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RADIO TSL IS UP AMONG YOUTH, SAYS PARAGON: Paragon Media Strategies’ second study of youth and radio finds that radio TSL is up among the 14-24 year-old demographic—perhaps revealing that radio “is escaping its uncool image.” Of 409 participants, 37% claimed they listen to radio between 1-3 hours a week, compared to 28% in 2007. Additionally, 59% said they listen to music from non-radio sources (CDs, net radio, iPods, etc.) over traditional radio, a figure down from 73% last year. While the study touts that “radio clearly dominates in-car music delivery,” Intel’s digital enterprise VP Tom Steenman claims in Jacobs Media’s blog (here) that “the car is becoming the next frontier” for new gadgets. If internet radio, satellite radio, and other listening mediums were as easily available while driving as AM/FM, would terrestrial radio still “dominate”? Steenman argues not only would teens be attracted to such new media devices in autos, but older demographics would follow due to a “waterfall up” effect. While it stands to reason that AM/FM is most vulnerable to satellite radio in the car, the study still shows the former dominating. Yet the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) continues to concentrate its lobbying efforts and dollars fighting satellite, a position some would call not “worthwhile” (see del Calliano story below). Industry expert Mark Ramsey weighs in as well, advising cautious consideration in his Hear 2.0 blog (here). “Answers of this type are notoriously unreliable in research – not so much because of the smallish sample but because the question asks for opinions of listening rather than an actual record of listening…the fact that the trend was evidently in the other direction twelve months ago is proof of just how rickety these opinions are.”

B’DCASTERS RAGE AGAINST SATELLITE MERGER, A FIGHT DEL CALLIANO CALLS MISGUIDED: As the FCC seemingly moves towards approving the merger of satellite radio companies XM and Sirius (RAIN coverage here), Peter Smyth (pictured left) of Greater Media offers his two cents in an op-ed piece at the Boston Globe (here). He argues that the FCC should hold to its 1997 prohibition against a satellite radio merger to avoid a monopoly that would hurt the public interest. “Think about it: One company would control 25 megahertz of spectrum. This is more than the entire AM and FM terrestrial radio bands combined…one licensee would be able to air more than 300 channels in every market – 40 times more channels than terrestrial radio broadcasters are permitted to control in the largest markets.” Meanwhile, Jerry del Colliano (pictured right) sees the merger as good as finished, predicting that other Republican FCC commissioners will follow Kevin Martin’s support of the merger (“The entire process is a joke”). He argues that the NAB should thus stop fighting the merger and instead focus on the “unfair Internet streaming royalty because it may bite their constituents in the butt someday.” Read more of del Calliano’s thoughts at his Inside Music Media blog here.

RADIO VET MOVING ONLINE IN FACE OF FORMAT SWITCH: The Chicago Sun-Times reports that radio personality Mary Nisi (pictured), a seven-year veteran of community station WLUW (88.7), has quit and intends to move her Monday morning program online to the Chicago Independent Radio Project’s (CHIRP) new web-based station. CHRIP is a group attempting to bring a local and “truly independent community radio station to Chicago,” as well as other urban areas, by pressuring the FCC and Congress to grant low-power FM licenses. The group’s web-based station is a new initiative which they hope to have up and running later this summer. They are asking for support in the venture here. Nisi is leaving her Monday morning post at WLUW in an “exodus” of DJs as the station once again comes under the ownership of Loyola University, which plans to give the station to its new School of Communication for instructional purposes. Said Nisi, “After so many years with WLUW, I’m looking forward to making a fresh start. When I started my show, WLUW was the only independent radio station in Chicago. Now CHIRP will be the city’s real home for independent music and voice.” Read the Chicago Sun-Times article here.

KITCHIN HOPS TO HIPCRICKET: Kraig T. Kitchin has been appointed to HipCrickets’ board of directors. HipCricket is a mobile marketing company based in Washington state. Kitchin was president/COO of Premiere Radio Networks for 20 years, as well as one of the founders. “[Kitchin] shares our interest in making traditional media interactive, thereby satisfying broadcasters’ hunger for a new revenue driver that provides advertisers with a more effective and measurable way to market their products and services,” said HipCricket chief executive officer Ivan Braiker. Read more on the story here.

miROAMER ON CONSUMER DEVICES SOON?: Torian Wireless has announced that its internet radio platform miRoamer will be included in a “batch” of consumer products launched as early as next month. Listing portable media players, mobile devices, set-top boxes, car radios, and even VoIP telephones as examples of products that could include their miRoamer technology, Torian provided no specifics, stating only that, “There are several license and distribution agreements in place with manufacturers in China, Singapore and USA, and the first commercial batch of miRoamer-enabled products is due to begin shipping from July/August.” miRoamer is an online platform that aggregates thousands of net radio stations (RAIN coverage here). Including such a platform on mobile devices, media players, or car radios would be exciting…if Torian’s claims come to fruition. For more read CIO’s coverage here.

Comment

1. I wish you had a printer-friendly version here… I’ve tried every trick & browser I have and the print preview never looks anything like the screen version… it’s always a mess and hard to read.

   — Marshall · Jun 19, 09:24 AM · #

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