• by February 25, 2002

While the recent proposed royalty rates for Internet radio broadcasters are troublesome, Internet radio is not going away. Streaming radio stations attracted millions of new listeners in 2001, and continue to do so this year. MeasureCast, Inc. says that four of the top 10 Internet radio networks measured by MeasureCast streamed more hours during the week of Feb. 11 - 17 than they did the week prior. The Warp Radio network of on-line AM and FM stations streamed a total of 680,205 hours - up from 611,975 hours the previous week - making it the number one streaming radio network. The StreamAudio network of AM and FM stations streamed a total of 673,961 hours, up from 570,308 hours the week before. JazzFM, the number five network, streamed 308,508 hours of music over the Internet, compared to 267,458 hours the week prior. LMiV, MeasureCast's ninth-ranked network, streamed 158,869 hours, up from 150,496 hours.

Meanwhile, the MeasureCast Weekly Top 25T chart of Web radio stations (ranked by total time spent listening, or TTSL) got a new leader - JazzFM. The British broadcaster streamed 308,508 hours of music, enough to supplant Virgin Radio, which enjoyed the number one position the past four weeks. JazzFM last enjoyed the view from the top for three consecutive weeks in January.

The MeasureCast Internet Radio Listening IndexT for the week of Feb. 11 dipped four percent. Since Jan. 1, the total time spent listening (TTSL) to streaming radio stations measured by MeasureCast has increased 125%. Thirteen stations in the MeasureCast Top 25T ranking saw an increase in their total number of hours streamed (three less stations than the week before), while 17 stations saw an increase in audience size, or cume (the same as the previous week).

According to MeasureCast, 79% of all listening occurred during traditional work hours - 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific. 29% of Internet radio listeners were between the ages of 25 and 34. 58% were younger than 35, 28% were younger than 25, and 6% were older than 55. Only 31% of Web radio listeners were women. The peak listening day was Friday Feb. 15, with 18% of all listening occurring this day. 10% of the week's Internet radio listening took place over the weekend. Countries with the largest number of Internet radio listeners included Canada, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.