• by October 10, 2001

MeasureCast, Inc. reports that fans of Internet radio stations measured by MeasureCast listened to 11% more hours of programming during the week ending Sept. 30 than they did the week before, pushing the MeasureCast Internet Radio Index (Index at 265) to another all-time high. Internet radio listening has increased 165% since January.

For the week, 20 of the MeasureCast Top 25T stations saw an increase in the total time spent listening (TTSL) to their programming, while 11 webcasters attracted larger audiences.

The top terrestrial webcaster for the week was London-based Virgin Radio. The leading Internet-only webcaster was MEDIAmazing.com. New to the MeasureCast Top 25 list was WTOP-AM and FM (number 14), a Washington, D.C. News-Talk station owned by Bonneville International Corp., and streamed by the Local Media Internet Venture, or LMiV, a joint effort by several broadcasting companies to establish an industry-owned streaming radio network of local member stations.

Other facts for the week of September 24 - 30:

- 82% of all listening occurred between 5 a.m. Pacific and 5 p.m. Pacific.

- The peak listening hour was 11 a.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Eastern), with 9% of the day's listening.

- 11% of the week's TTSL occurred over the weekend.

- The peak listening day was Monday, Sept. 24, with 18% of all TTSL occurring on this day.

- The largest single age group listening to Internet radio last week: 25-34 year-olds (29%).

- 55% of listeners were under 35; 27% were younger than 25, and 6% were over 55.

- 69% of listeners were men; 31% were women.

- Top streaming nations include Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

- 33% of U.S. listeners were from the South, with the Western U.S. accounting for 29%.