BY KURT HANSON
After being down for a couple of weeks, the webcast for the Clear Channel-owned Adult Album Alternative station dubbed "Channel 103.1" (technically, KACD/KBCD Los Angeles) is back on...and accompanied by a better-looking, albeit two-page, website.

When Clear Channel transfers the station's frequency to Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision in the next couple of weeks, the station looks to be the first significant station to move directly from the airwaves to an Internet-only presence on the Web. (Station promos call it a "historic transition into a state-of-the-art broadband Internet station.")

As such, the station began yesterday to ask its listeners, both in recorded promos and via the air talent, to start transitioning from its on-air signal to its webcast.

Surprisingly, however, Clear Channel was really only able to get one page of the new "WorldClassRock.com" design up for the site's debut. (There's a second page -- "Sign our petition" -- but it's just a link to a page from their previous, rudimentary site design.)

The site does, however, offer listeners their choice of several streaming formats -- currently Windows, Real, and Emblaze, with more promised soon -- and it offers those formats in a variety of sampling rates.

The station is also promoting a live webcast featuring the Indigo Girls this Thursday, plus a contest in which they'll be giving away a Kima a day for a month. (Kima is a soon-to-be-released Internet appliance that wirelessly transmits music from your computer to the radios in your house. Look for a RAIN story on the device in the near future.)

Reports have said that Clear Channel will keep on ten of the station's employees after the transition to the Internet-only operation.

...

... If the station personnel can keep even a fairly small fraction of their listeners -- and their advertisers -- WorldClassRock.com could theoretically become a major success. Even a .5 share station in Los Angeles has an AQH audience size of nearly 10,000 people, so only a small piece of that audience size would still dwarf the 400 or so AQH listeners it would have taken to grab the #1 slot in the recently-released February InfoStream ratings. It's certainly an effort worth keeping a careful eye on. ...

Confused about cume vs. AQH vs. ATH? Click on the "Resources: Definitions" menu choice in RAIN's left-hand menu, above.

BY KURT HANSON
The first of the Internet applicances officially debuted yesterday as Mountain View, CA-based Sonicbox began to accept orders for its device on its website.

As the firm's press release explained, "The Sonicbox iM Remote Tuner enables consumers to remotely control and listen to Internet radio from any stereo in the home...Listeners can tune to stations on the broadband-optimized iM Band, any station on the Web, and MP3 or Windows Media playlists.

"The iM Remote Tuner uses wireless technology to remotely control the iM Tuner Software and transmit audio to any stereo. The iM Remote comes with a base-unit that connects to the PC and a receiver that connects to any stereo. The base-unit transmits Internet audio at 900 MHz to the receiver connected to the stereo and receives commands from the Remote Tuner.

The company also apparently debuted an attractive new website recently (see left).

Although executives at Sonicbox had previously suggested that the purchase price of the device would be in the $75 range, the actual selling price announced yesterday was $99.95 (but with free shipping and handling). Even this price may be below cost, with the difference hopefully made up in shared revenues for inserted audio ads.

The only monkey in the works that I can see is that after charging your credit card, the site tells you that "Your order will be processed and shipped within 5 to 6 business days after they are received (sic), if the product is in stock." (Emphasis mine.) In other words, they're not even explicitly saying they have any devices available to sell.



Long-time fax-based radio trade publication "Inside Radio," which publisher Jerry Del Colliano transitioned from a weekly mailed publication to a fax in the 1980s, debuted its long-anticipated website yesterday, featuring an attractive and easy-to-navigate design and pretty comprehensive-looking content.

The site positions itself as follows: "Now you can log on to radio’s first professional website for breaking news – InsideRadio.com. It’s not about records. It’s ALL about radio. Updated minute-by-minute in real time..."

One question, that the publication obviously needed to address, however, was its business model. While web publications don't look like they're supplanting print publications, one would think that they could be a perfect substitute for a fax. (And the revenues a website can generate at this point in history would probably not add up to revenues -- in terms of both ad sales and subscriptions -- that a fax publication can generate.)

So, in response, Del Colliano has debuted an interesting twist on web publishing -- seemingly full and free content on everything except the top couple of stories. Details on those stories are apparently going to be made available to fax subscrbiers only. (See example above right.)

If you're curious, you can visit Inside Radio's new site here.

Broadcast.com's Cuban
planning to launch online record label
From Streaming Magazine: Mark Cuban wants to jump back into the streaming media business, and he plans to do it in a big way. The Yahoo! Broadcast billionaire is planning to start a subscription-based, online and offline record company with several different twists. Not only will the company offer for a small monthly fee unlimited access to the full music catalogs of the artists it signs, but Cuban also seeks to partner with a major, terrestrial-radio group that will serve as the main promoter of this project..." Read the full interview in Streaming Magazine here.

Bedford to pull double-duty as VP/Sales
for Arbitron Asian Marketing AND InfoStream
From Radio & Records: Brad Bedford named VP/Sales for InfoStream. He assumes these new duties for Arbitron's webcast audience ratings service while continuing to serve as Arbitron's VP/Asian Marketing. Bedford previously spent 12 years running Arbitron's West Coast sales and training effort, and he joined the company 19 years ago as a salesperson in the Chicago office. Before that, he was GM at WCBN/Ann Arbor, MI.

WOR Radio Networks’ new launches
From Radio Business Report: "WOR Radio Networks is readying for some new launches. While WOR710.com has been around for almost two years, getting over 2M hits a month, WOR is also launching two more sites: WORTalk.com will launch with RealAudio Q4; WORMusic.com will first feature “The Best of Everything,” set to start streaming early August. The new format (WOR’s first foray in music formats) is programmed by GM WOR-AM Bob Bruno, whose background is in music programming (WNEW-FM, WOR-AM)..."

Broadcast Programming debuts
complimentary formats
From Radio Business Report: ?Dubbed as complimentary to its 40 on-air formats, Broadcast Programming is developing 40 formats for radio station websites. Seven were launched today (7/24). The formats, offered on a cash or barter basis would flank the on-air format, i.e. a Country station would offer 'Legends of Country' or 'New Traditionalists,' as well as the on-air stream... 'Initially, it’s really to protect the radio station against all of the Internet music programmers,” says BP SVP Jim LaMarca. “But there will be commercials in the stream and we’ll eventually get to the point where it will be ties into all the web sales stations will have..."

Global Media to buy Magnitude, says RBR
From Radio Business Report: Magnitude Network is reportedly up for sale by 88% principal CMGI and will cease operations under the Magnitude name later this month. The likely buyer of existing contracts, according to RBR sources, is Global Media. Global recently bought all of OnRadio’s radio website client accounts. It was also reported Magnitude was bought for $23M and sold for $5M. Says Global Media President Jeff Mandelbaum in a prepared statement: ”From time time, Global Media has sought out acquisition opportunities for strategic growth. Presently, we are looking at a number of opportunities. We continually follow the requirements of the SEC and will follow the requirements of the SEC and will continue to announce any material events as they occur. At this time, we are not announcing any material events.”



The MOBE 2000 symposium (Marketing Opportunities in Black Entertainment) on marketing and technology is coming to Chicago this fall, and RAIN reader Allen Johnston writes:

"Slammin' panel on Internet radio wars..."

The MOBE Fall 2000 in Chicago includes a slammin' panel, "The Internet Radio Wars: Can Customizable and Traditional Radio Find A Peaceful Coexistence?"

It will be presented in the MOBE way, high caliber and with your business objectives in mind. Early Bird registration is extended until July 30 for TMS Online subscribers.

To register, call 773-651-8008, go to www.mobe.com/mobeapp.htm#, or simply click here: MOBE - Registration

August 3-5	Morning Show Bootcamp, New Orleans
September 20-23	NAB Radio Show, San Francisco
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
October 9-12	QuickTime Live! Conference, Beverly Hills (NEW)
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA

xxx

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