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Cost! Starting an internet radio station!

S

SPRINGFIELDRAD

My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station. No frills. He has a computer and a mixer.

She plans to have a website with a link to her station. What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website. Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music bumpers?

Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000 listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60 second spot?

Thanks!<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by SPRINGFIELDRAD on 11/15/05 08:36 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station. No
> frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
>
He or She?

> She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.
> Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> bumpers?
>

What's gonna cost her is not the station....it's the web site. 10 Pages?
I hope he or she is rich. Especially to get it professionally done.
As far as bumpers....under Live 365, NO! Probably under any other web host...you'll get by , for at least awhile.

> Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
> listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> second spot?

>
That's the second most expense......the bandwidth. It's like buying property.
If you can get 2000 a cume, you can quit your day job. Maybe.
I never sold commercials on mine...but let's say I make an attempt at 2000 listeners, I would start at 15-20 a spot. I feel it's a medium that hasn't proven it's self yet. I'm sure there's somebody out there charging 500 or so.
As far as web site advertising, I would like to know myself.


> Thanks!
>
 
> > My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station.
> No
> > frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
> >
> He or She?
>
> > She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> > What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.
>
> > Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> > bumpers?
> >
>
> What's gonna cost her is not the station....it's the web
> site. 10 Pages?
> I hope he or she is rich. Especially to get it
> professionally done.
> As far as bumpers....under Live 365, NO! Probably under any
> other web host...you'll get by , for at least awhile.
>
> > Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
>
> > listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> > second spot?
>
> >
> That's the second most expense......the bandwidth. It's like
> buying property.
> If you can get 2000 a cume, you can quit your day job.
> Maybe.
> I never sold commercials on mine...but let's say I make an
> attempt at 2000 listeners, I would start at 15-20 a spot. I
> feel it's a medium that hasn't proven it's self yet. I'm
> sure there's somebody out there charging 500 or so.
> As far as web site advertising, I would like to know myself.
>
>
>
> > Thanks!
> >
>
 
> > My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station.
> No
> > frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
> >
> He or She?
>
> > She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> > What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.
>
> > Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> > bumpers?
> >
>
> What's gonna cost her is not the station....it's the web
> site. 10 Pages?
> I hope he or she is rich. Especially to get it
> professionally done.
> As far as bumpers....under Live 365, NO! Probably under any
> other web host...you'll get by , for at least awhile.
>
> > Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
>
> > listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> > second spot?
>
> >
> That's the second most expense......the bandwidth. It's like
> buying property.
> If you can get 2000 a cume, you can quit your day job.
> Maybe.
> I never sold commercials on mine...but let's say I make an
> attempt at 2000 listeners, I would start at 15-20 a spot. I
> feel it's a medium that hasn't proven it's self yet. I'm
> sure there's somebody out there charging 500 or so.
> As far as web site advertising, I would like to know myself.
>
>
>
> > Thanks!
> >
>

There are many low cost web site designers that do a good job for 10 pages. Avg price I'd say for a site that size would be 250-350 bucks depending on how interactive the site needed to be. Live365 costs to broadcast at that price would be very expensive, especially if its just a talk station. For bumpers it would be best to goto a service like radio-mall.com and get non-ASCAP/BMI/SESAC bumpers that you could use out of commercials. No SoundExchange issues to deal with there. At 2000 listeners the least expensive route may be to co-locate a server someplace though at all talk you could get by at 24kbps..still looking at monthly fees in the hundreds.
 
> Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time?

2000? HA!

Thanks..I needed that.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> There are many low cost web site designers that do a good
> job for 10 pages. Avg price I'd say for a site that size
> would be 250-350 bucks depending on how interactive the site
> needed to be. Live365 costs to broadcast at that price
> would be very expensive, especially if its just a talk
> station. For bumpers it would be best to goto a service
> like radio-mall.com and get non-ASCAP/BMI/SESAC bumpers that
> you could use out of commercials. No SoundExchange issues
> to deal with there. At 2000 listeners the least expensive
> route may be to co-locate a server someplace though at all
> talk you could get by at 24kbps..still looking at monthly
> fees in the hundreds.

2,000 listeners on an internet only show? 2,000 listeners or 2,000 hits? What measurement tool did you use to get that stat?

Don't mean to pick on you but that sounds highly unlikely.<P ID="signature">______________
If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything...</P>
 
> My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station. No
> frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
>
> She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.
> Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> bumpers?
>
> Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
> listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> second spot?
>
> Thanks!
>

You might be able to get $5 a spot if you're lucky. With that many listeners (and I'm sorry but that number is highly unlikely) you're going to need a serious CDN. At 20kbps PER stream you're looking at BIG bucks for bandwidth. How did you come up with 2,000 if you don't mind me asking...<P ID="signature">______________
If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything...</P>
 
> You might be able to get $5 a spot if you're lucky. With
> that many listeners (and I'm sorry but that number is highly
> unlikely) you're going to need a serious CDN. At 20kbps PER
> stream you're looking at BIG bucks for bandwidth. How did
> you come up with 2,000 if you don't mind me asking...
>
This format will be a hit. Can't give any details yet. But we believe we will average 2,000 listeners per hour. Charging $ 100.00 per 60 sec/spot. Max amount of spots per hour will be 15.

Live 365 could be an option.
 
> There are many low cost web site designers that do a good
> job for 10 pages. Avg price I'd say for a site that size
> would be 250-350 bucks depending on how interactive the site
> needed to be. Live365 costs to broadcast at that price
> would be very expensive, especially if its just a talk
> station. For bumpers it would be best to goto a service
> like radio-mall.com and get non-ASCAP/BMI/SESAC bumpers that
> you could use out of commercials. No SoundExchange issues
> to deal with there. At 2000 listeners the least expensive
> route may be to co-locate a server someplace though at all
> talk you could get by at 24kbps..still looking at monthly
> fees in the hundreds.

Thank you for your reply. If we go with Live 365 and average 2,000 listeners per hour 24/7, what is the cost? The station will be 90% talk and 10% music so we have pay fees.

Say we go with Live 365...we have 2,000 listeners listening at the same time, will all listeners enjoy the same sound quality? No cut-outs?
 
2000 listeners.
I broadcast 50's to 70's oldies and sometimes get 2 or 3 listeners at the same time!
Also, even at Live365, you would have to pay for a pro broadcast package and they charge extra depending on how many listener hours in a month:
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.live365.com/pro/pricing.html#standard>http://www.live365.com/pro/pricing.html#standard</a>
Talk radio would be the easiest internet radio to do. You probably wouldn't have to deal with royalties and copyrights like us music broadcasters do.
I can only webcast thru Live 365 right now, since Live 365 has agreements with Bmi, Ascap, ect. to cover those fees.

Vern



> > There are many low cost web site designers that do a good
> > job for 10 pages. Avg price I'd say for a site that size
> > would be 250-350 bucks depending on how interactive the
> site
> > needed to be. Live365 costs to broadcast at that price
> > would be very expensive, especially if its just a talk
> > station. For bumpers it would be best to goto a service
> > like radio-mall.com and get non-ASCAP/BMI/SESAC bumpers
> that
> > you could use out of commercials. No SoundExchange issues
>
> > to deal with there. At 2000 listeners the least expensive
>
> > route may be to co-locate a server someplace though at all
>
> > talk you could get by at 24kbps..still looking at monthly
> > fees in the hundreds.
>
> 2,000 listeners on an internet only show? 2,000 listeners
> or 2,000 hits? What measurement tool did you use to get
> that stat?
>
> Don't mean to pick on you but that sounds highly unlikely.
>
 
> This format will be a hit. Can't give any details yet. But
> we believe we will average 2,000 listeners per hour.
> Charging $ 100.00 per 60 sec/spot. Max amount of spots per
> hour will be 15.
>
> Live 365 could be an option.
>

Well I truly wish you all the luck in the world.

A word of advice from a seasoned streaming radio guy. You’ll probably need to start off MUCH lower for a 60 sec spot. I worked at 10kw AM stations with 10x the listeners during a given show and they were only getting $20-$25 a spot. You may get an advertiser or two at your rate, but will you keep them?

Again, I'm not trying to pick on you, just trying to give you what my years of experience have taught me.

Sounds like you have something really good in your pocket. May I also suggest, with 2,000 UNIQUE streams going out and $100 per 60 second spot, you deal with a good CDN. Talk to Zack or Drew at Liquid Compass (liquidcompass.net). They’re old friends of mine and they are VERY reasonable.

Best of luck to you and Happy Thanksgiving.<P ID="signature">______________
If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything...</P>
 
You really need to rething your thoughts. 2,000 is nothing. 60 dollars is fantasy and no one's paying that for spots, that's not the way it even works. If you know someone somewhere who doesn't have to answer to anyone for paying for spots like that on a lowly listened internet website then you've got a winner there. Stupid people like that don't come easy. Costs are insane unless you're doing stick figure graphics and no high end features. Live 365 will cut out on you if you reach a tenth of your "projected" numbers.

Seriously, listen to people here. You're dreaming with your numbers in the beginning. Sometimes a bubble needs to be burst to see the light.

Email a few of the successful independent operators and they'll tell you, maybe one of them may even want to add your friends show to their inventory or channels but don't expect much for quite a long time unless you intend to broadcast the second coming of Christ, Mohammed or any other deity.




> > > My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station.
>
> > No
> > > frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
> > >
> > He or She?
> >
> > > She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
>
> > > What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her
> website.
> >
> > > Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> > > bumpers?
> > >
> >
> > What's gonna cost her is not the station....it's the web
> > site. 10 Pages?
> > I hope he or she is rich. Especially to get it
> > professionally done.
> > As far as bumpers....under Live 365, NO! Probably under
> any
> > other web host...you'll get by , for at least awhile.
> >
> > > Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has
> 2,000
> >
> > > listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a
> 60
> > > second spot?
> >
> > >
> > That's the second most expense......the bandwidth. It's
> like
> > buying property.
> > If you can get 2000 a cume, you can quit your day job.
> > Maybe.
> > I never sold commercials on mine...but let's say I make an
>
> > attempt at 2000 listeners, I would start at 15-20 a spot.
> I
> > feel it's a medium that hasn't proven it's self yet. I'm
> > sure there's somebody out there charging 500 or so.
> > As far as web site advertising, I would like to know
> myself.
> >
> >
> >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> >
>
 
You really need to re-read your post,because I'm not the one starting the 2000 listener internet station. I also don't know where I stated to charge 60.00 a spot. The post your reading under my name is just answering the leading postees questions.
If I got 2000 listeners on my station...I quit my day job and do something with it as far as business.
Only a few stations on shoutcast seem to generate these numbers.




> You really need to rething your thoughts. 2,000 is nothing.
> 60 dollars is fantasy and no one's paying that for spots,
> that's not the way it even works. If you know someone
> somewhere who doesn't have to answer to anyone for paying
> for spots like that on a lowly listened internet website
> then you've got a winner there. Stupid people like that
> don't come easy. Costs are insane unless you're doing stick
> figure graphics and no high end features. Live 365 will cut
> out on you if you reach a tenth of your "projected" numbers.
>

As long as you buy as much bandwidth as you like and are making money, you can broadcast to 2000 listeners.
>
> Seriously, listen to people here. You're dreaming with your
> numbers in the beginning. Sometimes a bubble needs to be
> burst to see the light.
>
> Email a few of the successful independent operators and
> they'll tell you, maybe one of them may even want to add
> your friends show to their inventory or channels but don't
> expect much for quite a long time unless you intend to
> broadcast the second coming of Christ, Mohammed or any other
> deity.
>
>
>
>
> > > > My friend wants to start an internet talk radio
> station.
> >
> > > No
> > > > frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
> > > >
> > > He or She?
> > >
> > > > She plans to have a website with a link to her
> station.
> >
> > > > What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her
> > website.
> > >
> > > > Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> > > > bumpers?
> > > >
> > >
> > > What's gonna cost her is not the station....it's the web
>
> > > site. 10 Pages?
> > > I hope he or she is rich. Especially to get it
> > > professionally done.
> > > As far as bumpers....under Live 365, NO! Probably under
> > any
> > > other web host...you'll get by , for at least awhile.
> > >
> > > > Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has
> > 2,000
> > >
> > > > listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a
>
> > 60
> > > > second spot?
> > >
> > > >
> > > That's the second most expense......the bandwidth. It's
> > like
> > > buying property.
> > > If you can get 2000 a cume, you can quit your day job.
> > > Maybe.
> > > I never sold commercials on mine...but let's say I make
> an
> >
> > > attempt at 2000 listeners, I would start at 15-20 a
> spot.
> > I
> > > feel it's a medium that hasn't proven it's self yet. I'm
>
> > > sure there's somebody out there charging 500 or so.
> > > As far as web site advertising, I would like to know
> > myself.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > Thanks!
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
 
Hi everyone:

> My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station. No
> frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
>
> She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.

Alright. First off, I'm assuming it's a she even though you originally said your friend was a he.

Secondly, if she knows HTML well enough, she shouldn't have to pay ANYONE to design her website.

> Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> bumpers?

Not if you use The Podsafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/ There, artists give up material (and certtain legal rights to it - INCLUDING [to some extent] ROYALTIES) under a Creative Commons license in exchange for some exposure. The drawback is the site only offers full length tracks and NOT cuts which are better suited for talk shows (I've been lobbying them off and on for months via my podcast/talk show to add cuts, but they have yet to do it).

> Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
> listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> second spot?

Uhh....Where are you going to get the bandwidth to support that many SIMULTANEOUS streams? Having read the whole thread before responding myself, I can only gather that you know very little about how Internet Radio works. Not surprising as you're hardly alone.

If you're into those kinds of numbers and aren't willing to sacrifice for some more REALISTIC numbers, then maybe going the podcast-only route would be the best and cheapest way for your friend to go with her show.

In any event....Best of luck. :)

Cheers for now & Happy Holidays everyone :)

<P ID="signature">______________
patspodcast03a.jpg

http://patspodcast.blogspot.com/
Radio? Uhh.....What's THAT?? :)</P>
 
Looks like you're simply "wanting" this to happen. It's not going to.

I've run an internet site for over three years dealing with local and national sporting events, games, talk shows, etc.

We are successful in selling advertising for high school and collegiate sports. Usually, you can get away with, for instance, $100 to $200 PER SEASON for a 10-11 game football schedule. Pretty good profit if you run a few games live per week (we run hundreds per year, and charge teams for our services).

But 2,000 simultaneous listeners for a beginner - not going to happen!

Your post exposes your lack of understanding of how to even get to a stream provider, much less how to send a broadcast out.

Your he/she friend (you?) needs to get a better grasp of how websites and streaming integrate. No matter how great your idea, you have to be able to carry it out and give listeners something they can't get anywhere else.

2000? The cost alone for even the cheapest stream provider at 16kbps is going to be minimum .30 - .40 per simultaneous listener PER MONTH! minimum $800-$1000 per month just for streaming.

You probably should start with 50 slots, and see what happens.




My friend wants to start an internet talk radio station. No
> frills. He has a computer and a mixer.
>
> She plans to have a website with a link to her station.
> What are the bottom line costs? Ten pages on her website.
> Does she have to pay $$ for playing 15 seconds music
> bumpers?
>
> Can 2,000 listeners listen at one time? Say she has 2,000
> listeners in a given hour, what could she charge for a 60
> second spot?
>
> Thanks!
>
 
I would recommend www.mainstreamnetwork.com if you would like an unlimited
number of users.

The cost is only $179 per month no matter how many streams you run. Also mention our station name to them and they may give you a better deal.... we are lift985.com .

take care. Joe
 
I can't say how much we spend per year on bandwidth, but suffice to say it's in the millions.So anyways, by the time you're getting even 2,000 peak... You'll *want* to be hosted at a place that's going to bill you by the bandwidth you use, not by some IMHO silly & childish "95th percentile" billing LAME crap. </rant>SPRINGFIELDRAD, if you're dead serious and have PLEANTY of money where your mouth is, i can get you connected with good people who arn't going anywhere for a long time.
 
This is like one of those twilight zone threads. 2,000 is nothing first off. Secondly, you're lost in space if you trhink you're getting 100 per spot. You don't know 1% of what you really need to know to make any money doing internet broadcasting so save yourself and/or your friend (if you're not one in the same) the time, the money and headache and scrap the secret squirrel format or learn EVERYTHING you need to learn about billing, what's billable, what's not, and about 1,000 other things before you choose your path.
 
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