• by April 2, 2002

MeasureCast, Inc. today reported that Webcasters streamed more hours of on-line radio programming during the week of March 18 than they did the previous week, despite the recent controversy surrounding royalty fees recommended by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP).

The MeasureCast Internet Radio Listening Index for the week of March 18 - 24 rose 8%, this after a 5% rise the week before. The total time spent listening to streaming radio stations measured by MeasureCast has increased 495% since January 2001, and 79% since Jan. 6 of this year. Furthermore, the top 10 Internet radio networks for the week of March 18 streamed a combined total of 4,431,731 programming hours - 396,751 more hours than the top 10 networks delivered the week prior.

More Women Tune in to Internet Radio

While the majority of people listening to Internet radio stations are men, more women are discovering the joys of streaming radio. Last March, MeasureCast reported that only 28% of Web radio listeners were women. That number rose to 31% during the week of March 18. MeasureCast is seeing other demographic changes, as well. For example, in March 2001, 85% of all Internet radio listening took place during traditional work hours - 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific. This month, that figure has dropped to 76%, indicating that more people may be tuning in to Web radio broadcasts from home.

Other demographic highlights for the week of March 18:

11% of the week's Internet radio listening took place over the weekend.

The peak listening day was Thursday, March 21, with 19% of all listening occurring this day.

28% of Internet radio listeners were between the ages of 25 and 34.

57% were younger than 35, 28% were younger than 25, and 7% were older than 55.

The countries with the largest number of Internet radio listeners listening to stations measured by MeasureCast include Canada, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the U.S., 31% of listeners resided in the South, while 30% were in the West.

MeasureCast Top 25 Stations

Virgin Radio secured the top spot in the MeasureCast Top 25T ranking for the third consecutive week. During the week of March 18, the British Webcaster streamed 309,801 hours of programming. Clear Channel Worldwide-owned JazzFM won second place by streaming 207,380 hours. A year ago this week, MEDIAmazing.com claimed the top spot in the MeasureCast Top 25 chart. It streamed 97,322 hours to an audience of 29,180. In the most recent MeasureCast ranking, MEDIAmazing came in sixth by streaming 67,452 hours to 45,643 people. The listener-formatted Internet radio station recently switched from a free service to a subscription service in light of the recent CARP proposals.

Top Internet Radio Networks

The Clear Channel Worldwide network of on-line radio stations continued its reign as the number one on-line radio network, based on the total number of hours streamed. Its 198 streaming AM and FM stations delivered 1,049,077 hours. The second most-listened-to streaming radio network was Warp Radio. Its 169 AM and FM stations streamed a total of 633,763 hours.