RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter

To read yesterday's issue of RAIN, simply click on the blue arrow to the left of the issue date above.

BY PAUL MALONEY
As XM Satellite Radio readies their scheduled late-summer launch, the company has redesigned their web presence, and now offers streaming audio (with a Windows Media "embedded" player -- a la RAINRadio) of select stations, and audio introductions of others. Also on the site is a one-minute audio introduction to the service.

The channels at least seem to be "live streams." In other words, aside from a short "programmer intro" at the beginning of the stream, we heard different content each time we connected. Granted, it still may be a "looped" program. But we know that the streams are not "on-demand" samples, where the program would begin in the same place every time a listener connected to the stream.

RAIN was unable to contact XM Radio for a comment by press time, but look for a follow-up to this story soon.

The channels we heard feature excellent programming, personality, high-energy (and high quality) production elements (including listener call-ins), and effective-sounding cross-promotions (we heard a Bill Cosby comedy clip on the "60s" station, followed by a promo for the "Comedy" channel).

Listen to select XM channels here.

BY PAUL MALONEY
XM Satellite Radio today announced that they have signed an agreement with MTV to create and carry two

24-hour stations under the MTV and VH-1 brands.

The channels will feature music, news, and other entertainment familiar to viewers of the cable channels. Though full terms of the agreement were not made public, MTV and VH-1 will provide promotional opportunities for the satellite radio

company, according to a company press release.

The company has a distribution agreement with GM to make the special receivers available in select vehicles this year. XM-ready radios are being manufactured by electronics makers like Sony, Alpine, Pioneer, and Panasonic; and are being shipped to retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and RadioShack.

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From the press release: "MeasureCast and Audible Magic Corporation, a leading provider of digital audio identification technologies, announced an exclusive partnership to provide the streaming media industry with the first verification and demographic reporting service for online advertisements.

"Powered by Audible Magic's patented technology for generating unique audio 'fingerprints,' the MeasureCast Streaming Ad Verification Service gives advertisers and ad agencies timely third-party confirmation that their ads ran in a particular audio stream. The data is then integrated with MeasureCast's Internet audience data, enabling advertisers to see online reports verifying that a particular ad was delivered at the right time, with the right creative, to the right demographic segment."

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Kurt, this is deep background -- don't quote me!

Thanks!

The following are responses to Bob Bellin's "RAIN Guest Essay" in yesterday's edition, here...

"Consumers want to let other people put together the playlist..."

Well said! And it all rings true. The only thing I think Bob got wrong is that, in the list of reasons why Internet

radio sucks, #1 should not be "Lack of personalization options."

Sure, personalization is great, but consumers don't really need as much personalization as producers (Launch, etc.) think they do. If they wanted to make such granular changes to their playlist, they'd just use their own CDs and music libraries and be their own DJs all day.

Instead, consumers want to hear music they like and let other people (your PDs) put together the playlist.

From the RAIN Reader Feedback form...

"You can't predict the future...by assuming it will be like the past..."

Bellin has some points, particularly regarding broadband adoption and player complexity, but he's wrong in

his conclusions. You can't predict the future of Internet radio by simply assuming the future will be like the past and that's Bellin's entire argument here.

Also, he's randomly mixing ATH, AQH, and share points in his discussion so the calculation of 0.1 share is completely unclear. AQH and ATH are not equivalent and can't be directly compared, and neither of them is equivalent to share points.

I don't deny that Internet radio has challenges in continuing to build audience size, but this entire calculation is completely fallacious and misleading.

Peter Rothman, CTO
Live365.com

KH responds: I totally agree with the point of your first paragraph that you can't predict the future by projecting out the past.

However, I'd argue that AQH and ATH in fact can be directly compared: A broadcast station's ATH can be calculated by taking their AQH and multiplying it by the number of hours in a month. Thus allowing comparisons.

And Mr. Rothman responds to Kurt...

"Based on this method, Live365 had an AQH over 6,500 last month..."

I understand your point, but I still don't think that multiplying the AQH for a radio station by the number of hours in a month will give you ATH estimates for that station that really can be compared to Internet ATH estimates.

However, if I buy your multiplication approach, I should also be able to divide Internet ATH by the number of hours in the month to estimate AQH. Based on this method, the Live365 service had an AQH over 6,500 last month (4.7 million hours divided by 720.) I'm betting that Spinner and NetRadio are in the same ballpark, so the May AQH for Internet radio as a whole must be in the vicinity of 20,000 at least.

I'm curious about what the AQH numbers for early FM stations were.

Peter Rothman, CTO
Live365.com

"The NAB is no slouch when it comes to lobbying..."

I am afraid that Bob Bellin is mostly right. Things are looking very bad for Internet broadcasting now, and he

doesn't go into the issues surrounding passive streaming of advertisements over the Internet.

On the more hopeful side, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is no slouch when it comes to lobbying themselves (look at what happened to the proposed low-power FM stations), and I expect to see some wireless Internet devices that will play Internet radio emerge within the next five years. The availability of these devices may finally make the general public wake up and take notice of these issues.

Ted Chittenden

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July 19-22, 2001	The Conclave Learning Conference: Minneapolis
Aug. 15-18, 2001	Gavin Summit IX: Boulder, CO
Sept. 5-7, 2001	XStream: Broadcasting on the Internet at the NAB Radio Show: New Orleans, LA