RAIN readers who are on the fence about whether or not to attend the NAB Radio Show and/or the concurrent Radio & Records Convention next week (Wednesday through Friday) in Charlotte, NC, should know that this year features a plethora of panels related to the subject of Internet-delivered radio, including three separate panels featuring RAIN publisher  Kurt Hanson.

Special note: Save $100 off regular rates for both NAB and R&R if you register today!

Kurt's three panels include two panels on business opportunities in the world of Internet radio (one for the NAB Radio Show and one for the R&R convention) plus one on the legal issues facing radio today:

Thu 10:30am What’s All the Screaming About Streaming As stations try to utilize new technology to enhance their station and extend their brand, streaming seems like a logical move... so what’s the catch? Join us as we discuss the top issues, such as content, copyrights, and ratings credit. Panelists to include: Kurt Hanson (pictured), Publisher, RAIN, and CEO, AccuRadio; Pat Paxton, Senior VP of Programming, Entercom Communications; Tracy Johnson, COO, Mass 2 One Media; Bill Rose, Senior VP of Marketing, Arbitron; and Jennifer Tatel, Associate, Sidley Austin LLC.

Thursday 3:00pm Performance Tax to Digital Radio: Today’s Hottest Radio Issues Performance tax is on the minds of Washington regulators. Our experts will weigh in on the tax, as well as Digital Radio, AM on FM translators, satellite radio and merger fever. Don’t miss this discussion of issues that affect your future, and your bottom line. Panel (part one) to feature: Suzanne Head, Associate General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters; Kurt Hanson, Publisher, RAIN, and CEO, AccuRadio; David Oxenford (pictured), Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP; and Peggy Binzel, VP, FD Dittus Communications. Panel (part two) to feature: Peter Doyle, Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission; John Garziglia, Esq., Member - Communications Law, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice; and Frank Jazzo, Esq., Co-Managing Member, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC.

Friday 10:15am New Media and the Future of Radio (R&R Convention) While broadcasters are spending tens of millions of dollars on HD radio, are they leaving much bigger opportunities on the table? Top new media experts discuss the challenges of competing with iPods, extending station brands online, the opportunities for "long tail" formats and for broadcasters launching personalizable, national brands, and much more. Moderator: Kurt Hanson, RAIN/AccuRadio. Panelists include: John Lenac, Head Of Programming & Label Relations, Yahoo! Music (including LAUNCHcast); Ray Mena, VP/Emmis Interactive; Jeff Vidler (pictured), Partner, Solutions Research Group (Toronto, CA); Gary Krantz, Chief Digital Media Officer, Westwood One.

Wed 1:00pm The Business of Internet Radio Internet Radio’s audience is growing rapidly! So where’s the revenue? This session will investigate the various strategies for monetizing your streaming audience: hear from broadcast companies about their digital platforms and strategies and learn how to capture interactive dollars. We’ll also discuss the rules on creative, hear examples of creative messages that got the attention of advertisers and listeners, and discuss online audience measurement. Panelists include: Jennifer Lane, President, Katz Net Radio Sales; Sandy Smallens (pictured), SVP/Digital, Entercom Communications; Robert Maccini, President, Ando Media; and Gary Krantz, Chief Digital Media Officer, Westwood One.

Wed 1:00pm 1 + 1 = 3: Making Radio and Internet Really Work Together Much has been written about the synergistic value of Radio and the Internet. As advertising and marketing platforms, each of these media is worth more in combination with the other than it is standing alone. When they’re worth more to the advertiser, the broadcaster faces less price pressure. But how is a Radio station to go about creating and selling Integrated Marketing Solutions? Steve Marx will show you the keys steps to creating more value-for the advertiser and for yourself-from both your broadcast and your online assets…and why the disintermediation of marketing requires you to need to act now! Presenters: Steve Marx (pictured), CEO, Center for Sales Strategy; and Dave Bestler, VP/GM, KSTP/St. Paul.

Wed 2:15pm The Infinite Dial In the AM radio days, perhaps there were a half-dozen radio choices for most consumers. With the advent of FM, the number expanded to perhaps 20 or 30 options. Today, with satellite radio, streaming and pod-casts, the options are nearly infinite. The consumer will soon see an ‘Infinite Dial’, where any kind of radio, for any kind of taste, will be available at any time. How will your station compete in such an environment, where anyone can find anything at any time? This presentation discusses strategies that a local station can employ to make it self relevant today, and into the future. Presenter: Larry Rosin, President, Edison Media Research.

Wednesday 2:15pm New Media: Fuzzy Math or Real Money? Join "leading edge" new media/technology broadcasters who are doing outstanding work for their companies, leading the charge for how Radio can monetize the Internet and beyond...this is designed to be a "here’s real money we’re making...no phony bologna." Panelists: Gregg Lindahl, Vice President, Interactive & New Technologies, Cox Radio Interactive; Russell Banz (pictured), VP of New Media, Bonneville International Corp.; UT; Deb Esayian, VP Integrated Sales, Emmis Interactive; and Rick Jackson, Senior VP/GM, Lincoln Financial Syndication Properties.

Wednesday 3:45pm Super Session: The Bedroom Project: How Young Americans Use, Consume and Interact with Technology and Media Get ready for a revolutionary breakthrough in digital media research! For the last 6 months, Jacobs Media has teamed up with Arbitron to provide the radio industry with an exciting new consumer research project. “The Bedroom Project” will present the industry with a new look at how young adults use digital media in their everyday lives. The project surveys 30 young adults, ages 18-28, on their use of digital media devices in their natural surroundings. Applying a new research technique dubbed “ethnographic” research, interviewers went straight into homes, apartments, dormitories, cars and even bedrooms to observe how young adults use digital media and to explore their attitudes about survey research. Presenter: Fred Jacobs (pictured), President, Jacobs Media.

Friday 9:00am Integrating Digital Media into the Radio Mix: Why Do It? How To Do It! Sheila Kirby (pictured), President of Strategic Sales Department (a subsidiary of Interep) leads a panel exploring the growing importance of digital media in the radio mix. With increasing ad revenue currently being directed into digital media, and clients’ growing demand for the metrics associated with digital platforms, this panel answers the question, “why digital?”, and equally important, “why right now?” Hear from clients and broadcasters who are successfully integrating digital media into their radio plans. Panelists include: Lori Collins, Sr. VP/Group Director, Dodge National Planning; Sarah Finch, Emmis Communications; Richard Lobel, Chief Marketing Activist, CBS R.I.O.T.; Deb Esayian, VP Integrated Sales, Emmis Interactive; and Samantha Cross, IndyGo/Indianapolis Publication Transportation Center.

Friday 10:30am Netamorphosis: Evolving a Radio Brand How do you take a strong radio brand and extend it to a new technology to increase your connection to your target audience? Pierre Bellanger did it by taking France’s premiere CHR brand and developing a social network that has grown to 18.4 millions users. Find out how. Presenters: Pierre Bellanger, Skyrock, Paris, France; and Rick Cummings, President, Radio Division, Emmis Communications.

RAIN is brought to you today by:

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From David Oxenford's Broadcast Law Blog: "SoundExchange (Monday) announced that it had signed agreements with 24 small commercial webcasters. Contrary to what many press reports have stated, this is not a settlement with Small Commercial Webcasters.

"In truth, what was announced was that 24 small webcasters had signed on to the unilateral offer that SoundExchange made to small webcasters... [in RAIN here]. Essentially, this is the same offer that SoundExchange made in May, which was rejected by many independent webcasters as being insufficient to allow for the hoped for growth of these companies, and insufficient to encourage investment in these companies...

"Instead of reaching a true settlement with these companies that had participated throughout the CRB proceeding and now have an appeal pending before the Court of Appeals, SoundExchange instead announced that their unilateral proposal was accepted by 24 unnamed webcasters. Thus, rather than negotiating a settlement, if anything this announcement shows that SoundExchange has not been willing to negotiate -- as it has not moved substantively off the proposal they announced over 4 months ago...

"For a small service playing major label music, the agreement may cover their needs, but for the larger companies playing less mainstream music, a different deal is needed...

"The press release does not mention that many webcasters did not sign because their business models include growing their businesses without going bankrupt, which does not seem to fit under the SoundExchange proposal. If this is the only deal that SoundExchange offers to small independent webcasters, SoundExchange will effectively do away with the independent webcaster who is serious about growing a business, but to whom a per performance royalty creates a situation where royalties exceed revenues. This would leave us with an industry essentially made up of hobbyists and big companies that subsidize their webcasting with their other lines of business...

"Small webcasters are not the only ones that are having settlement problems... After over 3 months of waiting, SoundExchange rejected a proposal from broadcasters to reach a compromise on their streaming royalties [in RAIN here]... SoundExchange President John Simson has also been quoted as saying that he expected to reach a settlement with NPR over their streaming royalties by the end of September [see RAIN here]. With 12 days to go before the end of the month, we will see whether this is really a deal come true, or another settlement without substance."

Read Oxenford's entire blog post here.

David Oxenford is a Washington, DC-based media attorney who represents the Small Commercial Webcasters (including AccuRadio) in negotiations with SoundExchange.

From Radio-Online.com: "Male-oriented radio programming and formats with an upper income skew tend to be common denominator for the top 15 formats driving traffic to radio web sites.

"According to a study from The Media Audit in 88 markets, the top ten formats are Modern Rock, AAA, Sports, Rock, Jazz, Talk, Public Radio, Classic Rock, Classical and CHR.

"'The perception is that younger people are so oriented to the Internet that we expected to see younger oriented formats dominating the list...' said President Bob Jordan... 'Three older skewing formats (55+ demo) Talk, News/Talk and Classical were also spread across the top 15 formats.'..

"Ten of the top 15 most-listened to formats make it into the top 15 for proportion of listeners visiting radio web sites. Country, the 4th most popular format in the U.S., was largest format not to make it into the top 15 for proportion of web visitors. Over 20% of Country listeners are blue collar workers, which suggests that they have less access to a computer compared to the general population."

Read this entire article from Radio-Online.com here.

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