Customized streaming radio stations from the likes of Slacker, Last.fm and Pandora might cater more to individual taste than FM radio, but up until now, they’ve also been missing a large piece of the tuned-in experience: news. Slacker will attempt to restore those timely nuggets of information by adding ABC News beside its considerable stable of music content.
The new option lets Slacker listeners pepper in top-of-the-hour news updates into their other stations, or flip to ABC’s own station for a constant stream of updates from the network. Content will include the usual news updates from anchors like Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, plus snippets from ABC News programs like Good Morning America and Nightline.
“Our listeners have been excited about the prospect of accessing news in our service and we are pleased to be offering them premium content from one of the most respectable brands in a truly innovative way,” said Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker, in a statement.
Slacker subscribers will have full access to both features, but users of the free basic service will only get a 14-day trial. Slacker subscriptions cost $3.99 billed annually, or $4.99 billed every month. Users can get access the ABC station under the “news” tab, or add headlines to an existing station by choosing “fine tune.”
