Looks like there will be smiles over at AOL Radio this holiday season. They have just announced that they have upgraded their offerings and can now offer CD-quality radio streams. This is something music lovers have been waiting for — at least, I know that I have.

AOL Radio’s catalogue of stations is huge — 150 local CBS stations, 250+ AOL stations, and over 400 online radio stations all told — which means a lot of music coming through crystal clear. This is especially good news for listeners like myself who tune in while on the go via smartphone.

The AOL Radio app was one of the first apps offered when the iTunes store debuted, and has continued to stay ahead of the pack through the intervening 6 million downloads since. A consistent industry leader, it has been awarded the 2008 Apple Design Award for the Best Entertainment Application, named one of the iTunes Best of 2008 Top Free Music Apps, and making the list on Gizmodo’s 50 Essential iPhone Apps.

From the press release:

“In developing the AOL Radio App, we listened to our consumer’s feedback and created an application that would engage them in a way they couldn’t find anywhere else,” said Lisa Namerow, general manager, AOL Radio, SHOUTcast and Winamp. “Our partnership with CBS Radio has allowed AOL Radio to continue to grow, and having more than 6 million downloads and counting is further proof that AOL Radio continues to innovate in the Internet radio space. We are thrilled it’s being so well received by consumers and is a testament that the hard work of the AOL Radio and Mobile teams is really paying off.”

With a massive user-base already in place, this offering of superior quality audio should not only thrill existing users but will also attract many new ones. Since their partnership with CBS Radio was announced, the folks at AOL Radio have been consistently at the forefront of radio’s digital evolution, a trend that continues with this most recent announcement.

Image: AOL Radio logo courtesy of AOL

Real-time search is something that has been all over the news recently. Google is now running real-time results in its searches, and Twitter has been at the forefront since its inception. Since the Internet is one of the major platforms that radio is evolving onto (via streaming, social media, etc.), it only makes sense that we should look at what this might portend for our industry.

One answer may lie with a tiny UK-based start-up called RadioTuna.com. Currently tracking 20,000 online radio stations globally, it is the first application of real-time search directed specifically towards radio. There’s not a lot to go on yet, but if I see any good news pieces, I’ll post about them here or shoot links out over our Twitter.

Here is the “about” portion of their press release:

RadioTuna.com was created by three music fans who loved internet radio but were frustrated by the search for new stations. Co-founder William Jenkins said, “We built RadioTuna because we were fed up with other radio search engines. The site is kind of a cross between Spotify and Google, and it’s been likened to both.”

Beneath the cute branding and simple interface sits serious technology that captures and processes data about the music as it is played. It’s a place for fans of every genre to find out what’s going on right now, with relevant results for every artist in their 10 million-track database. No accounts, profiles or subscriptions required – just search for an artist or genre and click on a search result to start the music.

Radio has always been about discovery. Discovering new music, new talk shows, and — via advertising — new products.  As more stations extend onto the net by streaming, tools like this will help people navigate the offerings available. In some ways, it’s almost like an advanced and intelligent tuner.

As the Internet and mobile experience becomes more and more widespread and the connections become faster and faster, tools like this will become the rule rather than the exception. I’m sure Clear Channel is happy to see developments like this, especially since they already hold the largest slice of the coveted 25-54 year old Adult demographic.

Image: RadioTuna logo / Fair Use: reporting

If you’re from L.A., you probably remember Carson Daly not for his MTV exploits, but rather for his time on the air at KROQ-FM (106.7). Radio was a springboard for Daly, one that launched him high indeed.

From L.A. radio, he went on to host Total Request on MTV, one of the remaining shows that played music videos while the station focused on reality programming. In 1998, it was merged with MTV Live and re-branded Total Request Live. He remained a VJ on that program, which became MTV’s flagship show, until 2002. It even spawned a country music spin-off show on CMT.

From there, he moved on to NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly, beginning a long association with that network.

In addition to regular hosting gigs, Daly has helmed a number of prominent specials including Macy’s 4th of July Spectacular and NBC’s New Years Eve with Carson Daly. (According to the trades he’s signed on to repeat the New Years Eve show again this year. ) As if that’s not enough, he also co-founded 456 Entertainment, an independent record label. Oh yeah, and he recently had a child.

So what’s a busy and successful guy like Daly do to break new ground? He returns to the airwaves as a radio host on Morning Drive Time from 6:00 – 10:00 AM. That’s quite a turnaround as he will still be hosting Last Call, which airs at 1:35 AM. Still, come January 4, he’ll be kicking off his premiere show on 97.1 AMP Radio (KAMP).

FMQB reports Daley as saying:

“It is very exciting to be back on the airwaves doing mornings on AMP Radio and to be back in business with my friends at CBS Radio,” said Daly. “Now, not only can people fall asleep to my late night show on NBC, but they can wake up with me on the radio too. I’m thrilled to join a thriving new station in my own hometown.”

I love watching things like this come full circle, and I’m sure L.A. loves the fact that he’s returning to the airwaves!

The online world is one that radio is evolving into, embracing social media and streaming audio, among other new digital approaches. One aspect of this evolution not often touched upon is the usage of online video as part of radio’s online presence. “But wait,” you might say, “Isn’t that just TV?” No. Television is nothing but video. I’m talking about adding a video element to the existing online arsenal that stations have at their disposal.

As you might imagine, I was jazzed to find a recent article by Markell Lambright addressing this very topic. Lambright, a project manager for CBS Radio in the Digital Media Group, has implemented audio and video streaming projects for 134 radio stations. It’s always great to hear from one of the experts in this fast moving niche.

The wonderful thing is this post of his is practical. Real world experience and advice on tools to use and things to keep in mind.  Here’s an example:

[...]because most radio stations are designed for talking, they make terrible sets for video production. This means that camera placement or positioning usually is bad. In most of the studios I’ve visited, it was difficult to pull off a multi-camera shoot without getting another cameraman in the shot. In a tight space, usually one cameraman will do the trick, but to produce a quality morning show you’ll need a bit more.

What I’ve found to work well are stationary cameras that a producer can control remotely like the Sony EVI-D100. Canon and Panasonic also make small SD (standard-definition) and HD (high-definition) PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) remote cameras that can be mounted on walls, ceilings or a desk. Each camera usually requires a 12 V power source and many can be daisy-chained using VISCA control cable, which sends the pan, tilt and zoom commands to each camera.

It’s a quick read, but chock full of useful information and quick advice on technique. Anyone working at a radio station that’s considering implementing online video should bookmark this and share it with their team. As adoption of online video becomes more widespread, so will its attractiveness to advertisers. For the radio station of the future — radio in the broadband/flatscreen era — this will be an important aspect of its digital future.

Once again, here’s the link to Lambright’s RadioWorld article. My gift to you for the season: practical info!

Arbitron, Dial-Global, Premiere Radio Networks, and Westwood One are joining forces. The new collaborative initiative is geared towards improving how radio is used in Marketing Mix Models, which are used by advertisers to see how product sales are driven by differing forms of media.

MediaBuyerPlanner supplies the pertinent details:

The initiative is designed to help radio claim a larger share of marketing spend, according to Arbitron. The groups involved say the project will ensure that best practices and available data are employed when determining the value of radio to an advertiser’s potential investment, allowing advertisers to understand the link between radio and product sales.

“Premiere fully supports this long-awaited effort to improve the metrics and tools for understanding, planning and executing audio campaigns,” said Charlie Rahilly, president of the newly created National Advertising Platforms Group of Clear Channel Radio. “We’ve always known from our clients that the medium has worked. Through this initiative, we have a terrific opportunity to validate that statistically.”

More detail in the data is always a good thing. With 236 million people per week listening to radio (as reported by Radio Ink Magazine) the medium obviously retains is long-standing leverage, better and more granular statistics supporting that are needed for the modern advertising market. The establishment of best practices in gathering and analyzing that data is essential for those numbers to carry any meaning.

The four companies will be funding the initiative while they also work with leading marketing Mix companies on using the information generated to fine tune their media analysis. Every step we take in this direction is a good one. The more data we have to work with the better.  The impact and effectiveness of radio are often downplayed in certain quarters, nothing combats that sort of talk better than hard numbers.

As Arbitron’s RADAR 103 report prepares for public dissemination on December 14th, we are already getting tidbits of info from it. The same Radio Ink article listed above notes on the weekly reach of radio programming: “That’s 92.5 percent of people 12+, and includes 90 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds.”  That’s the big picture. Now it’s time for this new initiative to provide the detailed info supporting the effectiveness of that reach.

As usual, my bet is on radio!

‘Tis the season for stories of goodwill, especially during these hard times. No matter which Winter holiday you celebrate there is a common thread of the positive that they all share in common.

This year, let’s cast our glance upon Orlando, Florida. As the economic vice continued to tighten its jaws upon the city budget, it was decided that leaving the city’s Christmas decorations in storage would save them $250,000. Last November, the decision was made, and the tree lighting and attendant decor were canceled.

Enter Real Radio 104.1’s The Buckethead Show. Mark Jenkins at CFNews13 tells the tale:

The show asked listeners to donate Christmas lights, decorations and canned goods for Second Harvest Food Bank, and Saturday’s decorating turned out to be a great success.

“I wouldn’t even want to guess a number of cans for the Second Harvest Food Bank,” radio host Buckethead told News 13. “I’ve got a couple hundred in my car. So at the end of the day, not only will people be able to drive downtown Orlando and see Lake Eola all lit up, but also knowing that a lot of food went to people who need it this holiday season.”

With over 350,000 lights donated, the swarm of volunteers spent Saturday giving Orlando the red and green treatment. The Lake Eola area should now look festive for the season, bringing a little brightness to the dreary mid-winter months. I’m a child of the subtropics myself, and it rarely snows in those latitudes. The holiday feel comes entirely from the decor and the lights. It may not seem like much, but to many, it is vital to the season.

In addition to the decor and the food, they have also got one more seasonal trick up their sleeves. The show is holding a competition for the best decorated downtown business. The winner gets a plaque and a $250 donation made in their name to the charity of their choice. Seems like these guys are pretty good at the win-win, sharing holiday spirit and helping those in need at the same time. A great example of the spirit of the season.

I’m sure we will have many more stories like this; radio has a long tradition of good works during the holidays. I’ll share them as I find them.

It’s no secret that this has been a rough year for radio. It’s been a rough year for most of us across the board. Even with the skies adopting their winter gray and the bite of cold on the air, there is still something to look forward to.

BIA/Kelsey have released their Investing In Radio^® Market Report and while the revenue numbers are disheartening, they do predict an upswing down the line. The reason? Radio’s innate value combined with the leveraging of online- and mobile-oriented resources.

Via the press release on EON:

“There are many reasons we believe that radio will rebound this coming year, especially in the second half, and hold its own in the coming years,” said Mark R. Fratrik, Ph.D., vice president, BIA/Kelsey. “Among them, radio has strong brand equity in local markets, the economy is slowly coming out of recession, the industry continues to show strong listenership levels with teens and younger adults, and the possible introduction of FM radio receiving chips in cellular phones will generate both a positive image effect on radio and an increase in radio listening.” [...]

“Radio’s online assets have proven to positively impact consumer behavior,” said Rick Ducey, chief strategy officer, BIA/Kelsey. “Now radio has to extend this ability to impact consumers into its advertising efforts. Once the cross-platform model is fully embraced by sales teams, and advertisers learn how to effectively plan and buy radio’s digital and air assets, the revenue will follow.”

Ducey suggests a number of tactics radio stations could embrace ranging from increasing the array of offerings on station websites (something I will always endorse) to acting as promotional partners to other web sites.The report notes that local mobile search and local mobile video are arenas where radio could really build a strong presence. As always, the interesting part of the process comes in showing advertisers that their message can gain traction across these different media.

It’s nice to see light at the end of the tunnel and it’s reassuring to know that innovation is what will get us there. Americans are famous for being at their most inventive when pressed. Additionally, while we may be pressed by the dreary economic factors, we do have these wonderful new tools on the Internet. It may be a bit Pollyanna, but I’m optimistic about the long haul.

This is radio, after all. Remember that TV was supposed to be the end of us, too.

Image: BIA/Kelsey Logo Rights: Fair Use, Reporting

I love finding new and interesting advances in radio. It’s one of the reasons I was brought in to write this blog. Today, I have a very interesting one, although I think it may be a while before it evolves into something more than an oddity.

The device is the Flexio solar-powered radio. It’s the size and thickness of a bookmark, and runs on a self-contained solar battery. What really grabs me though is the fact that it is made by printing. That’s right, the circuits are printed onto paper along with the flexible speaker and solar cell. While the idea of printed electronics like this is something that science fiction geeks and technophiles (I am both, I’ll admit it) have been aware of for some years now, to most of the general public, this is an almost magical advance.

As one would expect, there are limitations to the device. For one thing, it can only receive one signal; there is no way as yet to print a tuner. While this seems like a major stumbling block, it actually opens the way for dedicated promotions.

The folks over at Yanko Designs seem to agree with me here:

Flexio is this really awesome radio that’s solar powered and portable. I’m willing to overlook the “only one fixed FM channel” stand for the cute little paper packaging it comes in. I’m sure the dynamics of manufacturing this are going to be reasonable, because one can even use it for promotions and gifts…like ask someone to advertise on its package. The innovative factor comes from the flexible speaker & flexible solar cell.

Designers Wu Kun-chia, Wang Shih-ju, Chen Ming-daw and Liou Chang-ho certainly deserve kudos for this little proof-of-concept gem. While this initial offering is somewhat limited, we are only looking at the beginning of its evolution. There are already rumors that it could be modified to pick up wi-fi signals, thus bringing possible Internet radio capabilities.

Take a look at the press release materials behind the “Continue Reading” link below.

 If nothing else, the Flexio gives us two things, a look at just how amazingly portable radio is becoming and a huge dose of novelty appeal. I’m sure I’m not the only one here thinking “stocking stuffer” when I see this.

Images: Flexio

Washington Research Group Concept Capital’s Paul Gallant says in a new report that chances of the Performance Rights Act passing have downgraded from a 60% likelihood to 40%. The Performance Rights Act would force radio stations to pay royalties for playing music on top of the usual array of song writer royalties that have always been paid.

This is good news, but one cannot help but look askance at it. After all, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have both approved the legislation in recent months, and a meeting was held between broadcasters and record labels to discuss a possible compromise. Both of these occurrences would seem to denote victory rather than failure for the “performance tax”. So why do we have better odds now?

FMQB boils it down to a few simple statements:

[...] why the possibility is less likely, first saying that broadcasters are doing an effective job of building opposition to the legislation. The NAB has gotten 27 Senators and 253 House members to sign a resolution opposing the Performance Rights Act. Secondly, broadcasters have gotten traction with arguments that a new fee could have damaging consequences for a large number a radio stations – particularly in a difficult advertising environment – and that a disproportionate share of endangered stations are minority-owned.

But wait, there’s more. As RadioInk observes the political angles to all this have quite an impact on these odds as well:

Gallant also notes that members of Congress are “typically more sensitive to broadcasters’ policy agenda” as elections near, and points to the leadership of new NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith, who joined the organization officially late last month. Though he notes that Smith is restricted from lobbying directly for another year, Gallant writes, “We view his stature, bipartisan reputation, and skill set as a new and positive factor for broadcasters in the radio royalty battle.”

There, now that you see the basic reasoning, it makes perfect sense. But that does not mean we in the industry can rest on our laurels; the fight isn’t over yet! In the world of politics, there is always the chance of some surprise last-minute deal or maneuver by the opposition. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), the bill’s sponsors, continue to spare no efforts to pass this potentially damaging piece of legislation.

Then there is the Local Radio Freedom Act, which is also winding its way though the halls of government. It declares that “Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings”. This piece of legislation is gaining ground and needs your support, especially now that support for the PRA seems to be waning.

You can follow both bills online easily on Open Congress:

• S.379 – Performance Rights Act – 26% of Open Congress Users Support this bill
• H.Con.Res.244 – Supporting the Local Radio Freedom Act. – 78% of Open Congress Users Support this bill

Regular blogging will resume on Monday. Go enjoy the yearly feast with those near and dear. The Radio 2020 Team wishes all the best to you and yours this holiday season!