Have you ever wanted to rewind talk radio after you missed a key piece of information? Ever wanted to fast forward through a boring news story? Well a Chicago-based audio news app let's you do just that, and it's already been downloaded 100,000 times in the Apple app store in just a few short months.
Rivet Radio is a 22-hour a day news company the produces local Chicago, national and global news. The app is updated at least every two hours in order to keep its listeners up to speed with politics, crime, sports, weather, and other news. Users can select what kind of information they want and the app tailors the news to them. Stories range from 30 to 90 seconds, can be paused, fast forwarded or rewound, and goes wherever your phone goes, said Terri Lydon, head of marketing for Rivet Radio.
"We allow the consumer to get the audio news and information that he or she wants based on their schedule," she said. "You get your local Chicago news, weather and traffic. When you turn it on you don't have to chase it down on the eights or something like that, which is very different that am/fm radio where you're trained when to get the information. Now we let you get it when you want it."
The company has seen a surprising amount of international downloads from people interested in the company's global news, Lydon said. People in China, Turkey and India have downloaded the app, likely coming from people interested in english audio news.
Currently Chicago is the only market with local news, but in two weeks the company plans to offer local weather news to 50 markets in the U.S. Rivet Radio currently partners with traditional news companies like the Associated Press, the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ to create content, and the company expects to partner with news organizations in other cities to eventually expand its local news coverage.
Rivet Radio has raised $1.5 million from Angel investors and is planning to raise a Series A round, Lydon said. The company generates revenue by audio ads, sponsored content, and it also has a deal with a conference call service to play its news instead of music while someone is on hold. But the longterm goal for Rivet Radio is to be inside vehicles as a part of the infotainment unit, which might be easier than it sounds, considering that most of the company's business leaders have a background in NavTach, Lydon said.
"We're already in conversations with some car manufactures," she said. "Getting into the vehicle is something that would be beneficial to the manufacturer, as well as the consumer."
Photo via Rivet Radio
