Axel Springer now offers audio live streams of BILD and WELT TV programmes via TuneIn platform

Axel Springer has announced a partnership with TuneIn, a leading global live radio and audio-on-demand streaming service, to deliver the TV programmes of the BILD and WELT channels. From today, these are available free of charge as live audio streams, in an expansion of Axel Springer’s broader multi-platform strategy in Germany.  

BILD TV Audio” and “WELT Live,” are available via TuneIn and the TuneIn app on more than 200 platforms, smart speakers and connected cars. Additionally, users can access the streams on BILD.de and WELT.de in the future. 

Premiere in Germany 

BILD and WELT are the first German TV stations to offer their programmes as digital live audio channels. It is also a premiere in Germany for TuneIn: for the first time, a major German media company is distributing its TV programming via the world’s leading live audio platform.  

With this partnership, TuneIn wants to build on its success with the provision of live audio news for US networks such as CNN or MSNBC in the United States also in Germany. 

News cooperation part of larger local growth strategy for TuneIn 

This first German news collaboration is part of a growth initiative for TuneIn in Germany building a rich and compelling local offering of live audio content for radio stations, news, and sport.  

In the US, the company is already the market leader for live audio with its diverse content that goes beyond streaming favourite radio stations. In addition to live audio content from major TV news brands such as CNN or MSNBC, sports radio such as ESPN Radio and live play-by-play sports content from major U.S. sports leagues, such as MLB or NFL, are also available inside and outside the US.

Axel Springer wants to give users more and more the opportunity to choose between reading, watching, and listening 

For Axel Springer, the exclusive cooperation with TuneIn, initiated by the central Axel Springer Team Audio, is another important pillar of its multi-platform strategy. By 2025, the company aims to become the market leader for audio journalism in the German-speaking world. As part of this effort, Axel Springer is expanding the content of its top German media brands to include new audio offerings.

In the future, users will thus be able to decide in which form they want to consume content – whether print, digital, TV or audio. In this way, the multimedia media company is taking advantage of the opportunity to offer its stories and its high-quality journalism in a wide variety of distribution channels and thus to reach users where they are. This enables Axel Springer to increase its reach in the digital world and tap into new revenue potential. 

Frank Hoffmann, Managing Director WeltN24 said: “The live audio offerings of the BILD and WELT channels are an organic and logical extension of the multi-platform strategy we are pursuing for our news offerings. More than ever, our viewers and readers want to be able to access their preferred media brands on all devices and in all forms. So far, this has been possible in print, digital, television and via our podcasts. Now, with live audio streams on TuneIn, we’re offering an additional, great way to stay up to date in real time – whether on smart speakers or on the go.” 

Stefan Zilch, General Manager and Head of Germany at TuneIn said: “TuneIn first started making TV news channels like CNN and Bloomberg Media available as live audio offerings 7 years ago. As the number of online listeners for these news offerings continues to grow and we continue our mission to reinvent radio for a connected world, we decided to make a similar offering available to the German market. We have now found the ideal partners for the launch in Axel Springer’s TV stations BILD and WELT. We are delighted to share this new and unique experience with our listeners in Germany from now on, so they can stay informed wherever and however they want.” 

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