BY PAUL MALONEY
It appears other broadcasters are following Clear Channel's
lead in yanking streams off the Internet to help agencies avoid
being charged 300 percent AFTRA talent fees for commercials originally
intended for radio broadcast. (See screenshot below of the segment
of the contract, available on AFTRA's website (
here).
It's pretty much "plain as day, and has been for months.")
According to R&R, Emmis Communications has also halted
their Internet streaming. A statement to the press said the company
"currently doesn't have the ability to 'block'
advertisements during the streaming process, although we will have
the ability to do so with LMIV's streaming provider (
RealNetworks)
when the system is launched." The company's Los Angeles and
Chicago properties have already shut down their webcasting, with
the Indianapolis stations to follow suit by the end of today. Emmis'
Denver and New York stations don't stream.
Cox Radio Interactive's Gregg Lindahl told R&R, "We
have a solution in place to cooperate with the advertiser requests,
and we are in the process of implementing it." At least some Cox
properties
are currently streaming
through StreamAudio.
Even though Clear Channel's moratorium appears to be company-wide,
RAIN found at least one CCU property
still streaming as of 9:45 AM CDT,
KDMX/Dallas
(as part of the
Coollink Broadcast
Network, the systems of which can remove AFTRA spots from
the stream). Clear Channel Internet Group (CCIG) CEO Kevin Mayer
did tell R&R "his company has some third-party deals that
prevented it from immediately cutting off its Internet stream on
all of its stations," but soon streams would indeed by gone.
Mayer also said in a press statement, "I expect that the
negotiations, some of which are now under way, will be resolved
in a manner favorable to all concerned. Once the outstanding issues
are resolved, CCIG will move rapidly to evaluate restoring our streams."
See R&R's coverage of this issue
here.
...
 |
...
BY KURT
HANSON
This is absurd! An agency is going to spend hundreds
of thousands
of dollars on a major time buy. Running those spots on the
stations' webcasts might increase the total impressions by
1-2%. (Note: These may not be "extra" at all, since
those listeners may be included in the Arbitron AQH upon which
the time buy is based.)
That's thousands of dollars worth of impressions
(assuming all stations on the buy stream). And agencies are
saying "Don't run the spot on your webcast" just to save a
one-time few hundred bucks in talent fees? It's irrational!
I believe that Initiative Media (formerly Western
International Media WIMC.com)
-- a buying service -- was one of the first buyers to request
this. If the client thought
this through, they might see the value of the webcast spots.
... |
BY
PAUL MALONEY
As broadcasters hurriedly shut down their streaming at the request
of advertisers and ad agencies who are just now realizing the implications
of their contract with the American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists (AFTRA), streaming and ad-insertion firms are stepping
up to the plate.
The companies, which offer systems for radio stations' Internet
streaming needs, by and large have a seemingly simple and cost-effective
solution for the AFTRA problem.
For instance, StreamAudio wasted no time in assuring the
industry that its system could replace or "black out"
from the stream radio spots recorded with
AFTRA talent.
StreamAudio's
system is available for $395 per month to stations. For this, StreamAudio
handles what have become the other two biggest
financial obstacles for broadcasters to stream: the bandwidth costs
of streaming, and performance copyright fees payable as per the
DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).
Hiwire is another company offering ad-insertion solutions
to webcasters.
Hiwire
spokesman Wayne Hickey told
RAIN that a station can become
Hiwire-enabled at no cost (the company, like others in the field,
intend to generate income by a revenue
share of streamed ads). And like other such companies, it's a pretty
quick turnaround. If you use one of the major automation systems,
getting set up with the technology can take as little as a day.
Coollink Broadcast Network's Manager of Business Development
Dace Arnold concurs. "Certainly there are issues of due diligence
in signing a contract, and transportation of the equipment,"
he says. "But if your station has connectivity, it's a day
process" for installation. Clear Channel Communications has
confidence in the CLBN system -- the only CCU stations still streaming
are
CLBN-enabled
KEGL
and
KDMX (as of 11 AM CDT
Wednesday) in Dallas. The company also handles ad-insertion for
Citadel
properties and CD101 in Columbus, OH.
It seemed to be a little bit tougher to nail down just what
the initial cash outlay would be for a station trying to become
Lightningcast-enabled.
That company's Director of Product Management Chuck Dickemann told
RAIN that there are simply too many factors involved to quote
even a ballpark figure, and that "each situation is unique."
He was confident however in his company's ability to get
a station "up and running" with the system quickly. "The
most time-consuming part of it is assessing the client's needs,"
Dickemann said,
and
how quickly a contract can be negotiated -- the speed of which are
more dependent on the station than Lightningcast. He did add that
his company has turned around contracts as quickly as twenty-four
hours.
Other companies broadcasters might investigate would be
SurferNETWORK,
Radiowave,
iMNetworks,
and
RCS.
Most of these companies offer more than simply "blacking
out" AFTRA spots, of course. Hickey said "Hiwire can strip
the offending ads out and then insert a 'client-side' targeted (to
an individual listener's demo) spot -- which is more revenue for
the broadcaster. Hiwire is the only company that can reliably replace
ads in a live stream, leave other ads untouched,
and
do it for Windows Media and Real streams." And, he claims,
Hiwire is the
"only company that can insert ads into live Real streams -
which is more than half of the streams out there."
Dickemann told RAIN the clients don't even need to worry
about specific ads to replace the AFTRA spots on the Internet if
they don't have them. With Lightningcast, "we can 'scrub' a
stream," he said. That is, "we can replace specific spots
with stations promos, weather or traffic reports, or even more music."
The ad-insertion firms, up to this point, have had trouble
gaining traction in the industry. With ad rates (especially on the
Internet) falling, less-than-desirable audience sizes for station
streams, and the generally snail-like pace at which the radio industry
typically adapts to change -- the companies have struggled. But
what has been seen (initially) as bad news for the industry, may
be the opportunity that the ad-insertion segment has needed.
|
Have
an opinion on this article? Share it! Simply click
the headline at left to bring up a convenient "Submit"
form. |
 |
"Everyone
will lose if we continue down this path..."
|
I can't express how frustrated I am. The radio
industry insists upon destroying itself. Aftra, the labels, the
gov't...the industry is determined to set radio back so it is always
a secondary media source...Through its paranoia and laziness, it
is already pretty close to destroying a new industry(streaming/Internet
Radio). I can't help but feel like I'm living an Ayn Rand Novel...Everyone
will lose if we continue down this path...Keep the Fight Alive!!!
|
"It
does not seem that the 300% additional payment would apply..."
|
This is what I advised a client today regarding
streaming: "I believe that while the pending issue of additional
royalties to the RIAA for Internet streaming may cause some real
problems, these companies have over-reacted in regards to AFTRA.
"According to AFTRA's website, regarding Internet use
of commercials: 'Producer may initiate Internet use for an initial
term of one year for not less than 300% of the applicable session.'
"Since the 'Producer(s)' are not the ones to 'initiate
Internet use' of ads, but rather it's something the radio stations
do, it does not seem that the 300% additional payment would apply.
It appears that ad agencies panicked and the radio stations were
quick to to do likewise."
