Why doesn't Victoria stations stream?

[jras20]

Victoria radio stations should get with the times, there are good stations, I wish they would be on tune in. Like KITE, KVIC KBAR? It's funny 99.9 KTXM A small town Hallettsville station even has tune in.

 

[Anonymouse]

Victoria radio stations should get with the times, there are good stations, I wish they would be on tune in. Like KITE, KVIC KBAR? It's funny 99.9 KTXM A small town Hallettsville station even has tune in.

LOL, it all depends on whether the station wants to be listed in TuneIn or not. Also, many stations are probably in the apps without their knowledge as anyone can freely add stations to the TuneIn platform if they have the station's streaming link.
True, some stations probably don't stream. But many do!

 

[Kent]

As I understand it, KITE, KVIC and KBAR are owned by John Barger, and he doesn't want to pay the royalties and engage in the record keeping needed to stream a signal. I seem to remember Barger saying he wasn't opposed to streaming if the fees and record keeping were more reasonable, but he doesn't think the current costs make it worth his while.

 

[Chuck]

As I understand it, KITE, KVIC and KBAR are owned by John Barger, and he doesn't want to pay the royalties and engage in the record keeping needed to stream a signal. I seem to remember Barger saying he wasn't opposed to streaming if the fees and record keeping were more reasonable, but he doesn't think the current costs make it worth his while.

He is not completely wrong. SoundExchange charges stations on a per listener - per song basis. It really adds up. On top of that their song reporting requirements require quite a bit of administration to properly report, which must be done every month. Very few stations make any money from their streaming efforts, yet the costs can be substantial if your station is popular. Sometimes I wonder why I bother to do it. I can understand his point of view.

 

[jras20]

Well being in a market like Austin, I'm glad I have tune in. I have it on my phone. I can hear classic country as well as new music. And not the same old tired playlist over and over.

 

[Chuck]

Well being in a market like Austin, I'm glad I have tune in. I have it on my phone. I can hear classic country as well as new music. And not the same old tired playlist over and over.

From a listener's point of view, streaming opens up a lot of new sources for entertainment. From a local broadcaster's point of view, very few have figured out how to make it pay for itself. It is flattering to have out of market listeners, but they contribute nothing to the bottom line.

For instance, you can listen to my radio station (KZQX) on TuneIn Radio, itunes or many other Internet radio sites. You can also visit our web site to listen. Quite a few do every day, from over the world. While you might enjoy listening, it actually costs me money for you to do it. I'm OK with that, but the reality is none of my sponsors (who are local East Texas businesses) really care if someone in Austin, Texas or Phuket, Thailand is listening. Those listeners probably aren't going to travel to Longview to buy tires, furniture, or to experience one of our local restaurants. Therefore our sponsors aren't willing to pay extra to be on our web stream. From a business point of view, streaming hasn’t reached a tipping point to really make it viable for small broadcasters. If the royalty situation is ever resolved in favor of broadcasters, that could change, but it’s the way things are right now.