AOL RADIO ADS CBS STREAMS, APPARENTLY USING CBS ‘PLAY.IT’ STREAMING TECH: As expected, AOL added streams for all 140 CBS-owned radio stations to their Internet radio player today, as part of a re-launch of their service which looks like it’s using CBS’ new Play.it streaming technology. CBS announced in April plans for a custom music streaming service, using a new platform they call Play.it. See RAIN coverage here. The re-launched radio player features song skipping, track rating, easily set station presets, and a simple drop-down station listing as well as a detailed list searchable by name or genre. The design is attractive, with eye-appealing iPhone-like graphics as the album art changes. The move comes as part of a “new business strategy in order for us to stay in business,” AOL Radio GM Lisa Namerow told the AP’s Seth Sutel. While SoundExchange publicly insists (see RAIN coverage here) that “there is a lot of money to be made in Internet radio and royalty rates are not a barrier to developing strong, workable business models,” AOL’s streaming business is reportedly still unprofitable following dramatically increased royalty fees—despite the fact that it’s the nation’s most-listened-to Net radio service. CBS will also reportedly use its influence to sell ads for the AOL online radio service. CBS and AOL announced plans for such an action earlier in the year (RAIN coverage here, here, and here). For more, read The Washington Post‘s coverage here.

3G iPHONE NOT THE PORTABLE NET RADIO DEVICE SOME HAD HOPED: Steve Jobs yesterday at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference introduced the much anticipated, next-generation iPhone, which will be available in stores July 11. But despite its new 3G data network accessibility and a hefty list of changes (here), it still doesn’t officially support streaming audio (Third-party applications like FlyTunes are available; see RAIN coverage here and here). Scott Kleinberg points out in his RedEye iPhone blog that the new 3G model does not include Flash support. Since the iPhone does not support the Flash platform the way a desktop computer does, it is not the true “portable Internet radio device” some had hoped it would be. Read Kleinberg’s full list of complaints here.

STERN: IT’S TIME TO GET PAST RADIO’S SILLY ONLINE STATION BREAKS: In 2001, broadcasters learned they might be liable for special “online” fees due to airing commercials intended for on-air use only (RAIN coverage here). As a result, many stations substitute other content online during commercial breaks, including PSAs, other commercials, or even repeating announcements that “regular programming will continue soon.” Mike Stern, R&R’s News/Talk/Sports Editor, argues that broadcasters should fill that sloppy and annoying gap with unique advertising messages and matching graphics and links, specifically for their online stream. He writes in a guest post at JacoBlog, “Programmers would never permit this on their terrestrial signals, but accept it on their streams.” Ronning-Lipset Radio’s Andy Lipset wants to take it even further by expanding radio’s sellable inventory with a category of spots that run online only, during over-the-air breaks. Read more of Stern’s thoughts here.

INTERNET ADVERTISING WILL BE #2 BY 2012 SAYS IDC STUDY: A study by IDC (here) finds that “overall Internet advertising revenue will double from $25.5 billion in 2007 to $51.1 billion in 2012. During the forecast period, Internet advertising will grow about eight times as fast as advertising at large.” This will make internet the number 2 medium in advertising revenue, second only to direct marketing. Mark Ramsey, in his Hear 2.0 blog, sees this as a “challenge” to radio stations to create a strategy for the digital market, and one that isn’t “a collection of new media toys affixed to your web page with the digital equivalent of masking tape.” Read his full thoughts in his blog post here.

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