• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 20, 2009

Deals in the online radio arena keep on coming, regardless of the sour economy, along with more good news about the medium's future. In the latest round, TargetSpot announced that it has added 10 new online networks to its list of partners, including the Web operations of several large broadcast radio groups.

The TargetSpot announcement comes not long after an SNL Kagan report forecasting continuing rapid growth in online radio revenues, and an Arbitron survey showing big increases in audience size.

The new networks added by TargetSpot include the Web sites of 29 radio stations owned by the Bonneville International Corp. in eight markets around the country. The first to join TargetSpot's network are KSWD in Los Angeles and the company's St. Louis stations, its flagship properties.

Also joining are Saga Communications, with stations in 23 markets nationwide; Wilks Broadcast Group, with 21 stations throughout the west and Midwest; and Mapleton Communications, with 40 stations concentrated on the West Coast.

TargetSpot also signed up Reach Media, which broadcasts the Tom Joyner show in 115 markets around the country; AMS Interactive, which owns www.theradio.com; and 977 Music, an online radio portal that hosts dozens of streaming audio channels. With these additions, TargetSpot now represents over 1,000 stations, which also include the online platforms of CBS Radio, Entercom, Yahoo and AOL.

In October, TargetSpot acquired Ronning Lipset Radio, retaining founders Eric Ronning and Andy Lipset as co-presidents of sales. After the acquisition, TargetSpot was about 40% larger than its closest competitor -- Katz Online Network -- in terms of audience reach, with about 15.3 million unique listeners in December 2008.

Online radio in general is booming, according to the recent "Infinite Dial" report from Arbitron and Edison Research, which recently found that 42 million Americans over the age of 12 were listening to radio during an average week -- more than double the 2005 figure of 20 million, and up 27% from 33 million in 2008.

That means online radio currently reaches about 17% of Americans over the age of 12, up from about 8% in 2005 and 13% in 2008.

Separately, SNL Kagan's "Radio/TV Station Annual Outlook" noted the continuing strong growth of online radio revenues at a number of big radio groups, with growth rates of 20% to 30% in many markets, and triple-digit percentage growth at some broadcast groups.

However, SNL Kagan also noted that online revenues typically make up less than 10% of broadcasters' total revenues. Thus, in 2008, the Radio Advertising Bureau reported that "off-air" revenues, which include online, came to about $1.8 billion, compared with total radio revenues of about $19.5 billion.