 RAIN 04/29: Researcher advises radio to expand brands via Web, mobile to grow TSL ·Apr 29, 12:50 PM BRIDGE RATINGS: ONLINE, MOBILE LISTENING NEEDN’T “CANNIBALIZE” MAIN CHANNELBridge Ratings today says successful broadcasters’ plans for growing listening will need to account for categories and devices beyond traditional towers and radios — and that the radio has shown it understands this fact.
“While time devoted to pure-terrestrial radio listening is likely to continue to fall or moderate over the next few years, expansion onto new technology should recapture — and even add to — some of the lost time-spent,” Bridge suggests in a press release. Earlier this month, Bridge Ratings released its “Device Usage” Study (see RAIN here). Bridge Ratings CEO Dave Van Dyke [pictured] summarized the findings in his presentation at the RAIN Summit West event (video here).
Bridge explains, “Research has shown that brand variations or extensions on the streaming side will not cannibalize the main channel, but in fact it will attract additional listening from not only primary brand-centric fans but listeners who may have otherwise listened to the primary brand.” See their press release here. HP BUYS PALM, LIKELY SAVES PIONEERING MOBILE DEVICE PLATFORMHewlett-Packard is now a player in the smartphone space, with its surprise $1.2 billion acquisition of troubled Palm.Analysts praised mobile pioneer Palm’s touch-screen Pre (Palm’s WebOS runs on Pre and Pixi phones) when it launched last year. That didn’t translate to sales however, and the space continued to be dominated by Apple’s iPhone “Palm’s slick interface has earned kudos for blending personal contacts and such into a single profile, no matter where the information originates (Facebook, Google, etc.),” USA Today writes. Webcasters like Pandora, Slacker, and AccuRadio (and others) have dedicated apps for WebOS listening. Many felt Palm’s declining fortunes spelled the end for the WebOS platform, but analysts largely see the HP acquisition as a positive. Read more from USA Today here. CRUTCHFIELD BLOGS ABOUT INTERNET RADIO, INCLUDING REVIEWS OF WEBCASTSConsumer electronics retailer Crutchfield offers its web site visitors an impressive amount of Internet radio coverage in its blog section.
Crutchfield bloggers have recently reviewed streams from New Orleans community powerhouse WWOZ; instrumental rock, jazz, and funk webcaster Attention Span Radio; classical music university broadcaster KUSC; and French broadcaster Azur FM. There’s also columns on the industry (“Is Internet radio a threat to broadcast radio?”) and product reviews (“Spotlight on the Logitech Squeezebox Radio”). We’re always encouraged to come across things like this, as we see it as evidence of the mainstream adoption of Internet radio. Certainly, Crutchfield, which stocks an increasing amount of Internet radios and USB-compatible receivers, mobile devices, and home networking equipment, has an interest in promoting this segment. But it’s a positive nonetheless, as without retailers on board (see especially HD Radio’s early days), getting mainstream consumers excited is a bigger job. Read up here. share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
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 |
Trends from the firm’s recent study on listeners’ device usage shows they’ll spend an increasing amount of time listening to their favorite stations online and via mobile devices while time spent listening via AM and FM will decline. But this trend shouldn’t be distressing, Bridge contends.
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