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 BY
KURT HANSON
If one of the major radio broadcasters -- or if you and some
of your friends -- had started a Internet-only group of radio stations
a couple of years ago, that
company (or you) might have been able to sell it to AOL last summer
for $400 million dollars like, as it turns out, Spinner did instead.
Or you or someone you know from the radio industry might conceivably
have started Broadcast.com (which sold to Yahoo for billions of
dollars) or NetRadio (current market capitalization, $80 million)
or Global Media ($100 million) or or Tunes.com (sold for $140 million).
And while many broadcasters have begun to stream their audio as
a first toward profiting from the Internet's growth, CBS/Infinity
has gone a different direction. They've told their owned stations
to not stream their audio; their big Internet play has been
to parlay airtime-for-equity deals into profitable ownership pieces
of websites like Switchboard and CBS MarketWatch.
And Cox is going a different direction as well -- streaming
their stations, but also setting up local portals in several of
its markets.
My point is, there are lots of ways out there for radio companies
and radio stations and radio people to profit from the opportunities
offered by the growth of the Internet.
What are the most-promising business models? We'll look at some
of them in this newsletter next week. Please join us. (And if
you'd like to contribute some of your thoughts, e-mail us here.)
From Radio & Records: "Ray Skibitsky – who was part
of the Evergreen Wireless group that sold KXPK-FM/Denver to Chancellor
for $26 million in 1998 – recently joined Boulder, CO-based Eclectic
Radio as President. The Internet-only webcaster also just secured
undisclosed financing from Boulder-based Roser Ventures and other
investors..."
 According
to their website, their flagship station, GoGaGa "is
the first Internet-only freeform eclectic radio station, playing
a continuous mix of music as diverse as music itself. We broadcast
exclusively on the Internet, meaning we reach across the globe to
listeners who appreciate hearing the kinds of musicians that mainstream
format radio stations overlook."
Elsewhere, the site notes, "MacroRadio-Dot-Net is proud to
announce the 4 latest additions to our family of Internet Radio
Stations. We invite you to explore 'sneak preview' versions of our
new stations. Simply click on the following station links: Dubwire
-- Reggae, Dancehall, Dub, and Ska. MixMatrix -- Hip Hop
Internet Radio Station. Stratolite -- Lounge, Oldies, and
Martinis. TwangBox Radio Network -- Classic Country, Bluegrass,
Rockabilly, and more."
Click here for the
item in R&R Online (subscription required) or here
to visit the Eclectic website.
From ZD Publishing's AdTalk: "At PaineWebber's week-long
Media Conference, several ad industry executives told the audience
of media analysts and investors that they were confused by the messages
of many dot-com ads. 'They're appalling,' opined Zenith Media chairman-CEO
John Perriss... 'One wonders how they're going to build a brand
given the type of creative they have...'
"Later in the conference, CBS research and planning executive
David Poltrack also expressed some befuddlement over dot-com creative,
though he said he was thrilled with the ad sales windfall they are
providing CBS' TV, radio, outdoor and Internet properties. 'I don't
understand a lot of the dot-com advertising either,' admitted Poltrack,
who also teaches a course in marketing at NYU, adding, 'I think
they should just tell me who they are and what they're doing...'
Could there be an opportunity for radio here to help dotcoms
do a better job of building their brands? Read the full essay here.
From CNET News: "Online companies more than doubled
their spending in traditional media during the first nine months
of the year, shelling out $1.4 billion in the quest to draw people
to their Internet sites, according to a report issued today..."
Note that only a slight increase in the spending
rate in 4th Quarter would make it a $2 billion year.
"This is surely one of the fastest-growing industries, if not the
fastest, we have ever seen," said Jerry Arbittier, senior vice president
for corporate research and analysis at New York-based CMR. "We do
not make predictions, but anyone who is watching TV [or] reading
newspapers or magazines knows that fourth-quarter spending is going
to be tremendous."
Read the CNET article here.
From The Industry Standard: "In its strongest foray
yet into the U.S.
 travel
market, Brussels, Belgium-based Leisureplanet.com announced today
that it has reached an agreement with CNN News Group that makes
it the exclusive travel services provider for almost all CNN Web
sites...
"As a part of the deal, CNN will pay $20 million for a 20 percent
stake in Leisureplanet. In return, the travel site will spend $30
million in advertising over the next three years across CNN's online
and on-air properties.
"In effect, the news network gets a piece of Leisureplanet
without spending any money." Click here
for the full news story.
We're
going to use the holiday period to add lots of pages of resources
to this site that we hope you'll find valuable. Here are a couple
of examples:
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One of the most challenging things about understanding the Internet-related
issues affecting the radio industy is figuring out who does
what. To help clarify the answer to that question, we're
in the process of developing a RAIN Vendor Guide. Click
here to
see our preliminary list of key vendors; click here to see a
sample page on either Magnitude
Network (a "full service" vendor) or WarpRadio
(a company that provides streaming in exchange for avails).
Click here
to see our preliminary version of a presentation of various
interesting station websites. (Like the look of a website? Click
on the screenshot to go there!)
A guide to participants in the Internet radio world starts
here, with pictures
of the various audio players. (Or feel free to wait a few days;
we'll add a lot more editorial content to the page.)
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News archives
To
review last week's action involving
radio and the Internet, click the "News Archives" option,
either at top left or here.
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