Click the blue arrow next to the issue date above if you missed yesterday's issue, which featured (1) From the NAB, venture capitalist Stewart Alsop's advice to the radio industry, (2) a NetRadio/Comedy Central channel launching October 2, and (3) Universal Music Group's deal to encode its entire catalog.

From MSNBC.com: "Unable to crack a profit and humbled by this year’s dot-com shakeout, MTVi, the Internet arm to the successful music television networks, fired 105 employees on Wednesday" -- which is about 25% of its workforce -- "and canceled plans to bring the company’s stock public...

"MTVi, which was created in July 1999 and runs 22 music-related Web sites around the world, has depended primarily on leveraging its well-known brand name to attract advertisers. The strategy has paid off in regards to revenues, with the company estimating that it will double last year’s $19.9 million in sales in 2000. But profitability has been elusive. Last year, the company, which is 90 percent owned by Viacom, reported a loss in the range of $46 million.

"'We looked at the business very, very carefully and there are a number of ways we could be doing the business — for lack of a better word — in a more efficient way,' a spokesman for MTVi said. He said that the layoffs, half of which will be of editorial staff, will create significant savings to the company..." (CONTINUED BELOW)

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(CONTINUED FROM ABOVE)
"MTVi’s spokesman said that with a $100 million commitment from the MTV television networks to aggressively promote the site, its expects its revenue momentum to continue, as well as page views, which have more than doubled per month over the last year.

"As for an initial public offering, the spokesman said 'we have no plans for moving forward.'”

Read the full story on MSNBC here.

...

... Is Mel getting on the case here (now that CBS and Viacom are merged)? Of course, this seems like it's part of a trend of trouble among the multi-million-dollar-funded entertainment-oriented dotcoms (e.g., DEN, Pseudo, Pop.com, etc.). However, maybe it's just a dotcom getting rational in terms of its spending. (Maybe Mel believes that 300 people should be enough to run three major websites (and their sister sites and subsites).) Incidentally, let's do the math: If they're primarily cutting editorial staffers based in New York City, salary and benefits might be $70K per person? That would save the company $7 million annually. Based on the numbers above, their 1999 expenses must have been about $66 million. MTVi does have three of the deepest, richest, and most impressive music-oriented websites on the Internet. Because they don't choose to release their server logs to Arbitron, we don't know how big Radio Sonicnet's audience is -- but for all we know, it might be HUGE. (On the other hand, as I write this, at 10:30AM EDT on a weekday, I am the only person in the VH1 at Work Radio chat room, which is I think analogous to a nationwide radio station having none of its request lines flashing.) Finally, it's interesting to note the spokesperson's emphasis on page views in the quote above and then think about how infrequently you hear audio ads on Radio Sonicnet or VH1 at Work Radio. Maybe their ad sales staff has been trying to sell the wrong thing? ..

All Access reported yesterday that the New Orleans-based Internet-only webcaster FastBand GlobalCast has pulled the plug, writing: "The BOURBON STREET broadcast has let its entire airstaff go, including MTV's KELLY SCOTT from the REAL WORLD, Comedian DAN ROSENBERG and MARY VINETTE."

RAIN's attempts to listen to the live stream at the FastBand site, as well as attempts to reach company management, were unsuccessful this morning.

The fortunes of FastBand GlobalCast were in dispute back in June, when reports surfaced that the company was scaling back operations (as reported in RAIN here). Those reports were at least partially refuted by CEO Andrew Spanswick (here).



FastBand Globalcast was featured as a RAIN "Internet Audio Site of the Day" earlier this year (here), with our enthusiasm tempered somewhat by some skepticism about the potential level of consumer appeal for their concept -- largely relatively-obscure indie bands being spun by a DJ in a Bourbon Street studio (with a webcam pointed at the DJ during long talk breaks and out on the street during songs).

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BY PAUL MALONEY
According to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal (and offered for free viewing on the MSNBC website), a surprising number of older Americans are getting comfortable with downloading music from the Internet.

The article cites a study by Media Metrix that, among other findings, claims:

• adults 50 and older made up 17% of the visitors to music sites in June; and...
• the number of visitors to the sites age 50 and over grew 92% in the last year, more than twice the rate of increase in the sites’ overall audience.

The article buttresses the validity of these ideas with the fact that among the ten most popular of NetRadio's 120 streaming channels is "Smooth Jazz," "Vintage Rock," "Quiet Classics," and "Lite Hits." One of the House of Blues more successful recent webcast concerts was from 70s supergroup Yes. And the consulting firm that runs the technology portion of the AARP’s web site plans to start offering tips and how-tos on dowloading music to answer member demand.

It's certain that music destinations love the idea of being able to supply the more affluent 40- and 50-year old consumer demographic to their advertising clients. And consider:

• The number of surfers on the Web who were 50 and older increased 60% between June 1999 and June 2000, compared with a 22% boost for all age groups.
• The same group also spent 38% more time on the Web on average than a year earlier.
• In addition, baby boomers and the generations ahead of them accounted for more than half of those using multimedia players on the Internet, and 38% of those using Napster.

...

xxxxxxxxxxxxx If these numbers hold water, these developments may be looked back upon as more of the most important stages in the "arrival" of Internet radio. But is it possible that these numbers are more "spin" than a reflection of actual reality? Care must be taken when dealing with "percentages," which is what all of these figures are. A large percentage of a very small number is still a very small number. xxxxx

The MSNBC copy of this story is here.

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"Internet Opens Up Whole New World Of Illness For Local Hypochondriac" Read the news story from The Onion's news archives here, or visit The Onion's current home page here.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1	MOBE/Internet & Technology, Chicago
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
October 9-12	QuickTime Live! Conference, Beverly Hills
October 10-12	Streaming Media Europe 2000, London
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
November 12-14	Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) "Broadcasting 2000: On-air / On-line," Calgary (NEW!)
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA, featuring a brand-new national study on Internet radio usage presented by Eric Rhoads & Kurt Hanson