This is going to be a quick look at Triton Digital Webcast Metric's September release, and a just-as-quick comment about a radio industry research company. The latter refers to Harker Research and comments made on its Radio Insights web site.

The items on our Webcast Metrics' list are now standard, and boring. Pandora is on top. Clear Channel is acting like it's making huge inroads into online listening (with no supporting numbers), and there are comments being made by people who don't have the technical knowledge to be commenting.

You'll find the last item (above) being most dangerous, because these comments are then picked up by radio industry publications and printed as fact. Mis-information is a powerful weapon, used with great success in all wars; and make no mistake that terrestrial radio is in a listener and advertiser war like it's never seen.

"Major Point: Radio industry trades should check the veracity of what's being published. Much of the industry's so-called 'experts' are winging it..."

Let's get my short opinion about what appears at Radio Insight out of the way; much of what's said there is wishful thinking not supported by correctly read data. Kurt Hanson makes an excellent point on this, answering some mis-information presented at RI in "Smart-Phone: Radio Salvation or Another Nail in Coffin?"

Major Point: Radio industry trades should check the veracity of what's being published. Much of the industry's so-called "experts" are winging it, and there is a great deal of mis-information about technology being printed.

The facts, as known, are that we have an audio listening and advertising transition in progress. We don't need to go over the reason why again. Don't even need to point out how radio, in urging the cell phone industry to include FM chips in smart phones (in what appears to be chasing a government mandate), has lost some punch to its argument that broadcast stations are always there in emergencies.

Clear Channel's own Inside Radio bravely said, "At least [a] dozen stations in the Northeast remain silent in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy." For that it deserves applause because it shows that the 100% certainty the radio industry claims, when serving the public during emergencies, is susceptible to outage - just like the cell towers Jeff Smulyan claims frequently leave the public without information. (While acknowledging there are some station staffs that are committed to getting information out, let's not forget unmanned studios.)

Now, to Triton Digital's September Webcast Metrics. You may download a free copy of data I compile about these rankings to see how Triton Digital clients are doing against each other. But, if you are looking for an indication that reflects how the industry is doing at large, avoid reading this report.

As I stated in August: "Before diving into these numbers, bear in mind there are reasons why you may see something showing a gain or drop (such as Cumulus adding Citadel stations, or CBS dropping AOL Radio and Yahoo’s Launchcast). So these are not hard and fast rules of the road." I'll add, any article rendering a view of how internet radio is doing based on this report is passing mis-information.

Each time a Webcast Metrics is released I put together the data in a way that allows you to see the deeper picture about how Webcast Metrics' clients compare to each other. Download this month's spreadsheets free.

Here is a snapshot of the Triton Digital "Webcast Metrics Rankings" for September 2012.





This next chart shows Average Active Sessions for September, Year-2-Year.









This chart shows Session Starts for September, Year-2-Year.








This shows Average Time Spent Listening for September, Year-2-Year.





You'll find dozens of charts, outlining the position of each company within the report's top webcasters, by downloading Audio Graphics' Free Breakout.

Go here to download your free Audio Graphics analysis of the Triton Digital "September 2012 Internet Audio Top 20 Rankers."


Return to AudioGraphics.com each time there is a new "Internet Audio Top 20 Rankers" released from Triton Digital. I do the breakout for you, and show what the radio industry is doing online in more detail than is available from any other source.

Click here to receive a FREE breakout of this report sent to you for each ranking month. It includes all groups in the publicly-released Triton Digital Ranker.

Note: For caveats pertaining to this month's release, please view the bottom of Triton Digital's report.

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