BY KURT HANSON
The twice-delayed public release of the November 1999 InfoStream Webcast ratings was released this morning, with the addition of two new streaming providers -- Real Broadcast Networks and Access 21 -- but the absence of 31 Magnitude Network stations from the October 1999 report, apparently because they were in transition to a new streaming provider.

The basic results were remarkably consistent with the October 1999 numbers, with the top stations in terms of monthly cume being almost identical to the previous month's (but with the absence of "Texas Rebel Radio," which was one of the stations not measured in November). However, November's cumes for the top stations were generally slightly lower than October's cumes.

Similarly, the top three stations in terms of "Time Spent Tuning (TST)" were exactly the same as October's (except for the absence of one station that I assume was also switching streaming vendors).

Want to listen to the winners? For the top-rated station in terms of monthly cume, KPIG/Monterey, click the screeshot above. For the top station in terms of Time Spent Tuning, WJZW/Washington, DC, click the logo at right.


Monthly cume
Here are the top-rated stations in terms of monthly cume* from the November 1999 InfoStream report. (Note that, unlike Arbitron's rules for broadcast radio, an individual apparently does not have to listen for five minutes before he or she is counted as a listener. Also note that this is a monthly cume, not a weekly cume.)

Top-cuming stations that are missing from the November list include KFAN-FM/Austin ("Texas Rebel Radio") (had 83,900 cumers in October), WWCD-FM/Columbus, OH (had 35,000 cumers), and WLPW-FM/Burlington, VT (had 34,500 cumers).

Note that most of the stations that may derive a signficant portion of their cume from RealPlayer presets (see article here) seemed to show cume declines. This perhaps reflects consumers switching from RealPlayer 5 to RealPlayer 7, on which the effect of the presets might not be as powerful.

Time Spent Tuning
Here are the top-rated stations in terms of Time Spent Tuning. (Note that, unlike Arbitron's "Time Spent Listening" for broadcast radio, this is a measure of hours listened per month, not per week):

A top-TST station that did not make the November report was WKDD/Akron, which had a Time Spent Tuning of 5:26 in October.



To read RAIN's coverage of the release of the October 1999 InfoStream report, select from any of the following stories:

More to follow later this week. Please check back. (Any comments or analysis you'd care to offer? Click here.)

In the USA Today article from a year ago that revealed the existence of an unreleased Arbitron Webcast ratings report (as described in last week's RAIN article here), Mark Cuban, CEO of Broadcast.com (now Yahoo! Broadcast) is quoted as saying: "It is my definite belief within 18 to 24 months you'll start to see radio stations broadcasting on Broadcast.com that get more listeners on Broadcast.com than they get over the air. That's how far it could go." With the top-rated Webcast in terms of AQH audience in the October 1999 InfoStream report -- probably WPLJ/New York City -- having a Webcast AQH of about 150 persons, and it being 12 months after Cuban made his prediction, that doesn't seem to be coming true yet. (By comparison, WPLJ has an over-the-air AQH of about 70,000 persons. Click here for the 12/22/99 RAIN article on that subject.) Note that Yahoo! Broadcast has not yet revealed to the public the size of its Webcasts' audiences.

Similarly, barely six months ago (6/30/99), InternetNews.com (here) quoted Greg Verdino, vice president and general manager of Internet Information Services at Arbitron NewMedia, as saying that the company expects that 25 percent of the U.S. population will listen to Internet radio by the year 2000.

If Greg was being precise in his choice of verbs ("will listen," not "will have sampled"), then I predict that his prediction is unlikely to come to true before this year is over. -- KH




From PC World magazine: "Streaming Shootout: RealPlayer vs. Windows Media -- Should you choose just one of the dueling media players?

"RealNetworks and Microsoft are battling it out on the Net, trying to enlist you for their media players. Both are free. RealNetworks claims 95 million users, while Microsoft cites 50 million downloads. More audio and video content is available in the Real format, but Windows Media is catching up fast. What does each offer--and should you try to pick one, or do you need them both?"

The full article is worth reading just for the history being described. But their conclusion? "Taking an informal look, I had a hard time telling the difference between Real and Windows Media... Overall, RealPlayer gave a faster response, but Windows Media Player showed slightly better quality..."

Read the full article in PCWorld.com here. (And thanks to reader Lou Josephs for pointing this article out to us.)




The leading station in terms of "Time Spent Tuning" in both the October and November Arbitron InfoStream Webcast ratings, WJZW/Washington, DC, has a variety of features on its website to encourage return visits.

One such feature is its "Break the Bank" contest page, sponsorsed by the Internet-only bank Wingspan Bank, which offers a $500 weekly prize for each week of a six-week promotion.

Tthe contest rules explain, "To attempt to 'Break the Bank' and open the vault, a combination is submitted by clicking on the four slots at the top of the vault and then the wheel in the center."

This is in fact a very cool effect in which the player gets to punch the four colored buttons in any sequence he or she desires -- and then watch as the corresponding "LED" below flashes through a series of digits before fixing upon one.

"If your combination is correct," the rules continue, "the bank vault light will switch from red to green and the safe will display the word 'Unlocked.' For Internet Explorer users, the vault will open, spilling dollars out of the vault door."

If the player does not get the winning sequence ("1059," naturally), he or she is encouraged to try again the next day. If the safe does unlock, a second window with an entry form pops up for the contestant to provide name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address and so on.

The applet (i.e., small computer program that runs within the browser window) was developed by First Internet Media Corporation, a website-design and sales training firm based in San Clemente, CA.

See something on a website that you like? Feel free to recommend it as a "Website Feature of the Day" here.

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