[BC] Can technology create a significant revenue source for radio?

[Alex Hartman]

I say mob mentality. Broadcasters did it once before with ASCAP/BMI/SESAC... do it again with soundexchange. Like i said, there's no real provisions in the contract for broadcasters, they're all targeting internet-only stations. So broadcasters get lumped into the same category.

The hard part in the online arena is competition. With the likes of  Pandora and Live365, you better have a product that neither of those guys can provide. Be it local sports, local news, podcasts of school closings (don't laugh! it makes money around here!), etc... These are the things that the others CANNOT provide. Sure the web can do it, but i know of several mobile devices that handle podcasts, but can't deal with plain old HTML.

That's really the only edge the broadcaster has, local local local. I work for a college radio station, i recently turned on a secondary stream for pure sports. It's also recording the live shows for replay later in the week, and we schedule them out on the website for people who want to hear the replay, after the replay, we podcast it. It sounds like a lot of work, but in reality, i'm recording it once, predefining it in my schedule, and after the replay, the computer uploads it to iTunes for me. It's really not that bad. With a dedicated sports stream, i can sell "underwriters" all over it. I can sell the live event to the jaycees, and then i can sell the replay to the local pepsi distributor. All the while not even touching my main on-air signal. The thing just sits there and makes money. And since it's all LOCAL ORIGINATION CONTENT, no royalties are paid. Pretty slick. :)

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Alex Hartman

On Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Barry Mishkind <barry at oldradio.com> wrote:
>According to the study, nearly a third of all respondents said streaming was the best chance
>to increase revenue.

>Of course, what are the choices in the question?

>Perhaps the discussion should ask, what other new technologies are not
>being addressed in the question?   (Not old technologies, but things
>broadcasters aren't doing that they have never done.)

>Or is the answer to the subject line: "there are no options"  ?

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