From
Radio Business Report: "More signs that streaming media
is not getting enough ad buys: Katz Interactive Marketing/Streaming
Media Sales Network has been shut down.
"Katz Media Group CEO Stu Olds (pictured), en route
to RAB, confirmed the news to RBR with this statement: 'As of
today, we have decided to discontinue our current efforts in streaming
media through the operation of Katz Interactive Marketing. Our
current revenue model does not show Katz Interactive Marketing
delivering positive results in the foreseeable future. At this
time,
we are directing our efforts toward our core businesses in support
of our radio and TV station clients.'"
From Radio Ink: "At this point it is not yet clear
if there will be any layoffs in the move. And, Katz did not comment
on whether this was a cost-cutting measure dictated from corporate.
Anne Kenny of Katz did say that there is a possibility of folding
employees of the Streaming division back into the Katz core business
group."
To read the complete RBR story, go here
and click the appropriate link. Read the Radio Ink story here.
BY PAUL MALONEY
From Dublab.com homepage: "This Wednesday at 6pm PST
we will shifting the sounds you hear coming from the dublab
live stream. Temporarily there will be no live broadcasting. We
will be running highlights of past lab rat programming.
"This decision was made because our piggy bank is empty.
For the past year and a half dublab has been running on generous
contributions from family and friends. With a lot of hard work and
your enthusiastic support we have grown past our wildest dreams."
And so it goes. Another inspired and original webcaster has
fallen upon hard times. Ran out of funding. Couldn't get the advertisers
on board. Not enough audience, not quick enough. Same story.
Dublab CEO Jon Buck told
RAIN that he believes his
company still has a lot of value and a lot to offer if it can
remain operating. "We've made a lot of content -- we've had
150 hours a week of live DJs, with big names guests from the musical
underground," said Buck. "There's lots of opportunity
for us as a content source for syndication deals."
Buck also shared that he's working on deals that may allow
Dublab to provide content to third parties.
"We've developed a cult-like following on a $6000 marketing
expense -- total!" Buck said. (Dublab was featured in a story
in SPIN magazine, as reported in
RAIN here)
"Say what you will about streaming audio technology, but I
think we're proof that if you develop compelling content, people
will listen."
Unfortunately, like so many other companies who staked their
place on the 'Net, Dublab had trouble bringing the advertisers on
board. Buck admitted that either most "didn't get" Internet
radio (or what Dublab had been doing), or that the site had not
yet attained the "critical mass" of an audience demanded
by many larger potential advertisers (again, according to Buck,
80 to 100 thousand uniques per month.
The site enjoyed some success. Listenership has never been
higher (according to Buck, the site pulls in 50-thousand unique
listeners a month, with an average listening time of well over
twenty minutes). And the company runs lean, with only eight full-time
employees, and a 1400 square foot office. But the income couldn't
sustain their $20-thousand monthly burn. "We were either six
months behind or two years ahead (of the adoption curve)."
According to Buck, the company had hoped to become the "Ben
& Jerry" of Internet radio -- establishing a brand that
became bigger than just the product. "And we were hoping to
leverage ourselves as creators of advertising content," admitted
Buck, delivering the advertising with their own branding (DJ mentions,
promotions, ad-insertion, on-page hot keys linked to advertising
offers and contest entries).
"A five-dollar CPM over the six channels would've covered
that burn," said Buck. Other income possibilities included
non-traditional revenue, like possible record label co-promotions
and e-commerce -- options that are still open for the future, according
to Buck.
Frankly, it's not a great time to be looking for funding
for a content-driven Internet firm. But Buck remains upbeat. "If
I had it all to do again, I wouldn't change a thing. Over the past
year and a half, we've done some amazing things." Unfortunately,
finding a like-minded investor in the very near future might just
top the list.
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From the press release: "Late Tuesday afternoon, a federal
court judge named a team of managers led by
Senior
VP Amy Vokes -- and funded by six of the radio industry's most successful
executives -- as the successful bidder for the assets of
Strategic
Media Research, SMR founder and president (and publisher
of this newsletter)
Kurt Hanson
(pictured) announced today. This clears the way for a closing that
is expected to occur within the next week, he said.
"'This is fantastic news for our clients, our employees,
and, I'd like to think, for the radio industry as a whole,' Hanson
said. 'For the first time in years, majority control of the industry's
leading independent research firm is back in the hands of people
who know, love, and understand the radio industry...'
"Strategic filed for Chapter 11 protection three weeks
ago, at the request of Vokes and her backers, in order
to
go through a process that would confirm the fact that the sale is
an arm's-length transaction, approved by an independent third party.
"The investor group backing Vokes's team is set to include
former AMFM CEO
Jimmy de Castro
(pictured), former ABC Radio Networks and AMFM Radio Networks head
David Kantor, Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins, record promotion executive
Jeff McClusky, radio entrepreneur Jeff Trumper, and, representing
Canada's largest privately-owned radio broadcaster, Standard Radio's
Gary Slaight.
"The investor group, as a whole, is supporting Vokes
with over a million dollars in working capital. Each investor will
also receive a seat on the firm's Board of Directors."
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From the press release: "
Hiwire
Inc. announced that it is targeting, delivering and selling ad spots
for
World Class Rock,
the flagship Internet-only radio station of Clear Channel Internet
Group, a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. To date,
Clear Channel Internet Group is the largest group of online audio
holdings to take advantage of live stream ad targeting...
"Engineers from Hiwire and Clear Channel worked together
in January to Hiwire-enable WorldClassRock.com,
which registers nearly 80,000 aggregate tuning hours per month.
With Hiwire's proprietary ad insertion technology, the Internet
station is capable of delivering localized ads to specific audiences
during commercial breaks in their live stream audio, creating a
new source of online revenue for Clear Channel Internet Group."
Read the press release
here.
From Radio & Records: "Judy Carlough has been named
Arbitron Webcast Ratings VP. Carlough was most
recently
VP/Agency & Affiliate Relations at
Broadcastspots.com.
She'll now hold the newly created position of VP/Advertiser Services
for Arbitron's Webcast Ratings division.
"Carlough will be based in Boston. Before joining Broadcastspots,
Carlough spent nine years at the RAB as Exec. VP/Nat'l Sales & Marketing.
She has also been VP/GM of XTRA-AM/San Diego and LSM of Boston's
WBCN and WSSH."
Read R&R's story
here.
Reprinted from yesterday's issue...
From the press release: "MeasureCast announced today
that for the week of January 22-28, the total time spent 
listening
(TTSL) for the top 25 on-line stations in the company's weekly ranking
rose eight percent over the week of January 15-21...
"Three ABC Radio stations made their debuts in the MeasureCast
Internet Radio Top 25 list: WXCD-94.7 FM, a classic rock station
in Chicago; KSCS-96.3 FM, a country music station in Dallas/Ft.
Worth; and KZNZ-105 FM, an alternative rock station in Eden Prairie,
Minnesota.
Read the press release here.
(Note that in December WXCD/Chicago changed to "80s
Hits" format "94.7 The Zone.")
Click here
to see this week's complete MeasureCast Top 25 report. And
as always, you can also click the link under "Metrics"
on the left-hand menu.
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