What's New
BY Sarah Patterson April 19, 2024
What's New February 18, 2021
SCA launches LiSTNR app for radio, podcasts, music & news, effectively ending PodcastOne Australia branding
Southern Cross Austereo’s suite of digital audio brands has a new home from today, with the launch of LiSTNR.
LiSTNR will house SCA’s podcasts, radio streaming, digital radio stations, music and news offerings under one banner.
The launch effectively wraps up SCA’s PodcastOne Australia branding, with original SCA podcasts, such as Hamish & Andy, Just The Gist and The Briefing to now be branded as LiSTNR productions.
Its association with the US PodcastOne, however, continues and a selection of PodcastOne US titles will be available on LiSTNR and promoted on SCA’s media assets.
In addition, LiSTNR will expand SCA’s digital music offering, with 15 all-new linear music livestreaming channels “catering for a diverse array of moods and genres”.
There will also be four new weekly music podcasts available on-demand with full music tracks. One such program will be The Spin hosted by Linda Marigliano which will feature the “best newly released music from around the world”.
On the news side, LiSTNR will provide a new on-demand audio news and info service. It will feature hyper-local news and sport across 15 regions and 34 towns at launch, as well as a new CrimeWatch weekly report in four key markets, and The Locals’ Guide, an events guide to help locals and visitors know what’s going on in local communities.
In launching LiSTNR, SCA noted its broad reach and appeal for brands and advertisers, saying it offered “a large-scale known audience” of signed-in users, enabling dynamic ad targeting based on demographics and behaviours.
SCA said it had conducted extensive research via its SCA iQ offering across the past three years. It then identified a number of key consumer personas, known as LiSTNR Vibes which will enable a targeted buying and marketing approach for LiSTNR.
For listeners, SCA said LiSTNR will feature a “fun and intuitive onboarding process” which is built around individual listeners’ routines snd preferences.
“Highly personalised, it provides listeners a new world of audio entertainment, with their own daily feed of audio and easy discovery of new content through curated recommendations,” SCA said.
The app will be available across iOS and Android, as well as CarPlay and Android Auto, Google Assistant and Alexa and Android TV.
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SCA CEO Grant Blackley noted the world of audio opportunities coming together with the launch of LiSTNR.
“The number of Australians accessing digital audio has doubled since 2016 and is projected to reach 80% of Australians by 2024,” he said. “LiSTNR will provide a personalised listening experience that easily enables consumers to discover a new world of premium, relevant audio that is live and on demand.
“LiSTNR will be a primary generator of listening data, allowing SCA to provide an unrivalled, deep understanding of our audience. We now have the ability to deliver a valuable, targeted audience at scale for advertisers. And this is just the start. LiSTNR will continue to expand its content offering with the development of new and original premium content, along with exciting partnerships to be announced soon, making LiSTNR the new audio destination for all Australians.”
A comprehensive marketing campaign, ‘Open Your Ears’, will support the launch from next week to drive consumer adoption.
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What's New
BY Sarah Patterson April 19, 2024
Brilliant work by the SCA team! Understanding the digital age for Australian audiences, talent and advertisers!
This seems like a very smart idea, sounds like SCA is guaranteeing it’s long term survival as listeners move away from terrestrial to digital audio
Where y’all SCA haters at!?! Awfully quiet this morning. THIS is innovation and future proofing. From a group of people who are great at what they do.
Hey Sally,
How much did much money and effort did they put into the Podcast One brand?
Now they’re trying to copy Spotify instead?
News flash – Spotify already exists.
Less announcements, more results.
Yo, Spinner
Product appears to have much more depth to it than that. The local news bulletins just one example. News flash for you: there’s nothing new under the sun. Everything is a version or extension of something else and this hyper personalised approach seems to put the consumer front and centre. That’s a tried and tested formula (Uber, Netflix etc). Let’s see hey but I like the idea of a one stop shop
I mean it can’t be worse than Songl can it?
Hey Sally, is there really a new platform where I can listen to Erin Molan giggling?
Where do I sign up
Why is everyone so quick to hate?
After the success of Songl, the Hit App, Shazam Top 20, YouTube Hits, Podcast One, Sound Cloud Radio, Hubble, 2DayFM and The Sugar Rush it’s fair to say these guys know what they’re doing.
Not sure, Rob! Go have a look at iamabittermisogynist.com and see how you go, Buddy!
Songl anyone?
Yo haters,
You slam a company for being stuck in the 90s with outdated thinking and then when they create and innovate like NO OTHER radio company in Australia is, you slam them for that?
You must be so sad inside to be so full of hate.
This is a great move, not just for SCA bit for the industry.
All boats float in a high tide.
Also, it doesn’t seem to be a copy on Spotify, and this move makes sense for the biggest creator of audio content in Australia.
What is with the name?
Imagine if you could any name in the world, and the best you come up with is LiSTNR?
I guess the is what iHeartRadio have been doing for years and years?
Not really that new of innovative tbh.
Ps I love the SCA staff comments on this article….at least try and sound legit!!
Proud radio,
“create and innovate like NO OTHER radio company in Australia ”
Sorry, it’s basically ABC Listen for sca. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but not new.
This is gold ! I bet they have got a few people monitoring the comments.
Good luck to the good eggs within SCA, and there are many. You have a huge job breaking down the toxic culture that is rife in your Melbourne office. Once that happens SCA will fly.
Definitely not a staffer. Never have been of any of them. But work v closely with talent who do across all of them, AM and FM. And on FTA, SVOD, pods, write newspaper columns etc. The comments on this blog get talked about a lot amongst the industry. They truly represent the negative, toxic, limiting, jealous, bitter, small minded attitudes that will never propel your industry forward. There is so much nastiness, so many personal attacks and criticisms of ideas, particularly of the biggest employer. If an industry is not always trying and throwing new ideas in to the ring what is the point? The TV blogs don’t have this culture. I would have thought yesterday’s Facebook stuff rammed home just how on the edge all old media institutions are. This initiative, giving the business first party data, seems like a pretty good idea. People are consuming content in greater numbers than ever on their streaming platforms, all the pods etc and up until yesterday, news, via their social feeds. Last year’s audio figures on catch up and streaming were extraordinary. People still bloody love radio and being entertained and there is something for everyone. Just because it’s not to your taste doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for it. Finding a new way to monetise where the ears are is a no brainer and the only way to try and survive and thrive. An industry owes you nothing. It isn’t 1990 anymore where terrestrial radio was king but there are so many bright, innovative people still in the arena having a bloody crack. Before you post your bitchy, redundant thoughts have a think about what your contribution is aside from being critical, nasty or jealous. And if you are applying your outdated lens to it. As someone has said above – all boats float in a high tide.
I accidentally downloaded the wrong one.
Hey @sally, next time, why don’t you go ahead and give people a chance to be positive. Until your negative comment… everyone was, being positive.
I downloaded it last night, It struck me that the USP wasn’t clearly communicated upfront, so, to the novice it looked like just another Spotify. You can’t get around that if you aren’t telling a new recruit why it’s not..
Love how Sally turned it negative then gets upset when it got negative.
Sally is the Sky News of the radiotoday comments section.