• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 5, 2011

 

Clear Channel Radio is keeping up the momentum for the national rollout of its New iHeartRadio digital audio platform, with a deal that brings the online and mobile service to Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming network.

Beginning this winter, iHeartRadio will be available for free to members of Xbox Live Gold, Xbox 360's online entertainment service. It will be the only digital radio service on Xbox Live.

The partnership gives Xbox Live Gold members access to over 800 live broadcast and digital-only radio stations, from 150 cities around the U.S., as well as custom stations and other personalized listening and programming features.

They will also gain access to social features through iHeartRadio's integration with Facebook. Xbox Live Gold members, who also own the Kinect for Xbox, will be able to control digital radio play using voice and body signals. Members who don't own the Kinect can operate iHeartRadio with their controllers.

Clear Channel Radio has been steadily expanding its partnership with Microsoft, including integrating iHeartRadio on the new Windows Phone 7 and streaming the recent iHeartRadio Music Festival, which took place from September 23-24 in Las Vegas, in HD exclusively on the Xbox 360.

The new Xbox alliance comes just days after Clear Channel Communications named Bob Pittman, a founder of MTV and past president of AOL, to the position of CEO. Pittman was said to have played a pivotal role in the development of iHeartRadio, including its integration with Thumbplay, acquired by Clear Channel in March of this year.

CCR is positioning iHeartRadio as a free alternative to Pandora by offering music on demand, custom stations and new listening suggestions based on their preferences.

More recently, CCR revealed that it was adding Spanish-language programming from Univision Radio to the New iHeartRadio platform. The content partnership -- the first third-party distribution relationship for the digital platform -- includes music, sports, and talk formats, as well as leading AM and FM Spanish-language radio personalities.