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I dislike stations with region-locked streams.

ChocoMingo

ChocoMingo

What I mean by region-locked streams is that the radio station's stream can only be listened in that city's area like Reno and only the Reno area, including Carson City, Lake Tahoe, etc. Unfortunately, there is no way to work around these types of stations, as they only lock their streams to their metropolitan or micropolitan area, and there are no extensions that take care of these types of streams. For example, KLCA-FM, Alice 96.5, the local pop station in Reno. Everytime I try to listen to them live, I can't and it gives me this message, "This station is not streaming to your geographic area at the moment. You can interact with most of the player features, but will not be able to hear the audio stream." Not even TuneIn helps as it opens a new window to that same live stream. I mean local stations are being hypocritical and ironic that you can listen to their streams everywhere, even though you can't. :mad: :(
 
Jonathan7157 said:
I mean local stations are being hypocritical and ironic that you can listen to their streams everywhere, even though you can't. :mad: :(
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What is "hypocritical and ironic" about a station not wanting to waste money paying considerable digital performance rights to reach listeners who are not in the station's advertising market?
 
DavidEduardo said:


What is "hypocritical and ironic" about a station not wanting to waste money paying considerable digital performance rights to reach listeners who are not in the station's advertising market?
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I take it that this is unique to mainstream music stations, as opposed to classical, blues, jazz, or other unique music formats, or spoken-word formats where the station owns its programming.

None of the stations I listen to have been cut off, but none are mainstream music formats. Live games on sports stations are generally cut off (NHL excepted), but they're available free or for a reasonable price ($20 for MLB gameday audio) elsewhere.
 
KeithE4 said:
I take it that this is unique to mainstream music stations, as opposed to classical, blues, jazz, or other unique music formats, or spoken-word formats where the station owns its programming.
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This is a practice that is growing, particularly in medium or smaller market stations that have little extra budget for streaming, irrespective of format. Streaming listeners outside the local market area can not be monetized, so it makes sense not to pay royalties for music being heard by non-local listeners.

Spoken word and sports are often separate matters. Many syndicated shows can't be streamed at all or outside the local market. Sports fits the same criteria as well, and carries many restrictions.
 
KODS in Reno was one of my favorite streaming stations until they locked it up months ago. I now listen to WCKE which not only isn't geo-locked but doesn't have a commercial load. WCKE must be some rich person's hobby as they are an AM with FM translators and play music 24X7 (although the majority of their music is pre-1972 so not sure if those songs carry a penalty or not).
 
Jonathan7157 said:
That's because KODS is KLCA's sister station. I wonder what's up with Americom in Reno? :confused:
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DE said it earlier "Streaming listeners outside the local market area can not be monetized, so it makes sense not to pay royalties for music being heard by non-local listeners."

American Broadcasting seems to be entirely local with regard to commercials so it makes sense that their stations in Reno don't extend their signals if it costs them money they can't recover.

I too don't like stations restricting their signals but understand why they do. I used to listen to KODS every time I was within range and waited literally years for them to stream then was heartbroken when they geo-blocked. Oh well, there are other alternatives.
 
landtuna said:
DE said it earlier "Streaming listeners outside the local market area can not be monetized, so it makes sense not to pay royalties for music being heard by non-local listeners."

American Broadcasting seems to be entirely local with regard to commercials so it makes sense that their stations in Reno don't extend their signals if it costs them money they can't recover.
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Even for "national" or "regional" advertisers, coverage of a station or a station's stream outside its home market is seldom a revenue source.

For example, half of the top 20 stations in Riverside / San Bernardino, CA, are Los Angeles stations. None of the LA stations gets any significant benefit from those large audiences and very few even subscribe to the ratings book for that adjacent market.
 
It was mentioned that the classical and spoken word stations one poster listened to online were not geo-fenced. I think most of these stations are also listener supported and there is the hope you might become a member.

It seems nobody has figured out how to make money, much less break even on streaming their radio station. Geo-fencing is the only option to lower the financial losses from streaming. I don't like being shut out, but if I was running a station that streamed, I'd make geo-fencing one of my money saving options. Granted most radio stations have not created stellar plans for making cash from their online presence.
 
If only there was a way for broadcast stations to monetize their music streams by selling subscriptions for those outside the fence. But I don't think there's enough of a market to monetize.
 
joebtsflk1 said:
If only there was a way for broadcast stations to monetize their music streams by selling subscriptions for those outside the fence. But I don't think there's enough of a market to monetize.
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For that to work, the subscription would be higher than Sirius.
 
Well, I heard that the Greater Media in Boston works in the same way, kind of. You can access the stream anywhere, but you have to be a member of their station's website and register for free in order to listen. I don't like that idea that much, as I realized myself that I have to remember lots of passwords for sites that Chrome doesn't save, which is bad, as I can remember so many passwords. However, unlike the Reno example, there is a workaround here. Yes, it's using iHeartRadio and listening to the Greater Media stations there.
 
Jonathan7157 said:
I mean local stations are being hypocritical and ironic that you can listen to their streams everywhere, even though you can't.
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If the station promotes that you can listen to the stream from anywhere, sure it might be hypocritical. Few stations promote that way, except those who air local (HS, college) sports.
 
Jonathan7157 said:
I don't like that idea that much, as I realized myself that I have to remember lots of passwords for sites that Chrome doesn't save, which is bad, as I can remember so many passwords.
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LastPass is one solution to your password problem.
 
That really sucks! I used to listen to the radio stations for free online, but now I have to register to become one of their members. Thanks a lot, Greater Media Boston!
 
blackgold said:
That really sucks! I used to listen to the radio stations for free online, but now I have to register to become one of their members. Thanks a lot, Greater Media Boston!
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Don't blame radio. Blame the recording industry, that jacked up the royalty rates and made it impossible for just about anyone to offer free streaming.
 
Since all the I-Heart stations are available from a single app, it would appear that they intend to continue paying the royalties across the board rather than geofencing. I'm sure they can afford it. It isn't like they have a huge debt or anything like that! :)
 
As far as Greater Media goes, you only register if you listen from their websites and agree to feed their cookies to your computer. I prefer a cookie free diet :)
 
semoochie said:
I'm sure they can afford it. It isn't like they have a huge debt or anything like that! :)
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They have tried to negotiate directly with labels for online royalty discounts in exchange for a percentage of broadcast revenue. Some US-based labels have agreed, but the foreign-owned majors (Sony & Universal) have not.

But it's funny how there's so much negativity about iHeart, and yet they really have great relations with the currents-based part of the music industry, as evidenced by the iHeartRadio Festival. The older acts are critical because iHeart doesn't usually play new music by older artists. Then again, not many radio companies do.
 
iHeart has geo-fenced some smaller stations, and is running replays of morning shows at night on some of their other terrestrial streams (as opposed to the OTA programming).
 
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