Small Broadcast Stations Benefit from Webcasts

The Arbitron Co. has released its first Webcast ratings report, bringing broadcast-style audience measurement to the streaming media industry.

The ratings firm determined that, in the month of October, more than 900,000 listeners tuned to 240 channels of audio programming offered by the first four streaming media servers to participate in the company’s new Internet audio ratings service.

This first InfoStream™ ratings report compiled total audience estimates and average time spent tuning during the month of October for listeners to 240 Internet audio channels being streamed by ABC Radio Networks, BroadcastMusic.com, LaMusica and Magnitude Network.

The InfoStream service determined that, for these four streaming content providers, Internet listeners spent more than 1.3 million hours listening tuned to Internet audio during the month of October. Internet listeners logged 36,000 hours tuned to the channels streamed by La Musica; 41,000 hours to BroadcastMusic.com channels; 440,000 hours to the Magnitude Network channels and 816,000 hours to the channels streamed by ABC Radio Networks.

The top three InfoStream outlets in terms of total listeners for the month of October are Texas Rebel Radio, the Magnitude Network-streamed programming of adult alternative station, KFAN-FM, of Johnson City, Texas, with 83,900 cumulative listeners; KPIG-FM, an adult alternative station, with 70,200 listeners; and KCDU-FM, an adult contemporary station based in Monterey, Calif., with 66,300 listeners.

In terms of time spent tuning, the top three Internet channels were: WJZW-FM, Washington D.C. streamed by Real Broadcast Networks, with eight hours and 26 minutes average time spent tuning; KPLA-FM, an adult contemporary station in Columbia, Mo., with six hours and 32 minutes; and WKDD-FM, an adult contemporary station in Akron, Ohio, reporting an average listening time of five hours and 26 minutes.

“This first InfoStream Report, although just a sampling of the huge online Webcast listening market, clearly indicates that small market broadcast stations are getting a big boost in audience thanks to streaming their programming on the Internet,” said Joan FitzGerald, director of marketing, Arbitron Internet Information Services. “The leading Internet radio station in our first report isn’t even in an Arbitron rated metro, yet its Webcast on Magnitude Networks posted a cumulative audience that exceeds that of many stations in top-rated metropolitan areas.”

Arbitron InfoStream Report Top 25 Cumulative Audience October 1999
URL	Format	Monthly Audience*
www.texasrebelradio.com	Album Adult Alternative	83,900
www.kpig.com	Album Adult Alternative	70,100
www.cd93.com	Modern Adult Contemporary	66,400
www.khyi.com	Country	56,700
www.klaq.com	Album Oriented Rock	55,600
www.wkpo.com	Urban Adult Contemporary	38,900
www.cd101.com	Alternative	35,000
www.radiolakeplacid.com	Album Adult Alternative	34,500
www.93x.com	Alternative	32,400
www.wbap.com	News Talk Information	30,700
www.weqx.com	Alternative	28,600
www.tomjoyner.com	Talk/Personality	26,400
abcnewsradio.com	News Talk Information	25,000
wabcradio.com	News Talk Information	23,600
www.wplj.com	Hot Adult Contemporary	21,500
www.wprd.net	Spanish Variety	21,300
www.kgoam810.com	News Talk Information	20,300
www.wlsam.com	News Talk Information	19,900
www.955klos.com	Album-Oriented Rock	19,600
www.kobc.com	Talk Personality	19,500
www.92kqrs.com	Album Oriented Rock	19,200
www.krod.com	News Talk	14,200
www.wtrr.com	Variety	13,200
www.lamega.com	Spanish Tropical	12,800
www.760wjr.com	News Talk Information	11,400
* Total cumulative audience in the month of October 1999 Source: Arbitron