From Inside.com: "Enigma Digital, a Net radio network focusing on 'lifestyle' communities in hard rock, electronic music, rap and lounge music, has been sold to giant radio network Clear Channel Communications.

"The Enigma portfolio includes KNAC.com, the popular online revival of the infamous Los Angeles hard rock/metal radio station; grooveradio.com, an electronic/dance site rated one of the Net's most popular stations by Arbitron; neo-lounge destination LuxuriaMusic.com; and underground hip-hop site curbserver.com.

"The deal, which could be announced as soon as Tuesday, indicates a subtle yet key shift in philosophy for the radio, billboard and live-concert conglomerate as it tries to hone its Internet strategy.

"Whereas Clear Channel's terrestrial radio programming strategy, especially for its market-leading Top 40 stations, is both highly centralized and tightly hit-focused, Enigma Digital programs from the opposite side of the aesthetic and business spectrum: It targets genre-specific, deeply passionate, often marginalized fans of niche genres like metal and dance, builds rabid communities around these loyal consumers, and then charges advertisers and music-software firms fees to market to these narrow audiences."

Read the entire story here.

Thanks to BuySellBid.com's Dave Martin for tipping us off again!


Reprinted from this morning's edition...

From VentureWire: "OnAir.com, a provider of streaming media software and applications, said it will be sold to an undisclosed public company within the next few weeks.

"The company laid off 50 employees, more than half of its staff, in December when it changed from a consumer ad model to a business-to-business model (read coverage in RAIN here). OnAir.com, formerly WWW.com, is backed by Carlton Communications (read RAIN coverage on this funding here, or click the screen shot), Synapse Capital, and Transamerica Business Credit."

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From RadioInk.com: "(The Wall Street) Journal runs front page story on www.worldclassrock.com (excerpted from MSNBC.com in RAIN here). Tells story of how CC kept its rock format alive by moving it to the Net after a sale of the traditional signal resulted in a format flip to Spanish. And makes a profit. If it’s a profitable station, we were hard pressed to find out where that revenue was coming from...

"According to the Journal report, the key to WorldClassRock's profitability has been Clear Channel's partnerships. He says Microsoft and RealNetworks pay WorldClassRock a fee to link to sites where their Internet-streaming software can be downloaded. Akoo.com Inc. gives the station a commission on the wireless Internet audio devices it sells to WorldClassRock listeners. These and other agreements generate enough revenue to keep the station in the black, Martin says.

"Other than a few banners to promote the worldclassrock.com site and Clear Channel owned companies, there are no visible revenue streams on the site. There are no ads running on the station's tuner, which pops up like most Internet-Only radio sites...

"If the streaming costs are conservatively figured on 3.4 cents an hour per listener times the sites 130,000 listeners (averaging 37 minutes per listener), the streaming cost figures to be about $3,000 per month...Even if the seven staff members were only making $12,000 a year and the rent in Santa Monica was only $1,000 per month, that would put (conservative) monthly cost figures for the station at $11,000. That leaves the partnership's dollars with REAL and Microsoft to cover the costs unless there are other hidden revenue streams on the site. At $11,000 per month, REAL and Microsoft would be paying Clear Channel $66,000 each per year just so the station could break even."

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From RBR.com: "GlobalMedia, recently refocusing its efforts away from Internet audio streaming services to broadband video delivery, has completed the sale of its radio contracts and related assets to streaming provider SurferNetwork for $1M in cash and 1M shares of SurferNetwork restricted common stock. The initial purchase price total is estimated at $2.25M. SurferNet has indicated that price could increase up to $4.3M, as it may issue up to 1.5M more shares as a result of post-closing adjustments.

"Global Media’s former board member, Standard Radio President Gary Slaight, is serving as GlobalMedia’s representative on SurferNet’s board. Surfer is also awaiting the results of the BroadcastAmerica Chapter 11 auction, where it submitted a bid. The combined roster of station affiliates from Global and BroadcastAmerica may bring Surfer to the number one streaming provider in the world."

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From the press release: "MeasureCast, Inc. has released its January Internet Radio Report. The monthly analysis shows that in January, the total time spent listening (TTSL) to on-line broadcasters tracked by MeasureCast increased 16 percent from December 2000...

"Of the top 50 stations, 38 experienced higher TTSL, and 35 stations enjoyed a higher 'Cume,' meaning more people tuned in to those Webcasts in January than in December. ('Cume Persons' is an estimate of the total number of unique listeners who had one or more listening sessions lasting five minutes or longer during the reported time period.)

"Stations with significant increases in audience size and TTSL included: Mega 92.3/KCMG-FM (CyberAxis) with a 194 percent increase in Cume and a 290 percent increase in TTSL; and Christian Pirate Radio, an Internet-only station, with a 202 percent rise in Cume and a 222 percent increase in TTSL...

"Overall, 18-44 year olds increased to 71 percent of the streaming media audience, up from 67 percent in December. Eighteen percent of Internet radio listeners are 18-24 year olds, and 26 percent are 24-34 year olds. Listening in the West rose from 26 percent of the population to 32 percent as a result of the increase in Internet radio listeners in California, where the percentage of "streamers" rose from 13 percent to 17 percent."

See the January Top 50 report and read the release here.

February 21-25, 2001	The Gavin Seminar 2001, Miami, FL
February 26-28, 2001	Broadcasters Website Sales Conf. 2.0, Tempe, AZ

Beginning Monday February 5th, "RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter" will be working from the offices of Strategic Media Research. We're currently in the process of moving from the Lakeview location into downtown Chicago.

As a result of this change, the entire RAIN staff can now be reached at 312 726-8300. All e-mail addresses will remain the same.

Naturally, there may be a bit of a lapse in communication while we make this transition. We apologize for any inconvenience you might experience in trying to track us down, and appreciate your understanding.