RAIN NEWS 04/17: RAIN SUMMIT RECAPS
·Apr 17, 09:45 AM
Posted by: Paul Maloney
RAIN SUMMIT RECAP: RADIONEXT 2008 PRESENTATION: In the fall of last year, metrics/ad-insertion firm Ando Media, Solutions Research Group, and this publication commissioned “RadioNext,” a study of “engaged online consumers” (that is, those likely a little “ahead of the curve” technologically) and their audio media habits, with the idea that these findings would give an indication of where radio might be headed in the next few years. Jeff Vidler, of Solutions Research, presented those findings at the Summit. The results of the study can be seen in detail here, but Vidler made a few key points we’ll highlight. First, in the 18-34 demo, this youngest surveyed segment spends far more time listening to “personal music” (CDs, MP3s) (46%) than to AM or FM broadcasts (27%). Second, the computer is the most popular “player” for 18-34’s “personal music” (as opposed to stereos or CD players), which shows they’re comfortable with the PC as a music source. Yet this demo only spend 12% of listening time with online radio, so perhaps there’s an opportunity for webcasters to grow with this audience segment. Among respondents (all ages) who had listened to Internet radio in the last year, 49% said they had listened to Yahoo! Music Launchcast, making it the most popular (among American and Canadian respondents alike). 14% of U.S. respondents said they had listened to Pandora, with 9% (again, U.S.) calling it their favorite, a far higher rate than most other Internet-only services. This last point Vidler addressed as “closing the trial usage gap.” While 46% of respondents have listened to online radio at some point, only 15% said they had done so in the last week (a number which is steady, or just barely growing). Why is listenership not growing faster? The biggest reason given: 78% said they’re “just not in habit yet,” which is a behavior that can change. More alarminly, 69% said Internet “buffering” issues made it too annoying to listen. Again, for more from the RadioNext study, click here.
RAIN SUMMIT RECAP: THE CDN SHOWDOWN: By its very definition, content delivery is vital for webcasting. But there are lots of great CDN vendors out there, and many do much more than simply turn on the streams — and webcasters are interested to learn more. Often,  vendors on panels feel compelled to “sneak” their sales pitch into the discussion; we thought this year we’d simply give them five minutes of mic time to “plug away!” Our first vendor panel included representatives of four fine CDN companies, and was moderated by SBR Creative / CustomChannels.net’s Dave Rahn. Bill Freund is from Triton Media Group, an investor of Stream The World, whose clients include CBS Radio, Journal, Tribune, Corus, and CHUM. Stream The World streams using Flash technology to achieve widest reach (it’s compatible with more platforms than MP3, WMA, Real, etc.). The company is especially proud of the branded players it creates, and offers listening metrics and reports on how users engage with other features (pause, skip, channel changes). Amy Van Hook, a former broadcaster, is  COO of Liquid Compass, a company she describes (not surprisingly) as “evangelists for radio’s transition to digital” and “geared specifically to the radio industry.” Broadcast clients can take advantage of services like LiquidCompass’s “Traffic-My-Ads,” sales training, custom players, the RIAA reporter for royalty reports, ad-replacement via SpacialAudio or AndoMedia, and side channels from CustomChannels.net. The company provides services to Entercom, Lincoln Financial, Cumulus, Saga, Crawford, and Bonneville. Bryan Payne, CEO of (the aforementioned) SpacialAudio, spoke next. Spacial handles broadcast automation and ad-insertion, and offers a station listing service (AudioRealm) and custom site and software development. They don’t stream Real or Quicktime formats, but can handle any other.  Speaking of formats, Abacast president Mike King says it’s his company’s intention to make streaming formats (at least for the end user) a non-issue. That is, offering stations and listeners a simple “universal” listening link that works for everyone (the format decision is made invisibly and automatically on sound quality/cost efficiency criteria). Abacast offers “peer” streaming, in which bandwidth costs are reduced when users stream identical content from each other (they offer unicast and on-demand streaming as well). And like the other services, Abacast offers revenue-generation and analytics services.
[Coming soon in RAIN: More from Monday’s RAIN Las Vegas Summit!]
 GOOGLE UNVEILS AUTOMATION SYSTEM AT NAB: Google unveiled a new radio automation system at the NAB this week. Google Radio Automation is a brand new, open-platform system for music and ad scheduling and audio recording. Automation is one of the three main elements of Google’s radio business, along with Google Audio Ads (for ad buyers) and AdSense for Audio (for stations). Google entered the radio ad market when it bought dMarc. Google has 1,600 radio stations in its distribution network. And, it’s already made the Radio World 2008 “Cool Stuff” list (here). Learn more here.
RADIO ONE BOLSTERS ONLINE HOLDINGS WITH SOCIAL NETWORK: D.C.-based Radio One has purchased ethnic social network company Community Connect for $38 million. Community Connect owns targeted networking destinations like BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com and AsianAve.com, with an audience of roughly 20 million consumers. “We will be the clear number one in the African-American online space,” Radio One chief executive and president Alfred Liggins, III said.
JUPITER: PEOPLE DON’T WANNA BUY MUSIC FOR PHONES: JupiterResearch says two-thirds of U.S. wireless subscribers have no interest in premium music offerings. Of 1,800 mobile users Jupiter asked, 28% were interested in ringtones, while only 14% expressed interest in full-track downloads. Jupiter says current pricing models by wireless operators and hurdles like copyright and content storage restrictions are to blame. Plus, if you have an iPod and iTunes, why bother?
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