Bell Media and iHeartMedia have announced a long-term extension of their partnership on digital listening platform, iHeartRadio Canada.
The renewal builds on a decade of collaboration, following iHeartRadio Canada’s launch in 2016, with the streaming app growing to include more than 360 licensed Canadian radio stations across 170 markets.
As part of the partnership extension, Bell Media will represent iHeartRadio’s extensive podcast portfolio in Canada to advertisers.
“The creation of iHeartRadio Canada has been instrumental in evolving the digital audio landscape in Canada, greatly expanding the choice of incredible content available to listeners,” said Dave Daigle, VP, Local TV, Radio, and Bell Media Studios. “The renewal of this successful partnership ensures iHeartRadio Canada continues to deliver exceptional content and innovative listening experiences to our audiences, further solidifying our position as a leader in the Canadian media industry.”
“This renewed agreement with Bell Media reflects our shared commitment to delivering the best in audio entertainment to Canadian listeners and advertisers,” added Michael Biondo, President of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, iHeartMedia. “In the years to come, we’ll continue expanding iHeartRadio Canada with innovative features, exclusive content, and unique opportunities for brands to connect and engage with audiences across the country.”
Bell says the extended partnership also means continued support for iHeartRadio-branded live music and entertainment events in Canada.
The app has also rolled out a slate of enhanced features as of this week, including: Presets, inspired by the car radio dashboard, allow listeners to save up to 15 of their favourite radio stations, playlists, podcasts, and artist radio stations; Scan Button, a new way for listeners to discover new stations, by scanning and sampling radio stations, or filtering by city or genre; Live Radio Dial, enabling listeners to explore the best live stations across the country; What’s Trending Rankers, a discovery feature that allows listeners to see what’s trending in the current moment across Top Podcasts, Top Playlists, and Top Artist Radio stations; and Lyrics, offering lyrics for the song currently playing on live radio, as well as for tracks on artist radio stations and playlists.
