Funny...Tom Taylor is quoting this post in his newsletter, and wondering if perhaps Cumulus is "warming up to TuneIn?"
I noticed that, too. I also noticed, at some point this afternoon, my local Cumulus stations disappeared from the local listings on the website, though I could still find them, including updated logos, with a search. Guessing someone at Cumulus or TuneIn also read Tom's newsletter. This evening, I was listening to a station I don’t normally listen to via TuneIn, and a Cumulus station showed up in my similar stations list complete with artist and song display. I clicked it, and it worked perfectly on my iPhone. Obviously, I'm not enough in the know to be able to tell you if that was a fluke or a precursor of things to come. It seems odd to me that Cumulus logos on iHeart haven’t been updated in months while TuneIn shows recent changes (search WLS and look at 94.7's logo). I suppose stranger things have happened, but I can’t imagine TuneIn adding Cumulus logos without getting them from the company. Why update logos for stations you're not allowed to carry when you have partners already needing your help? Maybe there’s another logical explanation, but I don’t have it.
No actual interviews with anyone at Cumulus to substantiate it, other than to say they're still streaming on iHeart.
I've poked a few of my friends at Cumulus, and they’re not saying much. The most common response has been that they don’t know. Another one said he believed the deal with iHeart was up for renewal in the next month but didn’t know anything else. I tend to think they’re being sincere. During my brief time at Cumulus, streaming was a local option. I seem to remember it was taken up to the corporate level more than 10 years ago. Switching partner apps should be easy if that’s still the case and what it’s intending to do. It wouldn’t need to give the local stations any notice.