Study shows listenership growing for Internet stations
Despite reports of its imminent demise, Internet radio is thriving. A study to be released by
This means that 13 percent of Americans, 12 and older, listened online last week, up 2 percentage points from last year, according to the report. This growth has taken place over a year in which new and steeply increased royalty rates have been imposed on Internet radio broadcasters, or webcasters.
Who exactly those online radio fans are and what they are listening to in detail will not be revealed until the results are finalized and the complete study, called the "Infinite Dial Report," is released in mid-April, according to Jason Hollins, vice president of the New Jersey-based Edison Media Research. The study, conducted through 1,857 telephone interviews in January and February, is the 16th the group has done; Arbitron and Edison Media Research originally began with twice-yearly studies in 1998.
Some trends are already showing up. For example, while many listeners (42 percent) use their computers to tune into the Web streams made available by traditional radio stations, slightly more (56 percent) are opting for Internet-only sources, says Diane Williams, an Arbitron senior analyst.
These numbers, says Hollins, show the growth of the medium. "If you asked that question in 1998, there just weren't that many outlets." Now, he points out, "Online radio is not just the traditional AM-FM [stations] that are being broadcast, but also Internet-only stations."
In addition, while only 24 percent of all Americans 12 and older participate in social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the number of online radio listeners with their own pages on these sites is a much higher 63 percent.
What people are tuning into online remains a mystery. "We don't get into much of the content," says Hollins. "Anecdotally, everything and anything that is available, people are listening to." The variety offered by webcasting, Hollins continues, means even the most specialized stations can find "some very niche audiences," he says. "Whether its discussions of UFOs or your basic classic-rock channel on AOL's radio offerings."
The study has found that heaviest online radio usage occurs during the day, says Hollins. That doesn't mean that people are listening only on their office computers. "We find that people are listening both in the workplace and the home," he says.
The effect of last year's decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to impose higher copyright fees on webcasters has been mixed, according to the study.
"There have been plenty of mom-and-pop sites that have not been able to stay in business because some of the fees were too steep for what they were bringing in," says Hollins.
"But what we're finding is that more and more traditional AM-FM radio groups are continuing to put their individual station streams up."
Spinning the dial
This week, "The River" WXRV-FM (92.5) launched an interactive website called Yagei (yagei.com). The site will soon offer a variety of features, says Terry Liberman, regional vice president and general manager of WXRV. In addition to streaming WXRV, the site is or will soon be hosting listener podcasts and videos, blogs, arts criticism, chats, concert broadcasts, and a social networking component. . . . Radio 92.9, formerly known as WBOS-FM, will again host EarthFest. The 15th annual free event will bring music and family activities to the Hatch Shell on May 24, with a full lineup to be announced next month. 