Top Internet Broadcasters Show Significant Audience Gains According to Arbitron Internet Broadcast Ratings
Average Quarter-Hour published for the first time
NEW YORK, April 15, 2004 The top five Internet Broadcasters, AOLs Radio@Network, Yahoo!s LAUNCHcast, Live365, Musicmatch and Virgin Radio, had an average audience increase of over 30 percent between June 2003 and February 2004, as measured by Arbitron Internet Broadcast Ratings.
The combined monthly Cume, the total number of unique users that listened for five minutes or more during the month, increased for these broadcasters from a June 2003 total of 8,034,793 to a February 2004 total of 10,644,450. These ratings reflect an average overall increase of 32 percent.
Arbitron Internet Broadcast Services is also publishing for the first time the common broadcast measurement known as Average Quarter-Hour (AQH). AQH is the average number of users listening to a station or network for at least five minutes during a given fifteen minute interval. The Average Quarter-Hour audience is based on listening that occurred Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time. The sum of the Average Quarter-Hour audience for these broadcasters in June 2003 was 159,547 AQH and by February 2004 it had increased 30 percent to 207,440.
AOLs Radio@Networks Average Quarter-Hour rating in June 2003 was 67,698 and reached 78,910 AQH by February 2004, a 17 percent increase. Their Cume advanced from 3,515,790 to 4,346,765, a 24 percent boost.
"Over the past year we've focused on providing best-of-breed programming and deploying cutting-edge technology to ensure optimal sound quality and the best listening experience," said Evan Harrison, Vice President and General Manager of AOL Music and the AOL Radio@Network. "Our dramatic growth particularly among our members on AOL for Broadband is really a testament to how far Internet radio has come as a whole. As the rapid adoption of broadband increases the opportunities for this exciting medium are virtually limitless."
Yahoos LAUNCHcast radio service had the largest increase in tuning, going from a 48,377 AQH in June 2003 to 73,694 AQH by February 2004, a 52 percent surge. Their Cume went from 1,450,801 to 2,783,733, a 92 percent jump.
"With LAUNCHcast, we have given consumers an innovative music experience that helps them to discover new music and artists, while listening to their favorite songs," said David Goldberg, vice president and general manager, Music, Yahoo!. "Over the past few years we have seen tremendous growth in audience, and as our users continue to increase and spend more time listening to music, LAUNCHcast will become an increasingly attractive vehicle for advertisers."
Live365 broadcasts over 15,000 independently programmed Internet radio stations and had a June 2003 AQH of 24,913. That number increased to 28,487 AQH by February 2004, a 14 percent gain. Their Cume increased from 1,567,685 to 1,610,689, a 3 percent lift.
"Live365 believes that the industry is finally poised to attract serious advertising dollars. In the past year, we have taken strategic steps to restrict the growth of our audience in order to keep streaming costs in line with revenues, said Rags Gupta, COO, Live365. Despite this, we have remained the third-largest network with one of the industrys highest average time spent listening figures - a testament to the quality of our programming. We now look forward to working with advertisers and partners to once again allow our audience to grow."
Musicmatch, Arbitrons top-ranked non-commercial broadcaster, had a 14,957 AQH in June 2003 and grew to 22,168 AQH by February 2004, a 48 percent jump. Their Cume went from 1,275,972 to 1,631,018, a 28 percent increase.
"Musicmatch has a deep understanding of what people want to hear and are actively listening to online, which has kept Musicmatch at the top in Internet radio usage the past several years," said Christopher Allen, senior vice president of marketing and strategic planning at Musicmatch. "As digital music software and services become more personalized, compelling and easy to access, music fans are mixing their active usage and passive listening habits more often. Our customers are listening to quality online radio that allows them to download and purchase songs they hear in just two clicks, or research artists further. An integrated music jukebox takes Internet radio so much further to deliver a true music experience to consumers."
Virgin Radio, Arbitrons top British broadcaster, had a June 2003 AQH of 3,602 and that grew to 4,181 AQH by February 2004, a 16 percent gain. Their Cume went from 224,545 to 272,245, a 13 percent rise.
Two advertising sales organizations currently represent a majority of the Internet radio audience measured by Arbitron Internet Broadcast Services. The Adsertion Network (www.adsertion.com) consists mostly of traditional radio stations simulcasting over the Internet. In addition to selling online broadcast commercial inventory, they also offer scheduling and traffic services. Ronning Lipset Radio (www.rlradio.com) represents the broadcast commercial inventory for AOL, Yahoo and Live365 among others.
Arbitron ended its current method for measuring Internet radio broadcasts in March 2004. Arbitron is exploring new services for Internet broadcasters designed to be better aligned with the needs of the market and to help bring Internet broadcasting into advertisers media plans. Arbitron will also continue to monitor the growth of the audience through its trademark industry studies. Internet and Multimedia 12: The Value of Internet Broadcast Advertising was released in March.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Arbitrons core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The Company is developing the Portable People Meter, a new technology for radio, television and cable ratings.
Arbitrons marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 850 full-time employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU, Inc., Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper, outdoor and online industries.
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