Public Radio Player

About the Public Radio Player

The Public Radio Player is an iPhone application that offers streaming audio from public radio stations across the United States. The Public Radio Player currently offers approximately 481 station streams and over 1,000 on-demand programs. The app has been downloaded nearly 3 million times and has ranked as one of the top free apps on iTunes since its debut in the fall of 2008. The Public Radio Player is free and available for download in the iTunes App Store.

Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is responsible for the development of the Public Radio Player. The project is funded by a generous grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and originated from a collaboration led by PRX in partnership with National Public Radio, Public Interactive, American Public Media, and Public Radio International, with participation from Doc Searls and Project VRM at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. PRX continues to work with stations, producers, and networks for advisory input on the Public Radio Player.

The Public Radio Player project seeks to establish a coordinated approach to the iPhone as a distribution platform for public media content. The project is gathering insights about mobile web development that it is sharing with the public radio system. CPB and PRX see the Public Radio Player as a way to encourage communication and knowledge sharing in order to harness the collective expertise, talents, and resources of the public radio system.

For more background on the origins of the project, read this article in Current from November, 2008.

Video Tour of the Public Radio Player

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add a stream or station?
Why does the stream keep stopping?
How do I favorite a station?
What does “public radio” mean?
Why can’t I listen to Christian Radio/C-SPAN/College/Commercial Radio stations?
Why are only U.S. stations in the Player?
Why an iPhone app?
Where’s the money coming from?
Who’s working on this?
I have more questions!

How do I add a stream or station?

Public radio stations choose to be in the Player by submitting their streams to us. We don’t add streams without permission. If your favorite public radio station isn’t available, we suggest contacting them and pointing them to http://www.publicradioplayer.org. If you are a public radio station and would like to have your stream included in the Public Radio, find submission details on our Guide for Stations page.

Why does the stream keep stopping?

A number of variables can cause dropped streams. We contend with AT&T’s network limitations, variances in each individual iPhone/iPod’s ability to transmit and receive data (both on wifi and cell networks), and cell tower transfers. Plus, unlike some audio apps, which use a standard stream format, the only way we can offer so many stations is to work with a variety of formats. We are constantly working on this issue, so bear with us. Read more in this blog post about streaming issues.

How do I favorite a station?

Tap the ‘Star’ icon in the upper right hand corner on any station or on-demand program page. Tap the ‘Star’ icon again to remove it from your list of favorites.

What does “public radio” mean?

“Public radio” refers to hundreds of non-commercial radio stations and program producers in the United States. Many of these local stations carry programs you may listen to, like Morning Edition, Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, and This American Life. Local stations decide which programs they air, giving each station its own unique sound. Familiar names like NPR, American Public Media, and Public Radio International are organizations that produce many of the radio programs you hear, but they don’t actually have radio stations to play them on. That’s where your local station comes in. So what you hear throughout the day probably comes from a variety of sources around the country. A large portion of public radio stations focus on news and talk shows, but there are many out there playing great music all day long – everything from jazz and blues to underground rock. You can view a list of stations currently on the Player. When you download the Public Radio Player, we encourage you to try out some stations you’ve never heard before. You’ll like what you hear!

Why can’t I listen to Christian Radio/C-SPAN/Commercial Radio stations?

Those aren’t public radio stations, but they are available via other radio streaming apps.

Why are only U.S. stations in the Player?

The Public Radio Player is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is a U.S. organization. To be in the Public Radio Player, stations must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• CPB qualified
• NPR member station
• APM affiliate
• PRI affiliate
• PRX paid station member
• National Federation of Community Broadcasters participating member
• Station Resource Group member station

Why an iPhone app?

With an iPhone app, we want to reach public radio listeners wherever they are, not just when they’re next to a computer or a radio. When Apple opened their iPhone software development kit (SDK), we thought the iPhone would be a great place to start experimenting with mobile streaming. Knowing we could reach a huge audience via the iTunes App Store moved us even more in the iPhone direction. We hope this project will allow public radio, as a whole, to take advantage of this rapidly evolving platform. One outcome of the Public Radio Player is a set of code and best practices that can serve as a guide to stations and public radio organizations who want to build their own mobile applications.
With nearly 2.5 million downloads and counting, the Public Radio Player has made public radio stations, and the content they broadcast, more visible to a wider public. That’s been the goal all along. Many iTunes users have yet to experience public radio, so we figured we should be where they are rather than wait for them to come to us. If you haven’t yet had the chance, download the free app now.

Where’s the money coming from?

The development of the Public Radio Player iPhone application was made possible by a generous grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB’s first grant funded the project through the development of Public Radio Player version 2.0. In January, 2010, CPB renewed funding for the project and two major updates to the Public Radio Player are planned for 2010.

Who’s working on this?

Development of the Public Radio Player is led by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) with contributions from Public Interactive and National Public Radio. The Player originated from a 2008 collaboration of public media organizations that included PRX, NPR, Public Interactive, American Public Media, and Public Radio International.

I have more questions!

As the project has progressed, we’ve used the blog to address common questions about the app and the project behind it. Some particularly helpful posts:

• Where’s my favorite station? (can’t find a station on the Public Radio Player?)
• Life beyond the iPhone (what about BlackBerry, Android, and the Palm Pre?)
• Bit rates and ballyhoo (why all streams don’t work all the time)

We encourage you to look through these, and if you still have questions, ask us on our Give Feedback page.

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