom following a successful launch in the United States. Service in the UK is available by calling 020.35.19.01.45 on any mobile phone.
“Given the size of the Jamaican diaspora in the UK, expanding the coverage for Power 106 FM across the Atlantic was a logical next step,” says AudioNow’s Chief Marketing Officer, George Cernat. “Ethnic communities all over the world have the same desire and need for an affordable and convenient mobile service that doesn’t rely on expensive data plans. We are happy to bring together ethnic broadcasters and their audiences - wherever they may be located - with our easy to use and implement service.”
Power 106FM went on air in December 1992 initially pursuing an all-talk format then later shifting to a hybrid talk and music format, hence the popular slogan - 'Come for the talk, stay for the music'. Since 2001 the decision was taken to pursue an all talk format with the acquisition of the programs such as 'Perkins On-Line' and others joining its morning show 'Independent Talk'. The station later went on to add 'Dear Pastor', 'An Ounce of Prevention'. Power 106FM plans to be Jamaica's first 24/7 all-talk radio station. With listeners to talk shows now at 70.2% of total radio listenership, research indicates that Power 106FM programs dominate the airwaves from 5:30 in the morning until midnight. The objective of Power 106FM is to give listeners and advertisers complete freedom to express themselves, thereby contributing to the social, cultural, economic and intellectual development of Jamaica as a nation.
AudioNowTM is the leading provider of mobile phone broadcast radio distribution in the country. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice design and patent-pending technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Public Affairs
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AudioNow Introduces QR Codes for Radio Stations: Scan-to-Listen Innovation Leapfrogs App-Based Mobile Tuners
Washington, DC, January 5, 2012 - AudioNow, the leading call-to-listen technology provider in North America, announced today the launch of broadcaster-specific QR codes. Mobile listeners can scan these barcodes with their smartphones to immediately save the broadcaster access number without manually programming it into their phones.
QR codes - or Quick Response codes - are two-dimensional codes that have become increasingly popular because they can store promotional information that can be easily read at high speed using smartphone-specific QR readers.
“AudioNow is deeply committed to the success of its partners; this is one of the many features we make available to broadcasters who use the AudioNow platform,” says CMO George Cernat. “QR codes will help broadcasters reach a wider audience by empowering smartphone users to easily access and embed the station’s call-to-listen numbers in the listener’s contacts. It doesn’t get any easier than that.”
The AudioNow-provided QR codes contain the station’s name, the AudioNow call-to-listen access number and can be customized to include promotional information such as the station’s URL or a specific landing page. AudioNow partners will be able to generate the codes from their accounts and post them on their websites, business cards, and other online and offline marketing materials.
“We are very excited to make this announcement,” added Cernat. “AudioNow is continuously innovating on behalf of its partners. The broadcasting industry needs to adapt to the technological realities of the 21st century and we are happy to be in the lead. With the proper mix of technology and innovation, 300 million cellular and smartphone users in North America will appreciate the ease and instant availability of live audio content accessible through AudioNow’s platform.”
QR codes can be scanned with commonly used smartphone applications including Scanlife for Blackberry devices, Qrafter for iPhone and Barcode Scanner or QR Droid for Android. (Actual QR codes for select AudioNow partners listed below and on www.AudioNow.com).
AudioNow Partners with National Institute of Health
“Having NIH Radio on the phone is both a new asset and a familiar technique,” says Calvin Jackson, Chief of the News Media Branch in the NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison. “NIH Radio launched before audio was available online and used a phone line to reach radio stations. Now with more and more of the public using mobile phones, it makes sense to revisit telephone distribution for NIH Radio programs”
NIH Radio programs include the NIH Health Matters features, which are 60-second consumer-oriented health news stories, NIH Audio Reports which are short-form, news stories based on current press releases, and NIH Research Radio which is a 25-minute program that includes health news, current features and in-depth interviews. All NIH Radio programs contain soundbites from NIH experts explaining the latest health and medical research and discovery.
“With the ever-changing environment of the health care field, AudioNow sees this as an opportunity to help more of the public get the information they need,” says Jennifer Friesen, AudioNow’s Director of Public Affairs. “Following the successful launch of the National Weather Service (NWS)-AudioNow partnership, an important segment of the US population now has an easy and affordable access to important NIH updates.”
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
AudioNowTM is the leading provider of mobile phone broadcast radio distribution in the country. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice design and patent-pending technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Public Affairs
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AudioNow Innovation Makes the Industry’s "Front Page"
AudioNow’s announcement of its “Any AudioNow℠” service to connect any type of streaming format to its mobile phone distribution platform, has been receiving attention in the specialty media outlets as it is meeting a vital need for broadcasters globally.
Both RadioOnline and Radio and Internet Newsletter websites featured AudioNow’s new service this week, due to the opportunities this will provide to the radio industry to reach more listeners and the revolutionary nature of this technology.
RadioOnline has tens of thousands of readers and subscribers worldwide that rely on the RadioOnline brand to provide industry news, show prep, promotions, ratings, airchecks and job openings. Radio and Internet Newsletter is a leading daily trade publication about the Internet radio industry and the nexus of traditional radio broadcasting and new media.
RadioOnline and Radio and Internet Newsletter articles follow.
Contact Information at AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Public Affairs
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AudioNow Announces Universal Streaming Interface
AudioNow announced today the launch of its "Any AudioNow" service to connect any type of streaming format to its mobile phone distribution platform. Service to any mobile device via AudioNow had previously been limited to audio streams in MP3 formats only.
"This was a logical next step to meet the demand from broadcasters," said AudioNow's Chief Technology Officer, Marcel Barbulescu. "We needed to sequence this important new service as we stabilized the dramatic network increase we've seen in the past year." Added Barbulescu: "We have now eliminated a final technical roadblock in support of our long-term strategy to provide universal access to radio and audio content on any mobile device in the world. This new service will make it 'painless and cost-effective' for any broadcaster to join our network."
The new "Any AudioNow" platform will accept most streaming formats, including Windows Media Audio (WMA) and AAC/HE-AAC. AudioNow's engineers will work around the clock with the partner broadcasters to accommodate any format and resolve any issues so that the call-to-listen experience on the consumer side is flawless. (12-01-11)
NEW AUDIONOW TECH DELIVERS ANY STREAMING CODEC TO MOBILE DEVICES VIA VOICE NETWORK
Posted by:Paul Maloney
AudioNow is a Reston, VA-based tech firm whose platform delivers audio content to mobile devices via voice networks (as opposed to the data network). So, to listen to a client's station, listeners actually call a phone number and plug in their headphones. The company says this system "expands your distribution to any mobile device without managing streaming services, sophisticated technology, developing third party applications, all while lowering your bandwidth costs by using only a single stream of bandwidth."
The company today announced the launch of "Any AudioNow," enabling broadcasters to use any streaming format (e.g. Windows Media Audio (WMA) and AAC/HE-AAC) on the AudioNow platform (which had previously been limited to streaming MP3).
AudioNow Announces Universal Streaming Interface: “Any AudioNow” Service Expands AudioNow’s Platform in the Broadcasting Industry
Washington, DC, December 1st, 2011 - AudioNow announced today the launch of its “Any AudioNow℠” service to connect any type of streaming format to its mobile phone distribution platform. Service to any mobile device via AudioNow had previously been limited to audio streams in MP3 formats only.
“This was a logical next step to meet the demand from broadcasters,” said AudioNow’s Chief Technology Officer, Marcel Barbulescu. “We needed to sequence this important new service as we stabilized the dramatic network increase we’ve seen in the past year.” Added Barbulescu: “We have now eliminated a final technical roadblock in support of our long-term strategy to provide universal access to radio and audio content on any mobile device in the world. This new service will make it ‘painless and cost-effective’ for any broadcaster to join our network.”
The new “Any AudioNow℠” platform will accept most streaming formats, including Windows Media Audio (WMA) and AAC/HE-AAC. AudioNow’s engineers will work around the clock with the partner broadcasters to accommodate any format and resolve any issues so that the call-to-listen experience on the consumer side is flawless.
AudioNow® is the leading provider of mobile phone radio distribution in North America. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice architecture and patent-pending “single-stream” technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live and pre-recorded audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms while lowering bandwidth costs for broadcasters. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Marketing and Public Affairs
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London-Based Dalka TV Expands Mobile Distribution in UK and US; AudioNow® “Call-to-Listen” Technology Crossing Borders
(November 29, 2011, Washington D.C.) London-based Dalka TV, broadcasting to Somalis across the world, has joined forces with AudioNow® to provide mobile streaming for their station’s programming simply by calling 712.432.7760 on any mobile phone in the United States. Service in the UK is available by calling 020.3519.0460 on any mobile phone.
"The launch of Dalka TV in the United States and the United Kingdom has been very well received and shows that radio stations all over the globe can find new markets by using our "call-to-listen" technology,” said AudioNow’s Chief Marketing Officer, George Cernat. “Dalka TV’s move to AudioNow’s platform has eliminated capital expenditures typically required to expand distribution to loyal audiences in the UK or North America. AudioNow provides a unique platform that makes it simple and affordable for any broadcaster to cross borders,” added Cernat.
Dalka TV provides news and talk radio for Somalis living in the United Kingdom. The service is now available in the United States and the United Kingdom by mobile phone. With the current famine, conflict between al-Shabaab, Islamist militants, and the transitional Somali government, Somalis across the globe are eager to hear news from their homeland on Dalka TV.
AudioNow® is the leading provider of mobile phone broadcast radio distribution in the country. It uses proprietary, “HD” voice design and patent-pending technology that allows any fixed or mobile phone to access live audio programming without any downloads across all mobile platforms. Visit www.audionow.com to learn more and register.
Contact Information:
At AudioNow:
Jennifer Friesen
Director of Marketing and Public Affairs
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
