Well beaten ?

There was an element of ho-hum from some UK observers about the announcement of Beats 1 from Apple.  A 24 hour radio station ?  So what ?

Well, Apple has sold some 200m phones over the past year. More and more people use their mobiles as radios. Beats 1 will have, in some way, EPG-type prominence on iPhones. They've hired Zane Lowe and four BBC producers. They're operating a single station in LA, NYC and London. The outlay ain't huge considering Apple's latest quarterly net profits stood at $13.6 billion - and they're even avoiding night pay for djs and producers.

Even marginal success will dwarf the listenership of most existing radio stations.