Yesterday's "Open letter to Mel Karmazin" essay (here) stimulated some lively debate both within the Infinity organization and among other RAIN readers.

Many readers wrote to ask for more information on streaming providers and for help in understanding the various deals that are out there. So I'm working on that article today.

Some of the best of the reader feedback follows:

"Darn right it's time. I get close to 100 e-mails a week..."

Darn right it's time. I get close to a 100 e-mails a week asking why K--- audio isn't available at K---.com. All of our competitors are streaming. This puts K--- at a competitive disadvantage to K=== and K===, two stations that beat us in 25-54. Maybe Mel will address this issue at our Infinity meetings next week in Las Vegas.                                            -- [Major market Infinity Broadcasting PD]

"When they see the obvious incredble expense savings the 'I' world can offer..."

While everybody in the media world is hellbent on finding the million dollar revenue idea from the Internet, they have failed to see the obvious incredible expense savings that the "I" world can offer... When the Mels of our business see those savings, they will run to Wall Street and sing the Internet to their investors.                                            -- Mark O'Brien, Cybermediarep

"Solid analysis..."

Solid analysis, Kurt, on your open memo to Mel. He should thank you for it, and so should his employees, clients, and listeners.                                            -- Jim Smith, Smith and Company

"I also, however, see the side of not wanting affiliates to stream your programs on the net..."

Kurt -- I spent many years working for Mel Karmazin as an Operations Manager for Westwood One and CBS Radio. I still do contract work for Westwood One/CBS. I see both sides of the coin. I definitely see that the role has changed and that the opportunity to make money is there -- and after all, hasn't that been Mel's main goal from day one -- to make money? I also, however, see the side of not wanting affiliates to stream your programs on the net, because then listeners anywhere can hear a program and it cuts down on the affiliation process and in essence, devalues the air product and spots associated with them. I really enjoyed your article and I love your e-magazine. You do a wonderful job. As for passing this article to others....I have done so...                                            -- Mindy Ferguson, Radio Voyager

"It's all about reducing measurable listener levels..."

As you are aware, it has nothing to do with streaming, costs not withstanding. It's all about reducing measurable listener levels...it has long been Mel's philosophy that anything that takes the listener away from the terrestrial radio receiver and cannot be measured is a bad thing. No numbers, no sales... I always enjoy your stuff, keep it coming...                                            -- Harvey Mednick, OnRadio.

"Any radio station that has a website but doesn't offer audio streaming looks really stupid..."

Amen to your wake up call for Mel. Any radio station that has a website but doesn't offer audio streaming looks really stupid today. Have you noticed how many newspaper sites now have a "radio" component? From the Indianapolis Star & News site, www.starnews.com: "IndyBeat: It's online radio! Top 40, Country, Rock, Hip-Hop, Adult Contemporary, and everything in between!" Of course, it's just another boring Internet jukebox now, but the potential is there for newspapers to make a real attempt to become audio competition. I see at the www.everstream.com site that they have well over 100 newspapers signed and streaming so far.                                            -- Jack Messmer, Radio Business Report

"I'm sure Mel will value your advice..."

I sure Mel will value your advice at exactly what he paid you for it.                                            -- Julian Breen, Breen Broadcast

"I hope Mel doesn't read your article..."

I read your article. I agree with points 1 & 2. The third point should include "potential" between revenue and opportunities. I wonder how many companies like the "potential" word? Without Mel's sales managers concentrating on developing this stream while not increasing sales costs, and without realizing Mel that there is little initial dollar volume compared to broadcast revenue but that the pot of gold is just around the corner, his managers and programmers will continue to spend the next few years successfully concentrating on making radio money. I hope Mel doesn't read your article. It gives those of us charged with developing our sites' revenue less competition!                                            -- Jim Reilly

"First-class piece of work..."

What a first-class piece of work on the "note to Mel." It will be even better, to us streaming listeners, when we negate that omnipresent "net congestion." Best when all of us over 40 can shake the notion that the "phone is off the hook all this time" when we're listening.                                            -- James B. Head

"How sustainable is the $500 per station per month...?"

Good article. How sustainable is the $500 per station per month streaming cost? Is that economically viable ? Who are these companies and what service level do they offer with the cost -- no good if it's cheap but poor quality                                            -- Julian Gorniok

"There is one big piece still missing..."

We've been dabbling in streaming for years at great expense. Mel's just been waiting until it made better business sense to do so. I think you'll see something coming out of them now that you can replace terrestrial spots with targeted ad spots online. There is still one big piece missing -- selling it. I look for the birth of internet ad sales firms. In the time I've been typing this there is probably one already :)          -- Brian Parsons, Director of Internet Technology, Clear Channel

BY KURT HANSON
Here's an interesting one: An Internet-only broadcaster that's not trying to put up dozens of jukebox-like channels, but rather is in the process of putting up a single, live radio station that intends to broadcast from studios around the world!

Although right now the station's only studio is on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the website says that they intend to broadcast "live from exciting, exotic cities...to include New Orleans, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, and Sydney."

The current version of the station is nonetheless pretty cool. (According to the station's liners, it's "New Music for a New Millennium." (And they're "Changing the World One Song At a Time."))

The station's music mix is hard to describe, but I think it would be fair to call it an eclectic blend of indie rock, Brit Pop, and world music. And they've got a tight-enough playlist that when they play a song you like, you have a chance of hearing it again.

Unlike many Internet-only operators, the station has a line-up of professional-sounding, articulate air personalities, perfectly capable of reading and commenting on news items, conducting artist interviews, and more.

The site offers visitors their choice of two different versions -- one for low-bandwidth connections, one for high-bandwidth (i.e., if you have a DSL line or a cable modem.) The high-bandwidth version is pictured above.

One thing I like about the site design is that it incorporates a webcam in the upper-right-hand corner. It's aimed at the air personality when the mike is open and at street scenes outside the studio during songs. It's a nice feature.

The top half of the page shows a "What's playing" that includes a CD cover. It also contains a link to a bio that pops in the middle third of the bottom half of the page, which is very helpful (for both the listener and the artist, probably).

The site also includes a chat room where listeners can communicate with the on-air jock. (This is a much better approach than request lines or e-mailed requests, I believe.)

Is it perfect? Well, not for my tastes: (1) My impression is that the music mix of the station seems to vary wildly from one air personality to another. Personally, for my comfort as a listener, it's too inconsistent. (2) It also strikes me that some of the jocks seem to enjoy having the mike open too many minutes per hour -- e.g., reading news headlines for a few minutes(!), playing just a few songs, and then reading more news headlines. (3) And while I've heard plenty of recorded promos, I don't think I've heard any audio ads yet, which suggests it might not be a perfect business yet.



But I suspect that FastBand GlobalCast will be really cool -- and will get a lot of press -- when the morning show comes from Singapore, the midday show is from Rio de Janeiro, and so forth. (This would be pretty meaningless to the consumer, I think, without the webcam --but the webcam makes it work.)

Visit www.fastband.com (a/k/a/ www.fbgc.com) by clicking here.

If you visit the site and listen to it for a while, share your opinions about it here. (Also, contribute suggestions for "Sites of the Day" here.)

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Many RAIN readers had opinions regarding Tuesday's story on a new startup's plans to bring Internet radio to cell phones next month (click screenshot at right to read the original story), and most of the opinions printed Wednesday were pretty negative. Then came Taz...and now a response to Taz.

"Technology wins"

All those folks who ridicule the cellphone/radio innovation are the same people, who in an earlier time, would have said "Get a horse," "If God meant for man to fly . . ." and "The world is flat." Technology wins.                                            -- Jim Taszarek , TazMedia, Inc.

"Technology doesn't always win..."

Taz is and always has been a formidable force. However, technology doesn't always win: for example, The Elcasette, the Betamax, DAT (for consumers), DCC (Digital cassette), quad, Showscan... It's not really about technology -- it's about the killer app!                                            -- Bob Wood, KQQL

Contribute your opinions here.

If you're hiring for a position that's radio- and Internet-related this week, we'll post it -- free! Simply e-mail the job description here. If you're looking for new opportunities that involve the Internet, you can take a look at the first three available positions here.

May 15-18	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Boston
May 22-26	Real [Networks] Conference 2000, San Jose
June 12-14	Streaming Media East 2000, New York City
June 14-17	R&R Convention 2000, Los Angeles
June 14-17	PROMAX & BDA, New Orleans
July 13-16	Upper Midwest Conclave, Minneapolis
August 3-5	Morning Show Bootcamp, New Orelans
September 20-23	NAB Radio Show, San Francisco
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
Did we miss a major conference? E-mail us here.

Try it out! Explore the wide world of Internet audio by clicking the screenshot above.

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