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Internet Streaming & Ratings???

B

BusyBuzz

Guest
I was just curious what you guys thought about Entercom recently launching Internet Streaming on all of their stations and by doing so will it have any affect on the ratings?

Will they get a bump because new people might get introduced to their stations?

Will they take a hit because people will turn off radio's and click on their PC's?

And does Arbitron account in anyway for Internet Listeners?
 
> I was just curious what you guys thought about Entercom
> recently launching Internet Streaming on all of their
> stations and by doing so will it have any affect on the
> ratings?
>
> Will they get a bump because new people might get introduced
> to their stations?
>
> Will they take a hit because people will turn off radio's
> and click on their PC's?
>
> And does Arbitron account in anyway for Internet Listeners?
>
if they live in Moscow, Russia and they listen to the End online, who cares about them in the ratings? Local businesses won't buy based on out of market listenership.
 
> I was just curious what you guys thought about Entercom
> recently launching Internet Streaming on all of their
> stations and by doing so will it have any affect on the
> ratings?
>
> Will they get a bump because new people might get introduced
> to their stations?
>
> Will they take a hit because people will turn off radio's
> and click on their PC's?
>
> And does Arbitron account in anyway for Internet Listeners?
>

Thinking about it a little more, and I'd say that it *might* actually boost ratings. Arbitron does the diary or phone call, so there really is no gauge on how you listen to the station, just that the person doing the survey is putting in 'I listened to KNDD for 1 hour' into their little booklet.

On that end, it might help with people who get those and who might not normally listen to the radio, save for on their computer. Though, I don't think it would be anything monumental (or even anything more than a slight, inconsqeuential change).

Course, I'm just speculating!
 
This may be off topic, but if I was an Entercom client spending my hard-earned money on advertising, I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be about a host urging his or her listeners to listen on the Internet as opposed to their radios since the last time I checked the ads were not streamed. Maybe the number of local listeners using the Internet is negligible, but I'd still have a talk with the powers that be if I heard that discussion.

> I was just curious what you guys thought about Entercom
> recently launching Internet Streaming on all of their
> stations and by doing so will it have any affect on the
> ratings?
>
> Will they get a bump because new people might get introduced
> to their stations?
>
> Will they take a hit because people will turn off radio's
> and click on their PC's?
>
> And does Arbitron account in anyway for Internet Listeners?
>
 
> I was just curious what you guys thought about Entercom
> recently launching Internet Streaming on all of their
> stations and by doing so will it have any affect on the ratings?

Many who do this treat it much like the TV advertising or telemarking. Not really sure how much it moves the needle ... but sometimes there's a huge loss of peace-of-mind when you DON'T do it.

In any case...besides the out-of-market audience, it DOES have an impact on some places where reception is impossible but people still want their station. In the end, that means they can credit listening to the station and, at very minimum, that reinforces brand awareness and loyalty.

Whether it is worth the cost, however, is probably a case-by-case thing. Music stations have it hardest because of licensing fees. Talk sometimes also a tough one because many hosts black out affiliate streaming so they can carry the stream on their own site (Rush, I believe, still insists on this) ... so you end up with a stream of dead air (more creative folks might want to use that time to insert "best of" or whatever...??).

The whole licensing thing, while a completely reasonable issue, basically crippled much of the streaming before it ever got a serious hold. While not solely to blame, it certainly can be an "accessory to the crime" of giving satellite a chance to step in and replace some people's favorite listening habits when they COULD have been receiving the radio stream all along. If my bitterness shows, probably because I'm sick and tired of hearing record moguls and artists whine about how broke they are. Ultimately ANY exposure of an artist was probably helping awareness and CD (now download) sales. Record industry has an amazing ability to grab its own throat and push as hard as it can sometimes. Hard to want to be in the front row when they hold their own funeral.
 
> This may be off topic, but if I was an Entercom client
> spending my hard-earned money on advertising, I'm not sure
> how thrilled I'd be about a host urging his or her listeners
> to listen on the Internet as opposed to their radios since
> the last time I checked the ads were not streamed. Maybe the
> number of local listeners using the Internet is negligible,
> but I'd still have a talk with the powers that be if I heard
> that discussion.

Why don't they stream the commercials?
 
> Why don't they stream the commercials?
>
Royalty and talent fee issues was the genesis of it.

However, as times have gone on, folks have FINALLY embraced the NTR side fo things and have given a rat's arse about the internet other than showing jock pictures and bios.

Infinity launched a huge initiative sevral months ago with its talk outlets with steaming and separate commercials.
 
> > And does Arbitron account in anyway for Internet
> Listeners?
> >
>
>
> Yes it does
>

And they will account for internet listening in the diaries in the future, provided everything is a 100% simulcast, including commercials. Problem is, there's the royalty and talent fee/union crap that, by and large, prevents that.
 
About streaming commercials: I don't know what's more annoying - commercials or the eerie sound of "dead air" on an internet stream. I know some stations have tried to add alternate programming instead, such as background music, station promos, a song that isn't on the broadcast playlist, I even used to listen to a station online (KBZT San Diego) that played Spanish lessons and "hey... you never know when this might come in handy" when the local folks listened to commercials.

A while back I tuned into KNHC... they stream the underwriting messages. There's no break in the stream, so no reason for me to get up and leave just because a music set is ending. Result - increased TSL.

This got me to thinking on the issue... why not use non-union talent to voice commercials that can be played both on the air and online? Sales could tell clients of the added value of internet listeners, since they don't have to remember to write down the website address to check later, they can hear the ad, and go straight to the website.

One would also think that online ads would benefit large companies with many streaming stations, for the purpose of selling time on all stations to national brands/contracts.

Also, I wonder what would happen if Arbitron started measuring MP3 player listenership... of course, it wouldn't be possible to rate everything, but rather ask people to list the time they spend listening to their players, to underline the fact that radio needs to do something real NOW, before listenership dwindles any further.<P ID="signature">______________
If it's the "greatest music ever made," why is it <a target="_blank" href=http://kisn910.com/>relegated to AM</a> or online only?</P>
 
> This may be off topic, but if I was an Entercom client
> spending my hard-earned money on advertising, I'm not sure
> how thrilled I'd be about a host urging his or her listeners
> to listen on the Internet as opposed to their radios since
> the last time I checked the ads were not streamed. Maybe the
> number of local listeners using the Internet is negligible,
> but I'd still have a talk with the powers that be if I heard
> that discussion.

About the only streaming ads I hear on Entercom stations that I listen to (KQBZ and KISW) are ones for Comcast.
 
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