RadioDailyNews.com

Without a reliable measuring tool which provides us with details (not just numbers) about who is listening to the streaming audio from radio stations it may be just speculation about how geographically widespread streaming is now and where it is headed in the future. Is it just us radio "groupies" who are tuning in to the far away stations nowadays? Who is the average streaming listener? "Internet Time" makes a six months old study useless and outdated. The number of listeners will surely grow as people become educated on the availability of Internet Casting, which Web sites offer it and how they can use their computers to "tune it in." A friend of mine says he doesn't call radio station streaming "Internet Radio." He calls it "Internet Casting." Says it isn't radio at all. He's right, I think. What IS the Internet and how do we marry it to radio? It is really just another distribution channel for sound, video and text. That's about it. But, it is a nifty, useful portal that we're learning to fill up with "programming." We can't expect listeners to click to radio Web sites and sit there just staring at the pretty graphics and photographs. We must reward them for their efforts, for taking their time to visit the Web site, or they won't go back a second time. Radio programmers make the best Internet programmers. This period of growth for the Internet is one similar to the early 50's, before Top 40 Radio was invented. We have too many Internet Web site choices nowadays and no standard
"Internet Guide." In the early 50's, almost every radio station was trying to appeal to all demographics. Radio stations were "programmed" by sales of blocks of time. You'd buy a half hour of time, not a half a minute, in most cases. Internet surfers today face a similar situation. They don't know where to go on the Internet other than to their home page, Yahoo.com or Amazon.com. There is no Internet comparable like KLIF, WHB, or WLS or WABC leading the way. "Top 40" radio played the most popular pop songs in the mid to late 50's. Instead of hearing Guy Lombardo played for a half hour, followed by Little Richard for an hour and then Peggy Lee for a half hour, Top 40 programming gave radio a reliable consistency. You finally knew when you punched a radio button what you were going to hear. Country music stations soon adopted the Top 40 standard. Today, there are more country music stations in the U.S. than Top 40 rock stations or any other format. We are back in the early 50's again, in terms of the Internet. We have too much Internet -- too many Web sites offering the same products and services -- to much inconsistency and confusion which leads to "fear of using the Internet" for most folks. In the beginning, search engines like Yahoo simplified our searches. But, Yahoo and other search engines gave us too many choices as the Internet grew. With that in mind, I own and have developed several Web sites that I call "Regional Info Portals," such as www.capitolstrategy.com www.prstrategy.net www.wallstreetstrategy.com and the latest, www.radiodailynews.com. My idea was to present the "best of" particular industry links and save time for individuals who are confronted with 63, 897 choices that you get when searching Yahoo or Lycos for links to politics, public relations, financial matters and radio. Remember when we had only channels 2-13 on TV? Now, we have cable and satellite TV with their promises of 500 channels! We'll have to quit our jobs to stay home and watch all 500 or we'll miss something! I enjoy listening to WLS, eYada and many other news-info stations on the net. Music? Well, I can hear music on the radio or from CD's. I have a cable modem but I am not that impressed with the streaming music's sound quality. I love all the "extras" that the Internet offers us. I am a frequent user of AOL Instant Messenger. Its new audio "talk" feature is as good as intercom quality. It's free. Click here to download it, then use it! You don't even need to be an AOL subscriber. It works with any Internet connection or provider. As long as folks on both ends have microphones, it is a fine way of working on projects together and save money on long distance calls. I'll bet that AOL Instant Messenger and products like it will become more popular as people discover its many benefits. It is the Internet's next step up from e-mail. Already CNN is promoting the AOL Instant Messenger. For streaming audio to work and draw listeners away from radio, more penetration of broadband Internet service is necessary. FM had been around since the 40's, but cars didn't include FM as standard equipment. That began to happen in the mid-70's. You can trace the beginnings of dominance by FM back to the mid 70's. The same will happen with the Internet. Once there is more penetration and broadband, high speed Internet grows, history will repeat itself. The Internet won't replace radio, but it will "complement" it if it is used intelligently and strategically. The Internet is a great advertising and information tool for any business. Why, think of the time and money that businesses save now by providing information online to consumers. I recently heard a statistic that companies which use online sales tracking software spend 10 cents instead of ten dollars with the old method of 1-800 phone tracking assistance. If the Web site is well planned and easy to navigate, the consumer benefits more from visiting it than using the company's 800 number. Right now, the Internet is a 24 hour business card and brochure for most commercial organizations -- from bricks and mortar shops to radio stations. Amazon.com is the leader in book sales. Hey! Don't snicker and say they're not making a profit. They'll figure out a way to stay in business. The Internet is a perfect study in winning by surviving -- by outlasting the competition. We buy computer equipment and office supplies frequently from OfficeDepot.com, Outpost.com and PCConnection.com. Why not? The goods are delivered overnight and we don't have to pay sales tax. In most cases, the price either beats or equals what we would pay if we took the hour or more to drive to the local retail location. What's the difference? Convenience for us and a more efficient use of our time. The widespread use of cell phones helped create talk radio, spawning a whole new talk industry and increasing AM radio profits. The internet will eventually spread more goods and products worldwide for retailers. Retail (and radio/TV) markets will be worldwide instead of city and region wide. I sense that radio stations are currently uncertain about the need to "drive" people to the Internet. It could be that the owners and programmers are apprehensive, fearing that listeners will slowly migrate from radio to the Internet-based music and news Web sites. There are just not that many people out there in broadcastville to split up amongst the over abundant numbers of AM-FM stations now. Many radio veterans will tell the newcomers who began their career in the post 1970's era that 12 + cumes of 40-60% + cumes were the norm, even in larger markets, back in those days. Now, the #1 stations in 12+ cumes are lucky to get past a 5-7% share. There are too many radio stations on the air. All those stations offer great variety, but for the advertisers it means fewer listeners per station at higher rates. How do you justify that to your advertisers who pay the same or more and reach fewer listeners per station? In the end, it is the bottom line and advertisers who will decide the fate of both radio and the Internet. What do you think? Larry Shannon