ARBITRON PPM DATA CONFIRMS AT-WORK APPEAL OF INTERNET RADIO: Arbitron’s July 2008 PPM data reveals that 7% of meter panelists listened to a local terrestrial radio station’s Internet stream during the month. The results from Arbitron’s six live PPM metros (plus “embedded markets” within those metros (e.g., Nassau-Suffolk is a subset of New York City)) document the fact that a significant portion of measured Net radio listening happens while at work: 78% of listening takes place “away from home,” with listening peaking during at-work hours Monday through Friday. Arbitron’s numbers also confirmed the upscale demographics of Internet radio listeners: Skews 25-54, equally male and female, 69% college-educated. The top 3 webcast formats were adult contemporary, news/talk, and alternative. Only webcasts from 11 currently encoded markets were monitored (and only about 3/4 of the eligible webcasts in those markets were actually encoded). To read the full report, click here (online listening stats can be found on pages 34-43).

SUBURBAN LISTENING BOOSTS ONLINE STREAMS: Although four Internet radio streams “made the book” in July — WBEB, WPLJ, WLTW, and KDAY — Radio-Info.com’s Tom Taylor points out that the latter three met the minimum reporting criteria (at least a .5 cume rating) only in embedded (suburban) ratings reports (Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex-Somerset-Union, and Riverside-San Bernardino, respectively). Philadelphia’s WBEB was the only station to “make the book” in its home market.

RAIN ANALYSIS: According to the Arbitron PowerPoint slides referred to above, Arbitron found about 60 PPM panelists listening to webcasts at the average moment on a weekday midday. Doing the math, it seems listening to local terrestrial streams (which is all Arbitron measured) must comprise about 3% of midday radio listening at this point in history. If one were to add in estimates of listening to Internet-only stations (e.g., Pandora) and out-of-market terrestrial streams, one could imagine that Internet radio listening now comprises 6-10% of midday radio listening. That’s meaningful. To look at it another way: If WBEB’s stream has a .5 cume rating, it probably adds .1 or .2 to the station’s 12+ share, and in Philadelphia, an extra .1 to .2 on a station like WBEB is probably worth an extra $300,000 to $600,000 in annual ad revenues. Again, that’s meaningful! — KH

PREMIERE HIRES LAKAMP AS EVP OF DIGITAL MEDIA: Premiere Radio Networks has hired Brian Lakamp as EVP of Digital Media. Lakamp previously was the CEO of Fluxe, a digital media startup focused on online music, and was senior vice president of Digital Policy at Sony Pictures Entertainment before co-founding Fluxe.

WIFI IN CHRYSLER CARS STARTS AUG 25: Chrysler, as eagerly anticipated since their announcement in June (RAIN coverage here), will begin offering Wi-Fi hi-speed Internet access in their car models beginning August 25. The service will allow passengers and web-enabled devices to stream webcasts, a step forward for unchaining Internet radio from PCs and listening to the world of Internet radio while driving. Prices are reportedly $499 for the Mopar itself, $35-$50 to install, and $58 in monthly subscription and service charges. For more, read Radio Ink’s coverage here.

OFCOM STUDY SHOWS NET RADIO LISTENERSHIP UP 21% IN UK: Ofcom’s latest annual communications report reveals that Internet radio listening is up 21% in the United Kingdom, growing from 12 million listeners in November 2007 to 14.5 million in May 2008. Additionally, online ad spending grew by almost 40% last year, reaching £2.8 billion. The average person was online 24 minutes a day last year, compared to 6 minutes in 2002, and the study estimates that 30% of the world’s population will be online by 2012. For more, read the results of Ofcom’s report here.

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