IHEART’S ON-DEMAND LAUNCH:  Big news out of the iHeart camp yesterday with the reveal of their new on-demand service.  The product, called All Access, will be powered by Rhapsody which is a rebrand of the original Napster streaming service.  By making this a partnership instead of a self-built platform, iHeart was able to quick launch within a few months.  The RAIN article (first link) has a good summary of their tiered offerings – spoiler alert . . . it’s a copycat of the $5-$10/mo options Pandora will launch later this month.  I’ve also included a Variety article (second link) to get some perspective from outside the radio trades.  Keep in mind as you’re reading that about 85% of iHeart’s listeners don’t listen to their current free ad-supported stream.  So to get those listeners to migrate to the stream and start paying for a monthly sub might be a bridge too far.  As Variety notes “iHeart competitor Cumulus tried to do the same through a partnership with Rdio last year, but ended up writing off millions because radio listeners simply didn’t bite.”  Time will tell how this shakes out.  (link1)  (link2)

THE PRECIPICE OF TOTAL TV MEASUREMENT:  We’ve been talking about need for TV to unify cross-screen measurement for a while now.  Nielsen has committed to a full rollout of Total TV Audience Measurement by April’17, and based on the comments of Group M’s Lyle Schwartz, it looks like that’s not a moment too soon.  Traditional set top ratings are in a free fall as viewership migrates to content consumption on mobile devices.  Clients and agencies are screaming for a standardized way to buy across all platforms.  If this transition successfully takes hold before next year’s TV upfronts it will be a game changer for the industry.  And it will also become a blue print for the same ratings unification needed in the radio industry.  Fasten your seat belts for this one!  (link)

THE DEFINITION OF HARD TIME:  And finally, here’s a fun article to send you into the weekend.  Just when you thought getting a DUI was bad enough, Canada has found a way to add insult to injury . . . Nickelback style!  There’s really nothing more to say, so I’ll just let you read for yourselves.  J  (link)

Have a great Friday (and weekend) guys!