Introducing Infinite Radio

Peter Ha over at CrunchGear has very definite opinions about a new radio that’s just hitting the market:

The standard alarm clock radio I owned as a kid is an archaic POS compared to Acoustic Research’s Infinite Radio.

It’s easy to see why he thinks so once you start looking at the specs on the new radio. The capabilities of the Infinite Radio are compelling. This device is truly the radio for a wired household: It can stream FM and AM band content, recording up to 10 hours of it while doing so; it ties directly into Slacker Personal Radio, pulls weather reports from WeatherBug, and boasts USB and Ethernet connectivity in addition to being wireless.

Darren Murph at EnGadget brings us the following quote:

“In keeping with the AR commitment to quality and technology, we wanted to cut the tether to the PC and bring the vast Internet radio listening experience into other rooms of the home in a way unmatched by any other competitive product,” said Tom Malone, president, Audiovox Electronics Corporation. “We added customization and content partners that will bring consumers an enhanced level of enjoyment available exclusively in the AR Infinite Radios.”

These days, it’s always about breaking away from the restriction of wires (just look at the mobile market). Thus, the timing is great for a new gadget that separates Internet radio from the desktop computer, and puts it back on your nightstand (or office desk).

What I really enjoy about this product is how it brings together broadcast and Internet-based radio while detaching from the computer. I think that we will see adoption accelerate when these new technologies free themselves from the association with desktop machines. Even in this digital age there are many who shy away from computers for one reason or another. Something like this, which combines the familiar nightstand clock radio with 21st-century access to content, is a terrific first step in bridging that divide.

Oh yeah, on a final note, you can access your MP3 library on it as well. The new model (coming soon) will include an actual iPod dock.

Photo courtesy of Dana Spiegel, used under its Creative Commons license.

Tribal Radio: Approved by the FCC

A new flavor of radio will be hitting the FM dial thanks to the Federal Communications Commission — Native American Radio — brought to the airwaves by the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Appearing at 105.9 on the FM dial the as-yet-unnamed station will be a 7.3 kilowatt broadcast, and is expected to go live later in 2009.  The Seneca Nation is investing over $250,000 in construction and other startup costs. Initially, live broadcasts will be limited to a few hours a day, but the long-term plan is the 24/7 programming. If all goes according to plan the signal should cover the area stretching from western New York to northern Pennsylvania. The physical location of the station is yet to be determined.

The content is slated to be a mix of Seneca-pertinent programming, music, and non-Seneca-specific newscasts. There will be both local and satellite-fed announcers.  In addition, there is an interesting note: this will be a commercial radio station. The Seneca Nation is already planing on selling ads in order to offset some of the operational expenses.

Via BizJournals:

“This broadcasting asset will be a tremendous asset to the nation in terms of outreach to neighboring communities,” said Barry Snyder, Seneca Nation president. “This will establish a strong and positive voice for the Seneca Nation.”

Richard Nephew, Seneca Nation council chair, said developing a station has been in the tribe’s pipeline for more than 20 years. [...]

The station is owned by Seneca Broadcasting LLC, a 100 percent, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

I, for one, and looking forward to checking out their programming later this year.

Image courtesy of striatic, used under its Creative Commons license.

Radio in the Internet Age, Brazilian Style!

While sorting through the news to find the subject of today’s roundup I found a terrific article on CNN’s website. The opening lines immediately endeared it to me:

In the age of digital audio, what does good old-fashioned radio still have to offer?

Plenty, according to the creators of RadarCultura, a community-based Web site and a daily three-hour AM radio program broadcast from Brazil’s São Paulo.

“Radio is ‘now,’” says 22-year-old Brazilian André Avorio, who implemented the Web site.

“[Radio] is generally quick and live. This adds a special dynamic to the medium. Moreover, it is still one of the most popular means of mass communication in Brazil. Combining it with the power of the Internet can result in many new possibilities.”

This is another beautiful example of the convergent evolution of radio and Internet. The parallels between the two are becoming more and more interesting in this new age of microblogging and text messages. The real time immediacy of radio is finally beginning to happen on the Internet, and these folks are pulling the two together. In addition to the three hours a day that the show is on the air the staff also blog, Twitter, and moderate their online community.

They have even enacted a policy that I was speculating about on this blog early last year: the entirety of their streaming content is released under a Creative Commons license. As our own battles with the RIAA over music broadcast  royalties continue I’m sure that we will see this happening more often, but as far as I can determine at present they were the first to do so.

The radio show and website are a project of The Padre Anchieta Foundation which possesses the largest known archive of Brazilian music in Brazil (over 15,000 songs from the 1920′s to the present day).  Add to that the technical innovations that the show is embracing (CoverItLive, Drupal, Archive.org, etc.), and we are looking at the birth of a powerhouse.

Go check out the Cherise Fong’s article, it goes much more in depth than I have room to do here, and paints a very interesting picture of radio’s potential in 21st-century Brazil. What do you think we here in the states could take away from this?

Image courtesy of DavidDennisPhotos.com, used under its Creative Commons license.

HD Is Booming With One Thousand Multicasts

HD Radio continues to gain ground, bringing multicast content to nearly 2,000 stations across the country. This was made especially evident last Wednesday, March 18, when the three-year-old HD Radio Alliance (one of the sponsors of this blog) announced some terrific news.

According to the announcement, not only are there now 1,000 multicast stations being broadcast over the airwaves but there are also 100 SKU’s available at the retail level. The combination of additional content, often including niche content that appeals to a particular target audience, and additional receivers is a boon to the medium.

Via Radio Online:

“The 1,000 multicast and 100 SKU milestones are significant on many levels — broadcasters are continuing to see the value in offering additional content, stakeholders are seeing that radio and electronic manufacturers have fully embraced the radio digital revolution, and consumers now have more format choices on the dial and receiver models than ever before,” said Founder and Strategic Advisor Peter Ferrara.

“In this economic environment, being able to receive all these extra stations around the country for free is immensely appealing,” said Alliance President Diane Warren. “With receivers available for every personal taste and with innovative multicast stations on-air, HD Radio’s future is bright.”

It has been interesting watching HD evolve to this point. It seems like the 2008 NAB Show was only yesterday, but this year’s is only a few weeks away. It was at the last year’s show that announcements were made that dropped the price of adoption significantly. Since then, it seems that a steady growth has occurred leading to the announcement of these new hallmarks.

Since last year alone, the industry came a long way, in many ways. Automakers across the board have adopted HD into their product lines, including Audi, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, MINI, Scion, and Volvo. Receivers are being produced by every major manufacturer including Alpine, Dual, Insignia, and Kenwood, among others. Just go anyplace that sells electronics, particularly the big-box stores, and you will find the gear.

While still young in comparison to traditional radio, HD seems to be gaining ground. Here’s hoping that we will see more milestones announced as 2009 progresses.

Photo courtesy of James Cridland, used under its Creative Commons license.

And Now, Your Host: “Hot Rod” Blagojevich

Embattled former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich will be the host of a radio show on WLS-AM in Chicago from 7 to 9 AM this Wednesday, March 25. The station usually airs the “Don Wade & Roma Morning Show” in that time slot, but while the regular hosts are away, the energetic and controversial politician will be at the mic taking calls from listeners.

WLS-AM’s Program Director, Bob Shomper, said that it would be a “one-shot” deal, not a regular show. According to the Chicago Tribune the station had made an offer to Blagojevich back in January to helm a new talk show if he stepped down as governor.  Shortly after declining that offer he was ousted from his position by lawmakers and is currently facing multiple corruption charges on a federal level, including trying to sell President Obama’s recently vacated Senate seat. Mr. Blagojevich still maintains his innocence.

From the statement released by the Blagojevich publicist:

“He’s excited about hosting,” said Glenn Selig, Blagojevich’s publicist and founder of The Publicity Agency.  “He’s ready for the challenge and promises to be a fair interviewer.  He’ll also be tough when he needs to be. He’s a talented communicator.”

“Broadcasters and the public were witness to his talent when he went national to tell his side of the story,” said Selig. “He thinks fast on his feet, is energetic and knows how to speak about complicated subjects so that anyone can understand what he’s saying.”

It will be very interesting to see what happens not only with this “one shot” but also with what may follow. Blagojevich is already working on a book, for which it is rumored the advance alone was over six figures. I have a feeling that radio will continue to be on his radar. If he wins his current legal battles we might end up hearing him among the other talk radio pundits.

Photo courtesy of RichieC, used under its Creative Commons license.

WBEB-FM Drops Its Internet Stream

The battle between radio and SoundExchange has been going on for many months now, and the new rate tiers are in. While the agreement provides a 16 percent discount on previously-set rates for 2009 and 2010,  they then jump by nearly 67 percent over the five years following. In response, WBEB-FM, a top tier Adult Contemporary station, took down its Internet stream in the middle of last month. According to the station owner Jerry Lee, up to half the revenue generated by the station’s streaming broadcast would go straight to SoundExchange, a situation he deemed unacceptable.

Question is, will the short-term savings be worth opting out of what most in the industry deem to be the future of radio? This is especially true when you look at the recent rise of Internet-enabled mobile phones. Recent efforts by Clear Channel Communication, for instance, have shown streaming to already make up over 10 percent of its audience, and the numbers continue to grow.

Via MediaWeek:

“Our streaming audience has grown 17 percent last year compared to 2007,” said Evan Harrison, President of online radio and Executive VP for CCR.

Just last week, CCR’s iheartradio iPhone application hit one million downloads. CBS Radio/AOL Radio has seen comparable station audience growth; the number of downloads for iPhone application has surpassed three million.

“You can’t tell listeners where to go. We need to be everywhere our listeners are,” Harrison said. “Within a couple of years, I think half our listening will take place on a combination of mobile and Internet. The pie is being reshaped.”

Of course, as we continue to develop metrics for measuring audience and new ideas for monetizing the content, it must be admitted that both of these lag behind the simple widening of audience. Still, CCR’s online advertising efforts are quoted by some sources as accounting for up to 5 percent of its total $3.3 billion in generated revenue.

Each company will have to make its own decision about streaming. Personally, I believe that it is the future. Increasingly people demand to consume media when, where, and how they want to. In the age of time-shifting radio must be prepared to meet the audience on its terms.

What are your thoughts?

Photo courtesy of KaCey97007, used under its Creative Commons license

PPM Reaches Mobile-Exclusive Households

It is no secret that cell phones, smartphones in particular, are the new frontier for radio. The ability to reach an audience that is always “on the go” through their cell phones is one of the recognized importance — just Google around a bit if you don’t believe me.

Like with all incarnations of radio (and all media in general, for that matter), once you’ve figured out a way to reach the new demographic the next hurdle to overcome is audience measurement. Recently Arbiton unveiled a new approach to harvesting data thanks to a deal reached with Telular Corporation, a leading wireless communications company.

Using fixed cellular terminals produced by Telular, Arbitron plans to collect listening info from those who lack landlines, particularly the “millennials.” By connecting these terminals to Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) the company hopes to obtain a cost-effective and reliable way to transmit audience measurement data across cell networks.

Via FoxBusiness:

“Telular’s terminals allow us to cost-effectively use the latest wireless technology to collect radio ratings data from the hard-to-reach mobile-exclusive demographics,” said Beth Webb, Vice President, Research, Arbitron. “The Terminals are helping us increase participation among the young and ethnic radio listeners who live in cell-phone-only households.”

Telular’s fixed cellular solutions bridge the gap between analog and digital communications, providing continuous connectivity to locations where a traditional phone line has been disrupted, removed or non-existent. [...] This wireless solution will act as a connection in homes with no landlines, allowing Arbitron to quickly and efficiently download information gathered by the PPMs.

“It’s exciting to see companies like Arbitron using innovative technology to reach households that have chosen to cut their telephone line, either to save money or because cell phones are all they need,” said Joe Beatty, President and CEO of Telular.

As part of the aforementioned mobile-exclusive demographic I am pleased to see efforts like these. Gathering accurate info is always of paramount importance, and the cell phone-only home is becoming more common every day.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Celera, used under its Creative Commons license

Widgets for Public Radio!

Public Radio International is getting widget-ized! As of last Wednesday, March 18, you can download NewsGator-powered widgets that allow users to embed Public Radio content on websites, social networks, or blogs. Using the widgets a blogger or webmaster can embed audio or news streams from Public Radio to enhance the existing content. Widgets are available now via the PRI site.)

Brian Heater at AppScout reports:

The media organization has produced a number of themed widgets, including Economic Security, Global Health and Development, and Social Entrepreneurship.

“We want to be where our audience is, reach new audiences, and give everyone the option of listening to the PRI content they want on-demand,” said PRI executive VP, Cory Zanin of the new apps.

Now, for the web-savvy, any of this content could be pulled into a site via RSS feed, but having the widgets out there makes it as easy as cut-and-paste. Since the widgets are also official they remove potential issues of copyright that may come up when capturing a syndication feed.

All in all I would say this is a good thing, something that more commercial stations should consider. The objective is to be where the listeners are, that’s why I love it when Jeff Haley speaks about the importance of mobile to the future of radio.  Widgets like this can allow branded programming to spread as far as the audience base. I know that I will be adding widgets for the New Orleans-based stations to my personal blog as soon as they become available…

Photo courtesy of kurtthomashunt, used under its Creative Commons license

Urban and Hispanic Radio: Engaged and Exclusive!

Radio One regional VP Doug Abernathy is a veteran.  He’d seen firsthand the casualties sustained at the ratings level when his leading Houston-based radio stations dropped like rocks, when he converted from the old-fashioned diary method to the Portable People Meter (PPM). That was in June of last year.

In the intervening year the stations in question, Urban Adult Contemporary KMJQ-FM and Urban KBXX-FM, have been working hard to adjust their strategies based on the new ratings technology. Their course has been educational, and surprising.

Barry Fischer, Executive VP of McGavren Guild Media, which consults with Hispanic Radio, used the PPM data to validate that, according to Fischer, Hispanic stations as a whole have delivered a total of national radio cume of 7.2 – 7.6 million. He said, “Our story is not that dramatically different. Our strategy revolves around that and selling an audience that is engaged.”

Via MediaWeek:

Abernathy declared “over” the practice of advertisers using general market stations to reach black audiences and said a huge opportunity exists “to sell the exclusivity that we always thought we had and can now demonstrate. Urban and Hispanics are the most loyal audiences and you can’t get them through other stations.”

Fischer echoed the notion saying that advertisers are better off zeroing in on a smaller, more engaged audience. “Would you rather advertise on an urban or Hispanic stations that is culturally relevant, out in the community doing events that engage that audience or on a general market station that doesn’t?”

I find it interesting that this mirrors the approach many people take while using the Internet for posting content — aiming for high impact, narrower markets (while the conventional wisdom of the web, that no matter how narrow the niche there is an audience, is not quite as extreme in the world of traditional broadcast). Of course, there is the pesky little fact that radio’s evolution dictates being on the net…

Photo courtesy of Aoife city womanchile

TuneKast: A Monetized Mobile Radio Platform

Just recently I wrote a bit about increased radio listenership in households that only have cell phones. Today I would like to share some info about the solution that goes hand in hand with those numbers — TuneKast.

With more and more households foregoing landline telephones it behooves us as an industry to embrace mobile listeners, a demographic now shown to listen to more radio per week than others. In this modern age, it is all about reaching the audience where they wish to be reached. TuneKast, powered by the AirKast mobile media platform, enables stations to bring their live broadcasts to mobile listeners as an integrated solution, opening a window to millions of listeners.

But wait, there’s more! Via the BusinessWire press release:

TuneKast is available to radio stations as an integrated solution extending to mobile devices its live broadcast feed and programming, all without software or hardware installation. After a simple setup, radio stations can provide listeners with more information about broadcasted content, including songs, newscasts or talk shows. The radio stations’ advertisers are able to reach listeners in multiple media formats, including audio, graphic display and even video ads. Through TuneKast, radio stations can now leverage opportunities to expand into new revenue distribution channels, offering advertisers features and accountability beyond in-stream audio ads to include mobile impressions, on-demand audio and video experiences.

“Rather than building simple mobile radio players, we invested the time and effort to consult with top radio executives to understand their business and strategies for monetizing content on mobile devices,” said Larry Leung, AirKast’s chief executive officer. “Working closely with leading digital radio services providers, TuneKast now enables radio groups the ability to generate additional and new revenues by provisioning, managing and monitoring their advertisers’ messages in the form of audio injection, mobile display ads and pre-roll gateways videos in conjunction with their live mobile broadcast.”

The whole thing is enabled by a partnership with Ando Media, an ad insertion and in-stream metrics reporting firm. Stations are able to schedule and traffic ads for in-stream audio, mobile impressions, and video ads through a central manages interface, simplifying the process as well as speeding it up.

I’m sure that ears are perking up across the country now that a mobile oriented option for enhancing relationships and generating revenue has appeared. Like with all the new fangled approaches only time will tell how truly functional and relevant it will be, but it does have the distinction of being the first of its kind.

Image courtesy of AirKast