 RAIN 12/6: ISPs charging content networks for traffic could set dangerous precedent for Net radio ·Dec 6, 10:45 AM ANALYST: COMCAST’S STANCE COULD END UP COSTING PANDORA, LAST.FMIn a story sweeping the Net, Comcast allegedly demanded additional fees from backbone provider and content distribution network (CDN) company Level-3 for delivering video content to Comcast customers. While this story primarily deals with video content (Level-3 is the exclusive provider of Netflix content in the U.S.), Radio Survivor’s Paul Riismandel ponders the possible implications for online radio.
“A victory for Comcast in this matter might cause the company to start looking to hit up services like Pandora or last.fm — which each have significantly larger audiences than Netflix — for additional fees,” writes Riismandel. Even smaller stations could be affected, he argues: if Comcast charges their CDNs a fee, that additional cost will likely get passed along to individual stations and services. “A more damaging outcome would be if other ISPs decided to follow Comcast’s lead,” Riismandel continues (here). Such fees would hurt Internet radio’s low barrier to entry, “likely harming noncommercial and smaller webcasters. Large, corporate-backed webcasters, like Pandora, will probably withstand the fees, just like it seems Netflix will. But the overall diversity of web radio will suffer.” Currently though, Comcast stands alone in allegedly demanding this sort of fee (according to Adam Rothschild of Voxel, here). Plus, Comcast has dismissed Level-3’s claims, according to the Wall Street Journal (here). But as Riismandel writes, this episode is “just the sort of thing that happens when there are no network neutrality protections for Internet content.” APPLE SUBMITS PATENT APPLICATION FOR AM/FM RADIO APPApple has submitted a patent for a native Radio app for AM, FM and satellite stations. The application would display song information like most Internet radio apps currently found in the App Store, but would also display a map of nearby stations and their relative signal strength.
Interesting, but Apple patents hardly indicate when or if such products or features will reach consumers’ hands. Apple has recently submitted patents for a hybrid touchscreen desktop computer, a handheld device that recognizes your hands and a smart bike. So let’s not hold our breath on this one. 9to5Mac has more coverage here. LANE: NEW BANNER ADS STATS GOOD FOR NET RADIONew research from AdWeek found that 43% of Internet users tend to ignore or disregard banner ads. Analyst Jennifer Lane writes in a new blog post that this data puts Internet radio in a favorable position.“This is a great opportunity for Internet radio sellers to bring their ad assets to digital shops and point out the amazing features of their banner units. They come with audio. NEW iPHONE RADIO APP PROMISES HIGH-QUALITY STREAMSStreamS HiFi Radio, a new iPhone app from the makers of Tuner2, reportedly provides access to thousands of high quality AAC and HE-AAC radio streams. Users can bookmark favorite stations and buy tracks through iTunes. The app costs $5. You can find the developer’s press release here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
They won’t get lost in the crowd. They’re two impressions instead of one.” You can find her full post 
Just sent a link to this story to the FCC. Although the comment period in the dockets is closed, this will still be passed on to the right people ahead of the December 21st meeting, where the matter of Net Neutrality may well be taken up. Hopefully your bringing this story to everyone’s attention will help in that matter.
— James W. Anderson · Dec 6, 11:32 AM · #