BY KURT HANSON
Arbitron has signed Minneapolis-based NetRadio.com as its first multi-channel Internet-only broadcaster for its InfoStream webcast ratings services, and "preliminary audience figures" contained in the press release on the subject suggest that at least four of its channels will be at or near the top of the Monthly Cume ranking in its next report.

According to Arbitron, InfoStream has started measuring monthly traffic levels for five NetRadio.com channels -- Hits, 80s Hits, The X, Vintage Rock, and Smooth Jazz. Audience figures for the five channels were released this morning:

	Channel	Monthly Audience (unique listeners)
	Hits	261,000
	The X	228,000
	Vintage Rock	220,300
	Hits	219,000
	Smooth Jazz	176,400

The leading station in monthly cume in the January 2000 report released last week (here), VirginRadio.co.uk, had a cume of 176,600 people. (By comparison, some individual broadcast radio stations in the New York City market may have cumes of up to 2,000,000 people.)

It may be interesting to note that Arbitron's press release did not indicate which month the NetRadio cumes quoted above were from (although it's reasonable to assume that the numbers are from January).

NetRadio is a NASDAQ-traded stock with a market capitalization yesterday of about $28 million, down from a market cap of $100 million last fall. (See data from Quicken.com here.)

4PM UPDATE: Arbitron's PR firm has informed me that monthly cumes for NetRadio stated in the press release are not for January! Ha! The PR firm's representative admitted that they're cumes from an unspecified but more-recent month. (I believe there's a Lily Tomlin quote, "No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up.")

Kerbango, the Cupertino-based firm developing the world's first stand-alone Internet radio and Arbitron announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic alliance to enhance the Arbitron's InfoStream product. However, "both companies will remain respectful of listener privacy in collecting and using the data," the press release assures readers in its opening paragraph.

According to the release, Kerbango will provide Arbitron with listener data via its Internet audio Tuning Service and forthcoming Internet radio, and Arbitron will use Kerbango's data in the development of Arbitron's Webcast measurement service, InfoStream.

"By incorporating Kerbango's information in the development of InfoStream, Arbitron will gain further insight into the Internet radio marketplace and listeners' preferences, and provide information services to Internet broadcasters and advertisers that are broader and more in-depth than ever before," the release says.

At the same time, "Kerbango will be using information compiled by Arbitron to develop strategies and campaigns to manage the integration of broadcast media models with new Internet business opportunities."

I have no idea what any of this means. It seems to me that if a station is participating in Arbitron's InfoStream study (which is a tabulation of the station's server logs), then all listening to the station's webcast -- whether via computer, Kerbango radio, or some other device -- would already be included in the listening totals. I suspect that the press release is being intentionally unclear on exactly how the Kerbango data could or will be used. (Maybe they don't know yet themselves.) -- KH

Kerbango also announced last week that Interep Interactive, a division of Interep ("the nation's largest independent full-service advertising sales and marketing company specializing in radio") will represent Kerbango in advertising sales for its website and audio Tuning Service.

"By encoding more information in their audio 'streams,' Internet advertisers can receive direct feedback from listeners of the Kerbango Internet Radio and Tuning Service," the press release noted. (Note the Dr. Evil-like quotation marks around the word "streams.") "Listeners can respond to ads to get more information, take advantage of special offers or make a purchase." The Kerbango radio includes an "Information button" that consumers can press during a spot to request additional info from an advertiser.

Adam Guild, president of Interep Interactive, added, "With revolutionary products like Kerbango's Internet Radio and Tuning Service, advertisers can see immediate results for the first time. Our experienced team will move quickly to get traction for Kerbango in this exciting medium."

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Reprinted from yesterday's issue:


While looking for Jerry Lee's Philadelphia station (the site I wanted was actually www.b101radio.com), I stumbled first into www.b101.com -- a Providence, RI oldies station owned by Clear Channel.

Personally, I think the overall design is somewhat clumsy -- notice, for example, that the primary station logo (and link to the home page) is a tiny little thing almost hidden in the upper-left corner of the frame that comprises the bottom inch of the page.

But there is a cool navigation element -- you can navigate between the six primary sections of the site using the "records" in the bottom frame -- and you'll know which section you're in because that record is spinning! (A minor functionality problem exists in that you can't read it when it's spinning.)

Also note that the site's "Photos" section -- of the six key sections of the site -- contains four photos, all of which are from their December 12th "Christmas with Santa" event.

But the spinning records are cool! Visit the site for yourself by clicking either of the screenshots (above or below).





On Wednesday (here), I promised that I'd write an analysis of the latest Arbitron InfoStream webcast ratings this week...

Coming soon!

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
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA

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.

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

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