ESPN Radio apps lands for all Windows Phones and not just Nokia

We’re not too sure what to make of this but here’s the deal: there’s a seemingly very official ESPN Radio app now in the Windows Phone Marketplace and you can download it to any Windows Phone not just a Nokia.

We mention that because it was only Friday that Nokia came out with the news that an ESPN Radio app should be in the Nokia Marketplace within the next day or two. Well, here we are two days later and there is a very nice ESPN Radio app but it will also load on any Windows Phone. Accident? On purpose? Does Nokia have a ‘special edition’ of the app coming out very soon too? We just don’t know…

We’ve loaded the app on both our Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II and both behave the same—you’ll need to either login with your free account or create one on the fly but once in, it’s your as-advertised Radio app (though our Live radio isn’t bringing anything up). Here are the main features:

LISTEN LIVE to internet broadcasts of over 35 ESPN Radio stations around the country
LISTEN to your favorite ESPN shows like Mike and Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Scott Van Pelt Show, The Michael Kay Show and many more!
LISTEN to play-by-play from some of your favorite college and professional sports teams*
LISTEN to 35 ESPN Radio podcasts including The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn, Fantasy Focus and Tony Kornheiser Show
LISTEN OnDemand to SportsCenter - updated every 20 minutes!
** NEW ** Create custom stations and playlists with your favorite teams/topics/players/sports/shows
** NEW ** Download your playlists for ‘offline’ listening

It’s a version 1.0 of the app and it is made by Expand the Room and not Nokia (though perhaps the Finnish company lent some guidance to its development like they often do). That company, Expand the Room, does have ESPN listed on their site as a mobile client so yeah, this is official.

Either way, if you’re a sports nut it seems like a great to get your hands on while you can. We’ll try to update this story if anything new happens but for now, just head here to the Marketplace and grab it yourself. Thanks, Gatlyn T. and Noe B., for the tips

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.

45 Comments

This is exactly what should happen. A equal and fair playing field for all OEM's..
But if Nokia was the only one helping shouldn't they have an exclusivity period? I think they deserve it for all the effort that they have made to make the platform competitive.
^
This
@Tbonenga, I 100% disagree. This isn't communism ;-) Companies need to compete and they do that by making better hardware and offering better services. If Nokia lent design and dev assistance to ETR then I have zero problem with them getting a brief exclusive--it's their money, not HTCs that's being spent.
This isn't Android either. All it means is if you have phone A then you get experience A, if you have phone B then you get experience B. They should just make it free for Nokia users, and paid for everyone else. All WP users should have access to all the same apps - WP is the underdog afterall and we need the platform to be as strong as possible, not divided between OEM empires.
Are you serious? Were you making this same vehement argument when WP initially launched given that Samsung, LG, and HTC all had their own apps developed for their respective devices?

OEM developed apps are the only way these oems can differentiate on the WP platform since they cannot skin the OS; not to mention that even on Android, they still have their own apps (i.e. S Voice for Samsung phones).

Who is 'we'?
I didn't think my argument was the slightest bit vehement. I agree that some apps need to be exclusive as they tie into specific hardware i.e. flashlight, sound enhancer, & attentive phone on HTC phones. But something like the HTC Hub, a glorified weather app, should be available to everyone. Half of the exclusives aren't even made by Nokia - they've just entered a deal with a 3rd party. Yes, other OEM's can also enter deals themselves but it's pointless in-fighting and the only people that lose are those on other handsets. WP should aim to be more like Apple, not Android, where all phones are created more or less equal. As I said, giving all the Nokia apps free to Nokia users and at a cost to everyone else, is still an incentive for new buyers and doesn't leave others, on the same platform, out in the cold. "We" is all WP7 users (mentioned in the same sentence), made only in reference to us all having a common desire of wanting WP to be as strong as possible, but not necessarily the desire of having no exclusives. Perhaps it is presumptious to assume everyone feels the same, but I can't imagine anyone still using WP7 to desire it not to be strong (and therefore fail).
@David Nokia is doing this with Microsoft's money. Therefore all apps developed with Microsoft's money should benefit the whole OS and not one OEM.
How do you figure its Microsoft's money. MS paid Nokia to make hardware for windows phone OS. What Nokia does with that is their own business. So long as they make windows phones first and foremost.
"@David Nokia is doing this with Microsoft's money. Therefore all apps developed with Microsoft's money should benefit the whole OS and not one OEM."
@Tbonenga This is patently false and has to be one of the easiest arguments to ever counter. By that same "logic" Nokia should also advertise HTC and Samsung phones--after all, it's just Microsoft's money, right? Nokia as a separate company doesn't actually exist? Garbage. And at least please take the time to get my name correct...
uhh no. is all that needs to be said for this.
@Tbonenga - No!

If Nokia subsidizes the development of ANY app, then what SHOULD happen is what has been happening - Nokia gets an exclusivity period.

If Nokia is allowing you as a HTC or Samsung WP user to get access to this app sooner than expected, then you should be grateful.

Nokia doesn't owe HTC, Samsung, or any other oems anything - and that goes for you as well, if you did not purchase a Nokia device.
With such low numbers 4%. Microsoft should make sure all major apps on all phones. So what if Microsoft owns Nokia basically now. The money Nokia is spending is coming from Microsoft. Not everybody likes Nokia phones. This is helping Nokia but crippling the OS as a whole. If Microsoft don't stop ASAP the OS will never grow. Let Nokia win the battle with hardware not backroom deals.
Exactly. Now is the time to make WP7 as strong as possible, not confuse the end user. "Well if you go for A then you get these apps, but not those ones, and if you go for B you get those apps but not these, and if you go for C it doesn't have those apps at all but it has better hardware"
Actually it's not MSFT's money. The money Nokia gets basically offsets the licensing cost of WP. Nokia is spending THEIR own money. If you don't like the lack of support your OEM of choice is giving you then I suggest you switch to Nokia. Your jealously is boring.
This is what bugged me at first because i picked up a HD 7 when it came out. Luckily my contract ran out, and i can get a WP 8 and soon forget all the mess and fuss about this exclusivity thing and enjoy wp8 exclusive app (?) And Yes its gonna be a nokia.
I totally agree with you..
I just noticed that the blog post on the Nokia blog announcing this app states it's coming to both Windows Phones and Lumias so this appears to be intentional.
I wouldn't be surprised if Nokia had decided that at this stage in the game, it's more important to get people to like Windows Phone than for Windows Phone customers to pick Nokia over competitors. Nokia will get the majority of WP sales, but WP adoption is what's lacking. Will be interesting to see what they do for the next few months.
Note that this strategy could differ by region. E.g., in India, they appear to have a well-recognized brand, and pushing Nokia may be the most powerful thing they can do, while in the U.S., pushing Windows Phone may be more effective in the short to medium term.
Yeahhhhhh I'm Noe B. :)
Live Radio is nice, but I don't know why a US user wouldn't subscribe to these podcasts through Zune instead of having to use them in the app.
Not everyone has access to Podcasts (it took a year for that to be unlocked in Australia) and I can't see a way to subscribe or browse podcasts directly from my phone without a 3rd party app.
That's why I said "a US user".

And to subscribe to podcasts, you just go to the Marketplace, pick the podcasts entry, and subscribe to anything listed. Maybe that doesn't work outside the US though.
Awesome. This makes me (a non-Nokia user) happy. Hopefully, the rest of the future apps should be for all Windows and not an exclusive for a certain device.
Btw, thank you to whomever has been hearing those of us that have been wanting things like this.
I do not own a Nokia phone, but I agree with Daniel. If Nokia is the only one to put money, effort, into applications for wp then they should have some exclusive rights for a period of time. I would like to see this change if HTC, Samsung, step up a bit more for wp.
However, I like schludabub's comment. Make them free for Nokia users and paid apps for others.... Then everyone wins
The 3rd party stuff that Nokia is bringing to Lumia's are generally timed exclusives so they get some initial benefit, then everyone gets in on the action later. Since they have to front some money to get these deals, that's more than fair IMO. When the platform gets better market share, then I expect this will be less prevolent as developers will want to get on the platform as soon as Android and iOS.
On one hand I agree that Nokia put up the resources so they should get something out of the deal. But on the other hand, Nokia has gone all in on Windows Phone. If Windows Phone goes south then so does Nokia. Exclusive apps don't help the overall platform. It just angers and confuses people. People like us know and understand these things. People off the street that want WP aren't going to know that your best bet to have the most apps available to you is to go with Nokia. Or, like in my area, AT&T isn't even an option. So they'll expect to get Words with Friends or many other apps but they won't be there and will have to wait...making them upset and confused.
Uh, whatever folks. Thanx WPCentral, Nokia, & ESPN.
Its Nokia's relationship with developers that is helping get these apps for WP. No reason Samsung couldn't do the same thing with market share but they choose not to. The free for Nokia and paid for all others makes perfect sense.
Thanks. App is ok
Yes! Go to hell Nokia exclusives
The best thing HTC has done was make great apps like sound enhancer,attentive phone. Nokia has yet to best that.
Umm Nokia Drive is worth waaay more then either of those HTC apps
...and not to mention Nokia Transit, City Lens and Trailers... Just an example of the value Nokia adds with its efforts for some users in Canada (i.e. Toronto): GO Transit doesn't have an official app for Windows Phone (but there is a sweet unofficial offer). However, Nokia Transit factors in the GO's schedules alongside those of the TTC (allowing the user to get from A to B using a mix of transit services at a particular time). In effect, Transit subsumes the role of multiple apps into ONE: a travel scheduler, the GO Transit app and TTC transit app... Sweet?
You wish
^^This. Nokia's IP and value add apps bring more value to the entire WP platform than some 'sound enhancer'. Besides, if you are a music afficionado or technophile, you'll appreciate the music as it was recorded - you don't need no 'sound enhancer'.

Get a pair of Klipshe earbuds and rip your mp3's in 320kbps or lossless- there will be no need for 'sound enhancer'!
Attentive phone,Nokia has flip to mute built in
How about Flip to Speaker? That's what I use Attentive Phone for the most.
HTC apps suck.
Nokia rocks, and I want one hello win 8!
Not for the UK, is it?
Live tiles disappear on phone reset
I can't download it in Samsung focus
I was already listening to espn channels through tunein radio

Show more comments