RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter

January 31, 2006

Daily news and commentary on the key issues involving radio and the Internet

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headline: "AQH nearly triples for Arbitron charter webcasters over 12 months"
BY DANIEL MCSWAIN
ComScore Arbitron released today the ratings for their first full year of online radio measurement. The three major webcasters each made triple digit AQH gains in the last twelve months, according to the Arbitron ratings.

Yahoo Music and Launchcast network posted the biggest numbers on the year, tallying and nearly 50% of overall listenership among the top three broadcasters. Additionally, Launchast's AQH more than doubled between 2004 and 2005. Microsoft's MSN Radio and WindowsMedia.com also saw AQH grow more than 400% during the same time.

Live365 and Clear Channel Online Music and Radio also reported year-end ratings through the time they began reporting through comScore Arbitron's system. Both networks' gains are more modest, though Live365 did see AQH in both dayparts increase by more than 100% in the 10 months since ratings began.

The "average quarter hour" estimate, or AQH, is defined as the estimated average number of persons tuned to a channel for at least five minutes during a 15 minute period. It can be understood as "the number of people listening to a station at a specific moment."

comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings
Monday-Friday 6AM-7PM (Persons 12+)
How to read this table: These webcasters, on average, grew in weekday cume by over 50% and almost tripled their workday AQH during the past year.
	CUME		AQH
Station / network	Oct. 2004	Oct. 2005	Oct. 2004	Oct. 2005
	876,600	1,127,200	107,900	312,700
	300,900	604,800	32,700	168,200
	1,073,600	1,864,200	194,100	445,800
Total:	2,202,800	3,597,897	334,800	926,700

comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings
Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight (Persons 12+)
	CUME		AQH
Station / network	Oct. 2004	Oct. 2005	Oct. 2004	Oct. 2005
	1,783,900	1,881,300	81,700	193,700
	424,700	604,800	20,400	95,500
	1,928,900	2,882,200	128,900	270,400
Total:	3,597,897	5,616,443	231,000	559,600

comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings
Monday-Friday 6AM-7PM (Persons 12+)
	CUME		AQH
Station / network	Jan. 2005	Oct. 2005	Jan. 2005 AQH	Oct. 2005
	290,000	485,500	31,400	71,300
Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight (Persons 12+)
	438,000	637,500	20,500	42,600

comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings
Monday-Friday 6AM-7PM (Persons 12+)
	CUME		AQH
Station / network	Jan. 2005	Oct. 2005	Jan. 2005	Oct. 2005
	683,000	777,100	103,900	137,700
Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight (Persons 12+)
	860,900	957,600	59,700	76,000

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headline: "highly customizable last.fm not for the technophobic listener"
BY DANIEL MCSWAIN
Last.fm doesn't claim to know what you're thinking, but it is more than happy to tell your fellow listeners exactly that. Part social network, part Net radio, Last.fm is based on a user-created and modified system of classifications known as "tagging". Tagging allows users to create highly customizable and specific "tags" that separate songs by genres defined by the users of the network. This approach works pretty well with a Net radio community: users have a direct influence on the sound of the stations, and searching for a station that suits your interests is extremely easily. Obviously, the tagging system leaves plentyof room for classification error, but for the most part the Last.fm tags adhere pretty closely to the artists and tracks they are used for.

The idea of "music tags" will no doubt be a leap in technical proficiency for some Net radio listeners, and the rest of the Last.fm interface and setup shows that this may not be the best option for beginners or listeners who prefer a low-maintenance broadcast. First, registration is required to stream the different channels offered. Then users must install the Last.fm player. If you're still tuned in you probably didn't need that definition of "tagging" above, but chances are that less tech-saavy listeners will be frustrated and move on to another station by this point in the process.

Still, the interface is sleek and allows users to give an up or down vote for the track currently playing, probably to help the service's software refine the selections it offers listeners. The song selection was deep in the channels sampled, and here the genre tags really helped narrow down the style of the channel playing.

Last.fm's personalizable features make it both an optimal and miserable Net radio option, completely depending on what the listener is in the mood for. It's clear that for many users, Last.fm is attractive exactly because of the mountain of features available in addition to merely listening to tracks. But it's doubtful that the site's input-intensive nature will make converts out of too many listeners just looking for the music.

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From Stuff Magazine UK: Tired of Planet Rock, Phil Jupitus on 6 Music and the 17 other national DAB stations? Relief will be at hand this April, bush wifi radio when Bush launches the cheapest internet radio we’ve ever seen.

The memorably-named TR2015WIFI (pictured right) should cost less than £100 and will be capable of tuning in to more than 2,500 stations anywhere on the planet...

Also new from the Bush design studio is the TR82DAB (pictured below). As the retro pop pickers amongst you will bush tr82 DAB radio have guessed, it’s a modern DAB version of the brilliant 1950s’ FM version...

Both of these radio debutantes are due in April. Prices are still mighty tentative, but the TR82DAB is likely to be £60 and the TR2015WIFI’s expected to be £100 or lower.

Read the entire story at Stuff UK.

Reader Feedback
Here's feedback on yesterday's RAIN story, "Analyst: Mobile phone threat to FM underscores tech dominance"...

"Content will need to evolve..."

We all spend lots of time talking about the next cool technology that will possibly
impact how audio content listening will evolve. We don't seem to spend much time
talking about how content will need to evolve to fit with the listeners experience
on different new listening devices. Technologists and major media companies have
focused on the whole Podcasting area as a new way to get on-demand audio content to listeners, extend the current media brands and give a voice to bloggers.

The existing radio broadcasting industry has been struggling to chart a new course
with downloadable media. The key issue facing broadcast radio is whether they just
repurpose existing content or extend into new content and will that content need to
change. While everyone agrees that the mobile phone could be the next really big
audio content listening platform, it is far from a proven extended use of the phone.

As one of the first podcasters and now one of the marketing folks at Melodeo's
Mobilcast which delivers podcasts to mobile phone via an on phone software client,
we are starting to see some data come out showing that the listener has a different
need and expectation around content on the mobile phone. The current active
tracking data is showing over 50% of the content requests through the phone are 5
minutes less and 40% of listeners are listening to content from 5 min. to 60 min.
The median length is about 15 to 20 minutes. While we are making long and short
form content available to listeners on the phone, it is moving towards shorter form
content as the dominant content format. This has implications for the broadcast
radio industry on the content production side and whether repurposing broadcast
content on the mobile phone will be successful. We are already seeing NPR learn
this lesson and only offer NPR podcasts at a length of 15 min. or less.

I do feel that 5 minutes or less on the mobile phone will extend longer into 20-30
minutes or less as the new mobile phones gain in Internet connection speed, storage memory, processor speed, audio playback quality and listening options like
bluetooth.

The real issue continues to be content and what types of content will drive the
growth of radio-like content on the mobile phone. Is it shorter form segments from
Howard Stern or is it a guy like Robin Williams talking about underwater basket
weaving. The other question is whether audio content on the mobile phone needs to be interactive and integrate listener conversations. These are the issues that we at
Mobilcast are pondering.

Rob Greenlee
Mobilcast.com

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Thanks!


February 8	Media Summit New York: New York
February 14-15	EBU International Training: Geneva, Switzerland
February 23-25	Public Broadcasting New Media Conference: Seattle
March 1-4	Canadian Music Week: Toronto
March 10-12	Intercollegiate Broadcasting Radio, Webcasting Conference: New York City
April 22-27	NAB 2006: Las Vegas
April 22-23	NAB Podcasting Summit: Las Vegas

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