Triton Digital has released its Webcast Metrics for September 2011 -- the month that saw Clear Channel relaunch iHeartRadio with Pandora-like features. A beta of the new service was released in early September (more here) and a star-studded concert promoting iHeartRadio took place in Las Vegas on September 28.
Did the new product and heavy promotion boost Clear Channel's audience? The broadcaster's September AAS (Average Active Sessions, which is essentially equivalent to AQH — i.e., average simultaneous listeners) grew 10% over August in the Domestic Mon-Sun 6a-12m daypart.
That said, Clear Channel's September AAS is less than 1% higher than its previous peak, which came in December 2010. Plus, the month-to-month increase is actually lower than the 14% growth Clear Channel achieved from July to August 2011.
In other words, while the new iHeartRadio most likely contributed to Clear Channel's growth, other factors -- like the post-summer, pre-holiday growth seen by most webcasters -- may have been involved as well. Since the official launch of the new iHeartRadio took place in late September, we may not see its influence until the October Webcast Metrics are released.
Most other webcasters saw growth over August. The strongest came from EMF Corporate, with an AAS increase of 30% (3,874) to reach 16,662.
Pandora grew 11% (76,015) from August and is up 85% from September 2010. (By comparison, Clear Channel grew its AAS by 8,294. In fact, Pandora's AAS growth alone from August to September represents over 83% of Clear Channel's total AAS.)
Pandora's AAS (752,816) is over eight times that of #2-ranked CBS Radio, which saw a 4% decrease from August and is within 3% of losing its place to #3-ranked Clear Channel.
The strongest year-over-year growth came from Slacker (109%, though their mobile audience was not tracked in September 2010), Pandora (85%) and AccuRadio (40%).
The combined AAS of the Top 20 webcasters increased over 8% from August and over 48% from September 2010.
You can find the Domestic and All Streams Mon-Sun 6a-12m rankings below. Find out more from Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics report here (PDF) and find our coverage of August 2011’s ratings here.
Whose person is worth more? Clear Channel's or Pandora's?
I don't work for either company and so I don't have a dog in this fight BUT I think the assumption that only the raw number count matters is rather short-sighted. Clear Channel made a decision to limit the access to their iHeartRadio app to those willing to sign up via Facebook. I am not saying I agree with that decision but what it means is:
1. It is less accessible than Pandora and many,many interested people will decline signing up for iHeartRadio and will instead go back to using their Pandora account. So, in raw numbers, I think it will be hard for CC to ever beat Pandora (also, Pandora owns the branding space of Internet radio).
2. Those who DO agree to signing up via Facebook have agreed to allowing CC a TON of permissions. Examples of said permissions are: posting to their wall, sharing their music choices with friends, etc. If CC accesses and mines this data correctly they have a wealth of information on each listener which is another way of saying "targeted advertising". Targeted leads pays hugely more per impression than general advertising.
Pandora does have some limited listener information and can thus charge a small premium but CC with that Facebook access has the potential to make many times more than Pandora does per listener.
The take-away is that this race isn't just about head count but rather efficiently leveraging those ears into dollars.
Support Clear Channel?
Great point. My concern lies with Clear Channel's previous history of consolidation, and its effect on broadcast radio. Internet radio's appeal lies with the free ability to make choices on your preference of music. CC limited that ability on radio, which may hinder it's expansion on the web. As an advocate of freedom on the airwaves, I choose Pandora.
You are absolutely correct
You are absolutely correct James that CC has to get past this corporatatization/consolidation image they have earned from the past. No one is going to the internet to get the same limited choices that their broadcast station is offering them. Technically CC should have the edge over Pandora in terms of music variety as CC has like 10 million songs available while Pandora has about a million (of course, this is per a CC's press release :). BUT if you don't play those songs they don't mean anything.
In the broadcast world, programming is to the Lowest Common Denominator (key word is "lowest") to appeal to the most number of people but to succeed in the internet space CC will definitely have to provide variety and customization (what is often times referred to as the "long tail"). Interestingly, CC has a slider on their iHeartRadio app that allows you to set how off the beaten path you want them to go..the two extremes on this slider (called: Station controller) are:Familiar Artists to More Discovery.
James, you definitely hit the nail on the head that how well CC does (or doesn't) service their internet customers will ultimately determine their success.