 RAIN 5/19: CBS Radio chief says ad sales recovering, thanks in part to online streams ·May 19, 11:06 AM NET STREAMS COLLECT 300,000 SIMULTANEOUS LISTENERSCBS Radio’s online streams are helping to overcome the notion that radio is “obsolete,” said CEO Dan Mason, and are helping the company possibly recover from a 29% drop in revenue in the first quarter. He says ad sales are recovering as popularity for CBS Radio’s streams and Last.fm increases.
Mason tells Market Watch (here) that CBS Radio’s online streams pull in 300,000 simultaneous listeners “at any given time of day” after deals with AOL and Yahoo, compared to 125,000 when CBS first launched their Internet streams. Though the amount of available ad inventory online remains high, thereby barring premium pricing, he believes this will change. “I think as advertisers gradually understand the capabilities of online media, that inventory will tighten up,” Mason said. JACOBS MEDIA, SLACKER UPDATE THEIR iPHONE APPSJacobs Media and Slacker have updated their applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Jacobs Media’s jacAPPS v2.0 includes an Alarm Clock function, which lets users wake up to their favorite radio station, as well as a “Background Play” feature using Apple’s Safari web browser, iTunes tagging and in-player panels for ads. Jacobs Media’s JacAPPS develops iPhone applications for radio stations, like K-Love or KSTP-AM, or for any other media or entertainment companies. Find out more about the update here.
Slacker’s updated iPhone app brings lyrics to Slacker Radio Plus subscribers. Larger album art view, a recently played stations folder and a generally streamlined interface are also included. Find out more about Slacker’s update here. Slacker’s app delivers the company’s personalized radio streams to iPhones and iPod Touch devices. AUTONET’S IN-CAR WI-FI NOW AVAILABLE AT BEST BUYAutoNet’s in-car Wi-Fi Internet service is now available at 35 southern California Best Buy locations. The California company provides in-car Internet access at 3G speeds that can be accessed through Wi-Fi connections for a monthly subscription price of $29 or $59 a month, depending on your monthly data usage (RAIN coverage here and here). Inside Radio notes (here, subscription required) that Best Buy’s locations are among 3,300 nationwide stores now selling AutoNet’s service. “Radio’s reign as king of in-car listening may not be over, but there’s a new threat on the horizon,” Inside Radio observes.
TWO NEW TABLETOP WI-FI RADIOS FROM COBRACobra has produced two tabletop Wi-Fi radio models, the CIR1000A and CIR2000A (pictured) priced at $179.95 and $289 respectively. Both connect to more than 10,000 free Internet radio stations and networked music through Ethernet or Wi-Fi connections. The CIR1000A features a mono-speaker, while the CIR2000A has two speakers and, notably, a CD player that connects to the Internet to provide album and artist information for each CD track. Find out more about Cobra’s offerings at Twice here.
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CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
