Slacker Radio announces live ESPN streams and more at CES

Slacker Radio, a popular alternative to Pandora, announced a few valuable new partnerships here at CES, one of which should have sports fans foaming at the mouth.

Jaymar Cabebe Former Associate Editor

Jaymar Cabebe covers mobile apps and Windows software for CNET. While he may be a former host of the Android Atlas Weekly podcast, he doesn't hate iOS or Mac. Jaymar has worked in online media since 2007.

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Jaymar Cabebe

Jan. 10, 2012 8:57 a.m. PT

LAS VEGAS--Slacker Radio, a popular alternative to Pandora, announced a few valuable new partnerships here at CES, one of which should have sports fans foaming at the mouth.

Thanks to Slacker's new partnership with ESPN Audio, users can now listen to live streams of ESPN shows and sporting events on the Web through Slacker.com. And according to the company's representatives, the new live content will be coming to Slacker's mobile apps soon as well--though no date was given. While all Slacker listeners will get access to the interactive ESPN Radio station, the live programming will only be available to Slacker Radio Plus and Premium subscribers.

Also announced was Slacker's new partnership with The Weather Channel, which brings customizable national, regional, and local weather forecasts to Slacker listeners. The new feature is coming "sometime in early 2012" both on the Web and to mobile devices.

Finally, American Public Media has also partnered with Slacker to bring popular public radio programming to the fast-growing Internet radio service. APM's Marketplace gives Slacker a new source of business and economic news programs while The Current brings a non-commercial Triple A music station into the fold.

Slacker appears to be beefing up its catalog of content, which should fuel what will likely be an exciting year of showdowns between all of the competing streaming media services.