On 7/1, the most listened to live stream of any terrestrial broadcaster in the world, ESPNRadio.com, introduced a new digital audio player allowing fans the ability to build their own custom sports audio experience through ESPN Audio NOW. Personalization features include recommendation engine, searchable audio, playlists, Play/Pause/Rewind functionality for up to three hours and more. IBM is the presenting sponsor.
The new ESPN Audio recommendation engine is a bit like Pandora for sports content: The player records fans’ preferences based on previously listened to content and offer suggested content without any user interaction. As a fan continues to interact with the new player, it will learn more about a fan’s favorite content and become more accurate in its offerings.
In addition to news, stories, columns, videos and photos, searchable audio allows users to find specific audio content by matching search terms from hundreds of tags on the latest sound bites marked daily for a particular topic.
The biggest news headlines and topics are time stamped within the digital audio segments so that fans can automatically access the start of a specific search topic. By searching specific audio content, fans are able to build a personal playlist. Additionally, Search Trends also offers the most popular search terms available for an easy way to access new and relevant content.
Featured podcast content will also be available from both an Editors’ Picks section and a PodCenter module. Listeners who may have missed the beginning of their favorite programs will now be able to use Instant Rewind, a unique DVR-like functionality feature that allows the user to rewind up to 3 hours without having to pre-record the program.
Other features in the player:
* 30 live streams including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Cleveland, Milwaukee and more;
* Access to over 100 podcasts including the award-winning B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and Fantasy Focus Football; and
* Social media integration with Facebook and Twitter.
