• by Larry Dobrow , Featured Columnist, May 26, 2006

As terrestrial radio giants continue battling the pesky gnat that is satellite radio, Continental Vista Broadcasting has introduced technology to help AM and FM stations ramp up their Web operations. Taking a page from the Howard Stern playbook, the firm has rolled out iSeeRadio, which equips stations to air Web video culled from radio broadcasts.

What sets the technology apart, according to iSeeRadio vice president Kenny Fenton, is both its quality and its interactivity. “People hear ‘Web cam’ and think a new frame every 10 seconds, but we stream at 300 kbs,” Fenton notes. The iSeeRadio player boasts 14 rotating,

stamp-sized logos on its left side; click any of them and an ad launches on its right side. Bud Light recently claimed title-sponsor status for one Houston station’s Web broadcasts, now known as the “Bud Light Peep Show.”

Clear Channel stations in a handful of markets (Orlando, Fl., Austin, Texas, and Continental Vista’s hometown of Houston) have partnered with iSeeRadio. There’s some evidence that the video broadcasts are catching on with listeners; Orlando’s WXXL-FM, for example, reported a 400 percent increase in Web traffic since its iSeeRadio Web casts went live. Who said video would kill the radio star?