Radio Stations Should Embrace TV
I like listening to talkback radio. Specifically in my part of the world, the Melbourne, Victoria, Australia based Nine Entertainment Group owned 3AW693. Some of my favourite presenters include Tom Elliott, Jacqui Felgate, Russel Howcroft, Ross Stevenson, Sam McClure and formerly Neil Mitchell. I don’t necessarily always agree with the hosts politically but I enjoy the robust discussion and often some pretty hard hitting interviews with the people in Australia that matter.
As a country Victoria resident with no reasonable access to the physical radio airwaves of 3AW I stream the station via many different methods. Via my smartphone, iPad and Sonos One smart speaker. But there is one method that I feel is sorely missing. The good old fashioned TV.
Now hear me out here. The TV is already being taken over by audio streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music as well as the more jack of all trades YouTube. Spotify in particular is pushing podcasts and audiobooks on its TV apps. YouTube lets you watch full length podcasts and podcast clips and I have done that many times. So why isn’t radio more of a feature on the TV?
I realise you can receive some radio stations over the air to your TV. Mostly ABC and SBS based radio stations lie Triple J, Double J, ABC Radio Melbourne (where I live anyway) and ABC Radio National. But what about some choice in radio stations beyond state broadcasting? And I’ve got nothing against the ABC or SBS.
There are some excellent radio station aggregator apps on Apple’s iOS/iPadOS and Google’s Android platforms but these are mostly for smartphones and tablets. Apps that have predated the smartphone app like TuneIn Radio, apps I’ve only seen pop up recently like myTuner Radio, radio station owned apps like LiSTNR and what seems to be an Australian radio industry led app, RadioApp.
But only a couple of these make any effort to be on TVs. LiSTNR has an Apple TV/tvOS app and myTuner Radio is on Apple TV/tvOS and Amazon’s Fire TV from what I’ve seen. But myTuner Radio’s tvOS app is glitchy as hell and cuts out after 10 minutes when streaming. And I ponied up $14.99 AUD for the pro version back in the day.
The ideal scenario would be for TuneIn Radio to release apps on heaps of different TV platforms. The Netflix/Plex/YouTube approach. Be everywhere. But as many radio stations as TuneIn carries, they do not carry 3AW as 3AW withdrew along with 2GB and all the other Nine Entertainment Group radio stations a few years ago. My theory behind that is that TuneIn was monetising their app with premium subscriptions and NEG/3AW wasn’t sharing in the bounty.
So the more ideal outcome for Australians is that RadioApp would release apps on many different TV platforms. RadioApp currently carries a vast amount of Australian radio stations. And is compatible with Sonos for one and other smart speaker platforms like Amazon’s Echo.
Of course if this doesn’t eventuate how about 3AW/NEG embracing TV and releasing TV apps?
I have got to confess the main reason I want this to happen is that I like to lightly snooze on the couch and listen to talkback radio for the times I am not going to bed and falling asleep to talkback or footy commentary on my bedside Sonos One. I long for the TV speakers instead of my smartphone or tablet speakers.
And it occurred to me that I might not be the only one who wouldn’t mind listening to radio stations streamed on their TV sets. After all some people have amazing sound systems hooked up to their TVs. And I’m sure those would sure as hell beat smartphone speakers.
I sometimes listen to 3AW via smartphone streaming through my car’s Bluetooth and a problem that is fast approaching is that Telstra and Optus are turning off their 3G signals. 3G is a constant throughout country roads and a lot of the mobile networks of Telstra and Optus have not been upgraded to 4G or even 5G at that. I get the feeling there are going to be a lot of mobile blackspots on country roads and for those that partake, passenger country railways.
Tom Elliott is simulcast on my local GOLD 1071 AM Central Victoria radio station that I can pick up in my car. But the rest of the 3AW schedule is only accessible via streaming.
I am also a massive podcast listener and use the excellent cross platform Pocket Casts app. I wish Pocket Casts would embrace TV apps. But Spotify on TV is a pretty great consolation prize and have most of the podcasts I listen to. I also on occasion consume audiobooks via Audible. I guess I just enjoy audio.
TVs have also become the second screen for a lot of people. Chuck a bit of music on via Spotify or Apple Music and your smartphone or tablet becomes your primary. This is not new information.
And I realise you could solve this issue by hooking up your computer to your TV and streaming via web browser. But I would say that would be happening in a minority of households. I just want to use my TV remote to start up a radio stream in not too many steps.
So my plea to radio stations and especially my adored 3AW is; embrace TV.
This post was adapted from an X thread.
Anthony Eales is a media, news & tech junkie from Australia. You can reach him on Threads @ants000 and X @ants000. I’m also on Substack via Antertainment.
