KTRU tugs at internet heartstrings

By Nicole Zhao     4/12/12 7:00pm

Rice University's student-run station KTRU was one of the first 14 college radio stations selected for broadcasting on iHeartRadio, a free digital radio service owned by Clear Channel Media, according to a press release by the company.

iHeartRadio airs over 850 broadcast and commercial-free digital-only radio stations from 150 U.S. cities online and through a smartphone app, as stated on the platform's website. The service also offers users the ability to create custom stations based on their favorite songs, artists and genres.

The network added college radio stations to its broadcasting during the week of March 26, according to a Rice News and Media press release.

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Clear Channel Media Senior Vice President of Business and Partner Development Larry Linietsky said the company decided to add college radio to the iHeartRadio platform to diversify and enhance its offerings.

"The eclectic mix of music, talk and content that college radio brings together is vibrant, and we feel vital to offer in iHeartRadio," Linietsky said. "KTRU has been among the best college radio stations for years, and when we sought to add college radio stations, KTRU was among an elite group we hand-selected to add for our launch."

Linietsky noted that Clear Channel Media plans on adding more college radio stations to its broadcasting.

Clear Channel Media and Entertainment garners 237 million U.S. listeners per month, the largest audience of any radio or television outlet in the nation, according to the company's website.

KTRU Station Manager Nick Ryder said that the station broadcasting on iHeartRadio and the iHeartRadio app itself substantially expand KTRU's audience.

"We have been focusing heavily on the last year on trying to get out to as many platforms as possible," Ryder, a Duncan College sophomore, said. "iHeartRadio reaches an audience beyond the scope of Houston and beyond the scope of anything we've done in the past."

Ryder said he hopes that, over the next year, KTRU will increase its involvement with the campus and local community while also increasing its listenership outside of Rice.

"We hope to bring more local bands to the Rice campus while also focusing heavily on our programming, really trying to get KTRU's name out there and get the students excited about KTRU," Ryder said. "Outside the hedges, [...] it's a matter of letting everyone know we're still here; we're still doing the same thing."

Brown freshman Elisa Clark said KTRU broadcasting on iHeartRadio may encourage listeners to tune in more often.

"I do listen to KTRU online [from their website]. If it could stream on my phone, I'd listen to it more," Clark said. "It's pretty awesome that it's going out to a bigger audience since Rice is such a small school."

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