Apple is set to launch its iTunes Radio streaming-music service in the US in September, with brands including McDonald's, Pepsi and Nissan among its advertisers.
Announced in June at the company's WWDC event, iTunes Radio's exact launch date has not yet been announced by Apple, beyond promising a debut in "Fall" as part of the release of the company's new iOS 7 software for its iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.
Advertising industry site AdAge claims that September will be the US launch for iTunes Radio, though, which claims McDonald's, Pepsi, Nissan and Procter & Gamble have committed to 12-month campaigns ranging in cost from "high single-digit millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars".
Its report claims that these plus one or two more brands will have exclusive deals for their industries until the end of 2013, before iTunes Radio adverts are opened up more widely to brands who agree to spend at least $1m with Apple.
Ads are expected to run across iPhones, iPads, computers (within iTunes) and on televisions via the Apple TV set-top box, with listeners played one audio ad every 15 minutes and one video ad every hour, although iTunes Radio will be ad-free for people who pay for Apple's iTunes Match cloud music service.
iTunes Radio will be US-only at launch, with not even a vague launch date confirmed for the service to roll out to the UK and other countries. "We're starting in the US, and we'll be adding other countries over time," said Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue when he announced the service in June.
Source: The Guardian
