In the ongoing history of new media, Corus Entertainment’s ExploreMusic will not be left behind as the popular online and radio show yesterday announced it has partnered with mobile content and services platform Viigo to make its program accessible to BlackBerry users.

Starting next Monday, listeners can download an ExploreMusic version of Viigo that comes complete with all of the content that is on the website. Music fans can also view the ExploreMusic Twitter posts from Alan Cross directly from within the ExploreMusic module, getting up-to-the-minute band and music industry updates from Cross, a veteran radio host and self-professed professional music geek.

‘People aren’t buying radio receivers anymore but they’re certainly buying smartphones,’ David Huszar, VP and GM, Corus Interactive and Integrated Solutions, tells MiC. ExploreMusic has about a million weekly listeners, says Huszar, and although he admits the smartphone penetration in Canada is still relatively small, ‘it’s so important for all of our radio entities to be available on the appliances that people are using nowadays to engage with media.’

Advertising opportunities include the traditional clickable banner ad placement across multiple screens, as well as audio clip advertising during the podcasts of the shows, which include ‘An Ongoing History of New Music’ and ‘Legends of Classic Rock with Jeff Woods.’ The show’s title sponsor, HMV, will have a presence on the Viigo application, in an example of the integration media model that Corus offers for advertisers. ‘We don’t typically sell on a CPM basis for mobile,’ says Huszar. ‘It’s really about engaging with consumers more than counting impressions.’