 RAIN 01/22: Pandora adds audio ads; Arbitron ratings for October, November ·Jan 22, 09:31 AM PANDORA ADDS 15-SECOND ADS TO FREE STREAMSPandora has added 15-second audio advertisements to its free music streams. Wired reports (here) that Pandora tried a similar experiment with ads for McDonald’s two years ago, “but scrapped the idea due to negative feedback. Now, however, it would appear that Pandora is feeling the pinch.” Pandora recently laid off 14% of its staff (RAIN coverage here) and, as Scott Gilbertson of Wired points out, is “faced with increasing broadcast fees and limited success with visual ads.”The current audio ads are reportedly for the Fox TV show Lie To Me, and are heard after listening to 10 songs. The ads will be aired on all of Pandora’s free streams — including on their iPhone application — but not for Premium users who have paid the $36 yearly subscription fee. Gilbertson writes, “Naturally, listeners were not happy…While it was nice to be able to stream Pandora for free with no ads, like so many free services on the web, it appears those days are over.” ARBITRON ONLINE RATINGS FOR OCTOBER, NOVEMBER SHOW CUME OF OVER 8 MILLIONTotal cume persons for all measured networks rose to just under 8.5 million in November’s comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings (Monday-Sunday, 6AM-Midnight). Arbitron recently released ratings from both November and October.While there was overall growth from September, networks like Clear Channel Online Music and Radio and Live365 saw their cume persons dip slightly from October to November. Additionally, overall cume fell from 8.7 million in October to just under 8.5 million in November. Nonetheless, that’s a hefty increase from September’s overall cume of just under 7.5 million. November’s ratings chart is below. For more ratings, head to Arbitron’s Online Radio Services site here. 
SIRIUS XM UPS FEESSirius XM will be increasing rates charged to users who have multiple accounts and who use the satellite radio provider’s online music service. Starting March 11, additional accounts will jump $2 to $8.99 a month, and access to Sirius XM’s online services will cost $2.99 a month. According to provisions made by the FCC this summer, the merged company cannot increase the subscription fees for basic programming for another three years. For more, read R&R’s coverage here.
RETRO TABLETOP WI-FI RADIO FROM WOLVERINEWolverine Data’s new WorldRadio tabletop Wi-Fi radio picks up 15,000 Internet radio stations in a somewhat cool, “retro” casing. The player also packs a remote control and handy menus that sort stations based on genre and location. The WorldRadio is $180 from Wolverine’s site here. For more, read Ars Techia’s coverage here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
Comment Other stories RAIN 9/2: Apple makes iTunes experience more social, more "radio-like" RAIN 9/1: FilterMusic.net excels at helping you discover new streams RAIN 8/31: Pandora's Les Hollander to speak at RAIN Summit East RAIN 8/30: Former Forrester analyst to deliver second keynote of RAIN Summit East RAIN 8/27: Radio vet Bill Gamble to consult AccuRadio's country stations RAIN 8/26: Clear Channel's digital chief Evan Harrison to leave at end of year RAIN 8/25: Pandora spotlights improved "genre-based" listening options RAIN 8/24: NAB presents details of proposed royalty settlement to members RAIN 8/23: Mobile media growth will even outpace Internet, predicts Nielsen RAIN 8/20: New deadline for Internet Radio Awards is August 31 |
