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BY
KURT HANSON
One problem that radio will need
to address
if it wants to achieve its true potential as a web-based entertainment
medium is that it's going to have to
direct competitors that can offer video as well as
audio. On Monday, Time Warner launched a new entertainment website
called "Entertaindom" that may be a good example of the
kind of competition radio will face on the Internet in the future.
 "The
site, one of the biggest online entertainment projects in some time
by an established film and music company, will offer an initial
lineup of 10 shows created for cyberspace," USA Today
reported. (Click here
to read the full article.) "'Most
of the site's content will be from Time Warner's companies."
Journalists noted that other "entertainment" sites from
major corporations have failed previously, with AOL, Microsoft,
Paramount, and others having had little success with the concept.
(However, as fast connections become more available, the prospects
for the concept may be improving.)
 As
you can see from the site map at right, the site includes not only
the usual horoscopes and chat rooms and news headlines that everyone
else has, but also brief video clips from various Time Warner properties
and ten brief little cartoon "shows" created specifically
for Internet playback (including the worst "Marvin the Martian"
cartoon you've ever seen in your lfie). More surprisingly to me,
the site also offers current (or in some cases recent) strips from
such major comic strips as Peanuts, Doonesbury, Fox Trot, Dilbert,
and Cathy.
According to the Reuters article on Lycos (here),
Time Warner expects the site to draw 2 to 3 million users by
the end of its first month and they have 15 advertisers signed up,
including JCPenney, Microsoft, and Intel.
Consider
this analogy:
When
you find yourself in a hotel room that has a combined TV and
radio in a single unit, which function gets more usage?
If you're like most people, I think the answer is almost overwhelmingly
the TV portion. And the PC may to some extent be
analogous
to such a device -- you can have audio, or you can have audio
& video combined. If you're looking for "entertainment,"
which seems more appealing?
My point is not that radio can't find its niche in terms of
Internet-based usage, but rather that there will be a whole
new group of competitors than those we're used to. |
Eric Rhoads's
"Radio Ink Internet Conference" in Santa Clara last
October got almost universal rave reviews from its 607 registrants.
Now it turns out that it won't be a year-long wait until the next
one. Radio Ink's website announces today that "the second
Radio Ink Internet conference is set for downtown Boston, May 15th
through May 18. Early registration begins Monday...Speakers and
panel members will be announced shortly." Click here
to visit the site for more details.
 From
Radio & Records Online: "Minneapolis-based operation
NetRadio.com today
said it expects to attract a larger web audience with the unveiling
of a broad technology and marketing agreement with Microsoft Corp.,
in which it will begin offering its 120 originally programmed channels
of music and information in the Windows Media format. NetRadio.com
will also be prominently featured on www.windowsmedia.com, the MSN
network guide to online multimedia content." NetRadio claims
a monthly cume of 1.1 million. Click here
for the full story in R&R Online (subscription required)
or here
for CNET's take.
"Commercial Web sites are spending millions on traditional
radio, TV and outdoor ads to distinguish themselves from the pack.
In Manhattan, you can't walk down the street without seeing a 'dot-com'
ad on the side of a building or a bus. In San Francisco, radio stations
play one dot-com jingle after another. And televised football games
now have more ads for Internet sites than for beer...'TV gets your
name and image out there, but it's wildly expensive and inefficient,'
said Bob Bowman, Outpost.com's chief executive..." Click here
to read the complete story from the 11/23/99 issue of the Los
Angeles Times.
From Radio Business Report: "Which listeners are on line?
According to Interep’s
analysis of Simmons data
from Spring 1999, classical listeners are 81% more likely than the
average adult, 18+, to be an Internet user. How does your format
stack up? All adults 100 (base). Classical 181. All Sports 178.
Rock 170. Hot AC 164. News/Talk 150. AC 142. Country 120."
Click here for the RBR
website.
Want to read
more? Here are links to the previous issues of "Radio And Internet
News"...
And now that you've had a chance to take a look
around this web-based newsletter, please take a second to tell me
what you think of it. Compliments, criticisms, and contributions
are all welcome. E-mail us here.
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