Data *is* interesting and important
The BBC's problem here is getting involved in content specific apps on a multitude of channels. It's a solved problem and they should be working with the TuneIns etc. to deliver, rather than half-assing crummy apps and spreading themselves too thinly. Really, no content creators should be doing that.
But in a post-broadcast landscape where gone are the days of broadcast surveys that showed clearly whether folks were watching or listening, they do need stats to measure whether they're producing material of interest. So many comments here seem critical not just of the slurp but also of the content. How are they supposed to know?
If the BBC's characterisation of TuneIn's willingness to provide the stats is fair (and the BBC's requests were fair with respect to the information actually required to analyse content "success"), then I think some criticism should go TuneIn's way as well.