From the New York Times: "Major League Baseball said yesterday that it would begin charging fans to listen to audio broadcasts of its games over the Internet, a stark illustration of how content owners are trying to find business models that work in the online medium.

"The subscription plan, which will cost users $9.95 for a full season of baseball games, signals an end to the ability of fans to get radio feeds of baseball games free on the Web. Baseball fans, and sports fans in general, have used the Internet to listen to play-by-play of their hometown teams in areas outside of the local radio station's range, sometimes while sitting at their PC's at work...

"The decisions, from two of the three largest sports leagues in the United States (MLB and the National Basketball Association), signify that content providers think the Internet, traditionally a medium for the free exchange of information, is sufficiently mature for people to begin paying for valuable services...

"In addition to offering the service through its Web site, Major League Baseball also announced that it would license its online broadcasts to RealNetworks, an Internet media company based in Seattle.

"RealNetworks will charge $4.95 a month for the baseball broadcasts and $9.95 a month for access to its GoldPass network, which includes N.B.A. games."

Read the entire article here.

...

... There are several issues here worth discussing that the article left unclear, or didn't bring up... (1) Is it safe to assume that $9.95 will allow consumers to listen to any game all season from the MLB website, and the $4.95/month will allow access to any game from the RealNetworks system? In other words, consumers couldn't possibly be expected to pay $9.95 for the season, and then an additional $4.95 per month, could they? (2) What about streaming from local affiliates' sites? I'm a Cubs fan (I know, I know), but I don't have a radio in my office. But I can catch the game from WGN's website. Could local broadcasters, after paying a king's ransom for the broadcast rights for an MLB team, be forced to "black out" their streaming during ball games...or to install a verification system to filter out non-paying baseball fans? (3) The idea that streaming audio is "sufficiently mature" to begin charging for content may give us some insight into the type of thinking that's going on here. The demand for broadcast baseball coverage is dropping (at least on the television side), and as we are all well aware, the audience for streaming audio isn't really there yet. I wonder if 125 year-old MLB thinks it is "sufficiently mature," with yet another work stoppage on the horizon, to weather the apathy of baseball fans who've just been given another reason not to even bother anymore. -- PM ...

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From CNet News.com: "For Web surfers who want to chat online without typing, Terra Lycos has unveiled a service in which people host their own online talk shows, the Internet media company said Monday.

"Aiming to expand its brand and boost customer loyalty, Terra Lycos will launch Lycos Talk Radio with about 20 to 30 shows, ranging from college students in Boston talking about rock group Nine Inch Nails to a grandmother in Detroit discussing collectibles, said Maggie Battista, director of personal publishing at Lycos...

"To host a show, people have to join the Lycos network, which is free, and register for talk radio. The company is billing the product as a version of the next phase of chat -- the extremely popular Web feature that lets people swap messages in real time.

"Although the new product is accessible to all Terra Lycos users with a Web connection of 56K or faster, Battista said the company has not yet made immediate plans for a Spanish version.

"The company, created by the merger of U.S.-based Lycos and Terra Networks -- the Internet arm of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica -- has been working on the radio project for the last nine months to a year and has been testing it among individuals over the last two months."

Read the article here.

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From the press release: "DMR, the leading independent provider of strategic marketing services for the broadcast industry, has promoted Tripp Eldredge to President and Chief Operating Officer.

"Eldredge will continue to lead DMR, and will work with CEO Jay Williams, Jr. to oversee the development of new opportunities and alliances for DMR and its clients.

"Eldredge joined DMR, Direct Marketing Results, in 1998 as Executive Vice President after several years in broadcast programming, research and consumer marketing, including a several year stint at Strategic Media Research."

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March 30-April 4	MOBE: Universal City, CA
April 2, 2001	Digital Media Outlook: New York, NY
June 20-22	Streaming Media West 2001: Long Beach, CA