A Clever Trick

Good catch by Inside Radio last week:  Not streaming on iHeartRadio?  Search engine finds a suitable Clear Channel alternative. As Clear Channel builds what Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey calls “a giant cable system,” a destination where consumers go to find radio stations, it’s using a new search engine to direct iHeartRadio users to its own stations.

Search for a mainstream or rhythmic CHR that Clear Chanel doesn’t own or stream — Emmis Communications “Power 106” KPWR in Los Angeles, for example — and the search engine returns powerhouse Clear Channel CHRs “Z100” WHTZ, New York; KIIS-FM, L.A.;  and WKSC, Chicago.

Type in a non-participating urban station’s call letters and you’ll get CC’s “Power 105.1” WWPR, New York and its urban stations in Chicago: WGCI and “V103” WVAZ.   Looking for Entercom’s KOIT, San Francisco? How about  New York’s WLTW, L.A.’s KOST or Houston’s “Sunny 99.1” KODA instead?

If Clear Channel can’t stream every radio station in the nation, it hopes to fulfill user requests with a suitable alternative and keep them from straying elsewhere.  And it’s made possible by a new unified search engine that makes finding stations, artists and songs simple and speedy.  It even works for stations in markets as small as Albany, GA and Lafayette, LA.

Before you say "I am shocked, shocked" that they're doing this, you might want to go to a few of the most popular car washes in your town and see what radio station pre-set they put on car radios.

One of the oldest tricks in the book, bought with concert tickets and CD's.

That was the original "search engine optimization."