• by December 14, 2000

Arbitron announced yesterday that its September Webcast Ratings measures over an unprecedented 1,000 webcast channels.

In September, NetRadio (www.netradio.com), an Internet-only webcaster streamed by Akamai and iBeam Broadcasting, occupied seven of the top 10 spots. NetRadio's "80s Hits" (www.netradio.com) ranked number one with 248,600 Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) - the sum total of all hours that listeners tune to a given channel during a month.

Claiming the number four spot was heavy metal lifestyle community channel KNAC (www.knac.com) streamed by Akamai and Enigma Digital with 213,000 ATH. International webcaster Virgin Radio (www.virginradio.com), streamed by Ginger Online, ranked number nine with 191,300 ATH. The top ranked U.S. radio station streaming audio online was WABC-AM's webcast channel (www.wabcradio.com), streamed by RealBroadcast Networks, ranked number ten with 188,000 ATH.

A new BroadcastAmerica channel, Radio Margaritaville (www.radiomargaritaville.com), streamed by BroadcastAmerica and RealBroadcast Networks, was ranked number 23 with 96,000ATH. This Internet-only channel gives streamies - or people who listen streaming audio online- a daily dose of Jimmy Buffett tunes. "Thanks to all the Parrotheads out there for making Radio Margaritaville one of the top audio channels on the Internet," said, Singer/song writer Jimmy Buffett.

Internet-only Groove Radio (www.grooveradio.com), streamed by Enigma Digital and Akamai, had the largest increase in ATH. In fact, the Electronica Web channel nearly doubled its monthly listenership in September with 182,300 from 98,700 ATH in August.

"Enigma Digital focuses on programming that is not available through traditional broadcast radio," said J.P. Clement, VP of marketing , Enigma Digital. "We develop programming, such as KNAC.com Pure Rock and Groove Radio, that reaches an audience that is crucial to advertisers but not easily reached using traditional media."

"With webcast channels like Radio Margaritaville, KNAC.com Pure Rock, and Groove Radio, Internet-only audio continues to consistently grow, providing programming that people want to hear," said Joan FitzGerald, director of marketing and research & development, Arbitron Webcast Ratings. "These results reflect the findings from our latest Internet study, which showed that listening online has tripled in the last two years and that people who consume streaming media are a highly desirable consumer segment."

Arbitron Webcast Ratings currently measures over 1,000 stations and channels, representing over 11 million Aggregate Tuning Hours in the month of September.