OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. continues to pursue mobile music lovers with a new streaming multimedia service offering more than 50 channels of content.
Sprint Radio features music, music videos, news, weather, sports and financial information from providers including NPR, ESPN and Radio Disney. The service is available for $6 a month and is available on the Sprint Media Player or via a downloadable Java application. Unlike many of the carrier’s content offerings, Sprint Radio is supported by some iDEN handsets as well as some CDMA2000 1x-equipped Sprint Nextel devices.
Mobile multimedia firm mSpot is powering the service and is responsible for content production.
Sprint Nextel used the launch to tout upgrades to its music store, as well. The full-track download service has been expanded to include expanded charts and categories and a recommendation feature based on past purchases.
While Sprint Nextel is sticking to its price point of $2.50 per song—a charge some say is too steep for the offering to gain mass-market traction—the carrier is offering a free tune to users who buy two songs until Nov. 15.
“More people than ever before are enjoying music on their mobile phones, and this popularity is expected to continue to rise as Sprint offers more truly differentiated ways to be entertained no matter where our customers are throughout their busy days,” said Alana Muller, the operator’s director of entertainment product marketing.
