The approximately 400 radio stations whose webcasts are carried on Yahoo! Broadcast (formerly Broadcast.com) were almost forced to tell all of the their listeners to switch from RealAudio to Windows Media Player this week -- with only a few days' notice! -- but a last-minute negotiation between Yahoo! and RealNetworks averted the situation, according to the trade publication Streaming Media News.

The threat was apparently part of a dispute between Yahoo! and RealNetworks over server license fees. (Microsoft's stream-server software is bundled free with Windows NT.)

Broadcast.com's contracts with radio stations apparently don't require the streaming provider to encode the stations' signals in the RealAudio format, although press coverage did not explicitly address this point.

As of yesterday, Yahoo! was denying that they had told their clients to prepare for the switch.

"Yahoo! spokesperson Sherri Manno categorized reports last week of the company's switch to Windows Media as 'rumor and speculation,'" according to a article today on the Internet.com website, which went on to note that "station managers from several Yahoo! affiliates confirmed that the company had notified them about the impending cutover, which was to take place before the end of the year."

That article continues, "While the new agreement may put RealNetworks investors and RealPlayer users at ease, one station manager at a Yahoo! Broadcast affiliate accused Yahoo! of using him and other stations as pawns in a high-stakes negotiation" over server license fees.

According to a recent article in Streaming Media News (below), "Station managers said Yahoo representatives didn't explain why they were dropping support for Real. But they touted an upcoming enhancement to the Windows Media player which will enable users to add a Yahoo! Broadcast 'skin' to the player and configure presets for their favorite stations -- a feature that's already in the latest version of the RealPlayer."

Click here to read the current story on the Internet.com website.



Yahoo! to Shut Down RealAudio Radio Feeds
December 22, 1999
Yahoo! Broadcast, the portal's streaming media unit, is moving to drop support for RealNetworks' RealAudio and move exclusively to Microsoft's Windows Media format, perhaps as soon as the end of the year. Click here to read the story from Streaming Media News.

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Reprinted from yesterday afternoon's edition:


From the Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition: "Is iWon destined to be a loser? The CBS-owned portal promises prizes for clicks, but analysts wonder if the site can generate enough revenues to pay off the winners..."

"Visitors to the site (www.iwon.com), a Web portal that gives users the chance to win cash by checking their e-mail and surfing the Web, increased 72 percent in November to 3.04 million unique visitors, making it the 10th fastest-growing site on the Web..."

"But analysts call the cash giveaway a cheap shot at entering the portal market. Despite the traffic figures, they remain skeptical that iWon will ever make more money than it has to spend to lasso customers...

If you visit the iWon portal (click screenshot above to do so), note that the site announces a new promotional tie-in with CBS TV programs starting next week: "Watch the featured show each night on CBS. Look for the Club CBS 'Star of the Day'" Then log on to iWon for chances to win a trip to this year's Grammy's!"

In this case, rather than using the TV network to drive viewers to the website, CBS is now apparently also attempting to use the website to drive viewers to the TV network!

Click here to read the full story in the WSJ Interactive Edition (subscription required) or here for an excerpt in ZDNet News.



From eRadio and Yahoo! News: "It looks like the online music industry, grappling with concerns over digital formats, piracy and technical woes, will have to wait until next year for Santa to deliver a merry Christmas...

"Companies like MP3.com Inc. and EMusic.com Inc. that let users download music to their computers have generated a lot of buzz and attracted the attention of Wall Street. But complicated software, pricey portable music devices and a battle over how easy it should be to copy songs means it will be some time before the PC replaces the stereo system..."

Sales of MP3 players to date are apparently closer to 750,000 than the 1,000,000 expected. Due to lack of copyright protection, record labels are still unwilling to release most material in the MP3 format, despite its attractively small file size. And right now downloaded music seems constrained to be listened to on generally "tinny" PC speakers. Click here to read the story in eRadio or here in Yahoo! News.

Reader comments below are a response to the article at left. (Click screenshot to read it.)

Kurt, I just wanted to respond to your article on streaming audio.

I, for one, am a BIG believer that we are hurting ourselves by streaming audio of our existing radio stations. If you monitor the average listener's real life usage, they don't listen to local stations on the web. They listen to out of market and Internet stations.

Whether we like it or not, Internet stations are here to stay and will only grow in numbers. However, streaming the thousands of existing radio stations only provides more competition for ourselves. It takes away from local radio listening...and ratings. We have enough competition coming without making it worse for ourselves.

I'm a believer that we should be concentrating on the strategy you mentioned being employed by KFMB-FM and WRIF. We should be starting our own Internet stations that are unique from extisting radio if we're going to be part of Internet audio. At least it can compliment our current product, not help to make it a thing of the ! past.

I just hope, as an industry, we get it before it's too late.

Interesting article. I think there may be a little bit of truth in most of your reasons. Mostly, though, I think traditional radio does not fit the web mode. Why listen to the local station on the web when you can personalize your own?

When it comes to the web, it's not so much that radio is "in trouble," as you put it, but that radio needs to throw out the conventional broadcasting model for an unconventional medium.

Add to that unlimited potential competition (no tower required) and a tiny available audience at this time and, well, you get .4 listeners.

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