WTOP's stream -- 100% simulcast

[wadio]

dcrtv.com reported on 12/12 that DC's WTOP will "quit plugging in different ads to the online stream, which has kept the stream from being a true simulcast." (Someone across town posted this item but there were no replies.)

I think this is a huge deal! The practice of splitting content is the unfortunate result of greedy union demands that talent should receive triple-scale for ads simulcast on the Internet.

I prefer the superior sound quality of online streaming to AM terrestrial but there are severe tradeoffs. For example, when I listen to WOR in the morning I have to suffer through stop-sets of stale "features" by Joy Browne and The Car Doctor. While listening to Noem Laydon's 5 am news hour on WABC, Scott Solado's actualities are MIA ... they're apparently on a channel on the board that isn't fed to the stream. Breaks aren't timed correctly, audio levels are all over the place ... I could go on ... but the bottom line is that Internet streams are a poor representation of what a station really sounds like, and it shouldn't be that way.

Kudos to WTOP for going against the grain! I don't know how they're getting away with it, but I truly hope they succeed.

Thoughts?

 

[nd2023]

This allows them to combine their stream listening and over-the-air listening in one entry in the ratings.

I hope Clear Channel forces the unions to allow their ads to be streamed. They are big enough to have their way.

Streaming a 100% simulcast will eventually become necessary as Internet streaming gets a bigger chunk of radio listening.

 

[hubcity]

I never "got" the union's argument on that. Can anyone summarize? Is there anything about it that actually makes sense? The upshot of it is that union talent gets zero additional exposure (for no additional work) - was that really the goal?

(Similarly, if the RIAA gets its way and manages to slap a performance royalty on radio in return for the indignity of having radio promote the RIAA's products, say goodbye to music radio.)