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Internet streaming, or webcasting, is a hot topic right now. We asked our readers to share their experiences.

The topic has several interlocking parts, summed up by these questions:

1. What are the economics of streaming?
2. What providers do other broadcasters recommend?
3. Do we stream our over-the-air product, selective programming, or both?
4. How do we make money with our streaming?
5. Most important, is it worth it?

The Economics

The costs associated with webcasting, so scary and uncertain a couple of years, ago, have settled down. Your ASCAP and BMI licenses include streaming rights. You can add rights to your SESAC license for a nominal amount. Most broadcasters won’t exceed the $500 minimum annual tribute paid to Sound Exchange for copyright fees. You’ll pay your streaming company $100-200 a month for their service. So you’re looking at about $2,000-3,000 a year, all in.

The Providers & the Types of Streaming

This week we emailed our readers to get their input on streaming providers. Their responses, as well as those received after press time, appear below. In the coming weeks we’ll do further research and let you know what we find out. As you’ll see, the responses address not only the providers (#2 above) but also what types of streaming people are doing (#3) and how they make money at it (#4).

CLICK HERE for a table which summarizes the companies mentioned by our readers.

CLICK HERE for a Streaming Media Directory.

CLICK HERE for reader responses received after press time.

UPDATED SUMMARY OF RESULTS

With all the new reader responses, the highest-scoring provider by a wide margin remains Network 1 Sports, which received good marks for service and affordability (free). There were several other providers mentioned multiple times, but nearly all drew some negative and/or neutral comments.

Abacast added one postive mention from our late responses, but they remain the most controversial of all streamers mentioned. At the very least, the criticisms about their high cost and spotty service are worthy of mention when talking to them.

You will note that the majority of companies were mentioned only once. Most of these are local ISPs, and the saisfacton levels are usually due to the relationship that develops between local companies. In our experience, stations end up generally not being satisfied when they go with someone else's ISP. The moral of the story: if your own local ISP provides streaming, logging, compliance, archiving, commercial substitution, et. al., then they're worthy of your consideration ... but you should talk to a few of the natonal providers as well, so you don't miss anything.

READER RESPONSES

Here are the reader responses. In some cases, anonymity was requested and honored. I greatly appreciate everybody taking the time to help!

CLICK HERE for reader responses received after press time.

We have used WarpRadio and now, SurferNet. I would recommend both, but my experience lately with SurferNet has them maybe a little more sophisticated and technically savvy than WarpRadio was several years ago. Things could have and indeed, probably have, changed in the four years since we severed our contract with Warp. Both have been very easy to work with. We stopped streaming several years ago due to possible high CARP fees; but so far, they’re tolerable at our audience listening levels.

SurferNet has helped with the data as well as audio streaming, and worked with us and our music software provider to make streaming a possibility again.

My “day job” station doesn’t stream. However, while I was away from the business, I started my own non-com internet station. I use Shoutcast Streaming and I’m very satisfied with them. The prices are reasonable, the service is top-notch, and downtime is minimal.

The only company we have used is MBC Web Radio, based out of Omaha, NE. They set up our site, and though we probably have not used our website to its fullest potential (such as video streaming, recording and playback etc.) they have done what we have asked and have been professional to work with.

In the year since I took over ownership of KBRB, we have just about quadrupled our website sales. We are still talking about less than $1,000 per month, but the site is more than paying for itself now, which it wasn’t before, and we put a lot of effort into making sure we have fresh content daily.

We have intentionally kept the price down for our dedicated radio advertisers, and have sold it to them more as a bonus for $50 a month or so. For non-regular radio advertisers, the rates are higher.

Prior to putting a counter on the site, we estimated we might receive about 2,000 hits per month. We were tickled to see that we had 5,000 hits the first week when we put a counter on to track visits. Take into account our station is based in a town of 1,800 people, and a population of only around 10,000 for our entire broadcast area, and you can see why we were thrilled with the website usage. Hundreds of former residents and those with ties to the area are visiting our site on a regular basis.

MBC’s tech guy has been very good to work with. Our site is rarely down, and our streaming is reliable, so I would recommend MBC to small market operators looking to break into websites. Again, our site doesn’t have a lot of the bells and whistles, but when I am the one updating all the content—since right now our site does not support an in-house employee—I want user-friendly, and it is that.
—Graig Kinzie, KBRB, Ainsworth, NE

We still use Abacast. . .but they are slow to respond, have trouble keeping promises, and the cost is above providers who have a better product.
—Jim Walker, KGVY, Green Valley, AZ

We use and love Network 1 Sports. Greg Hitchcock is the contact. Here’s our streaming URL: http://www.network1sports.com/stations/wilo.asp
—Randy Lawson, Lawson Productions/Lawson Software

We use Mainstream for streaming. They have been easy to work with and they recently added an IPhone app.
—Bill Pharis, KFPW AM-FM, Van Buren, AR

We are dealing with a streaming company called Barnabas Road. They do a good job and their prices are very reasonable. I would recommend them.
—Mark Layne, KVPI AM/FM, Ville Platte, LA

We use a variety of providers, including Stream the World, Liquid Compass and Abacast.
—Chuck DuCoty, NRG Media, Cedar Rapids, IA

We only stream our high school sports and have only worked with one company—Network 1 Sports and Gregg Hitchcock. We have been very happy with Gregg!
—Joel Swanson, Northern Plains Radio Network, Williston, ND

We have been using Securenet Systems out of Deerfield Beach, Florida for over a year now and have been nothing but satisfied. We took advantage of a promotion last year which offered a great rate for a 32K stream. Haven’t noticed any down time on their end, with most issues caused by our encoding server. To be quite honest we haven’t taken advantage of many of the new features they have added, but intend to. Their customer service has always been among the best I’ve experienced in the industry. I would highly recommend them based on my experience.
—Jay Fisher, KTKS, Versailles MO

Morris Radio uses Stream Audio. They’ve got a good product at a competitive price. Their solution allows commercial insertion, video pre-roll and custom/synchronized banner ads. They also feature song logging for Sound Exchange reporting and both Windows Media and MP3 encoding.

We are very satisfied with Stream Audio. I’d have no problem recommending them.
—Jay White, MCC Radio, LLC, Palm Springs, CA

I have seen a few of our clients use Primcast. They have been happy with the service.
—Christopher D. Miller, Gammon Miller, LLC

Right now we are just streaming local content—ball games. We use a local ISP on a barter arrangement. Excellent service.

We used Liquid Compass initially in 2008, then Stream The World from 2009 to the present.

Both are good. We went with STW as we can barter with them thru Triton Media. I think Liquid Compass may have a partial barter deal available now.

Start up time with STW took much longer than anticipated. Seems to be working okay now though.
—Tincy Crouse, The Cromwell Group, Nashville, TN

The Original Company (TOC) stations use Network 1 Sports for sports streaming (and some long form local talk like City Council Meetings); and Amber Wave Communications for podcasts and other streaming, including sports (so there are multiple sites to get the programming in case there are problems with one or the other).

We stream live video using Livestream.

Network 1 Sports has worked well for us for at least two years; any archives are theirs and they get the charges for retrieval. If you contact them they respond.

Amber Wave costs some money but it works well for us. They are also easy to work with and check our services regularly.

Livestream’s “success” seems to be totally dependant on the speed of the connection (not their program or site) and that is a problem for us not only when we use a wireless service for remote streams like parades, ball games, and other community events, but also from a number of our studio sites.

TOC owns and operates eleven stations. Only three have really good, dependable broadband T-1 service and those are the only three that use any streaming video on a regular basis from the studio site. Three other TOC stations get their service from us when we send it via STL to a transmitter site, and then to the studios of the three stations too far out of any town for real broadband capability. That actually works pretty well.

We have a commercial wireless service as a backup at those studios, but it is not as fast as what we provide ourselves through our own wireless link.

Two stations are fed via DSL, but the studio site is actually too far from the switch to get very fast broadband. We took what we could get at that site, but had to convince the phone company to hook us up and to keep us hooked up to that service at all.

One station gets its Internet service via relatively stable and relatively fast wireless service, but it hasn’t been in very long, so how it performs over time is still a question. We had another wireless service that was very undependable and slow at that site.

Our two newest stations (still waiting for FCC transfer) get their service via wireless and we haven’t had time to really work with that site much at all yet. The station now has “commercial email” and a simple web site, which is new for them. We are planning to audio stream football this season (three games at once) as a first for those stations.
—Mark Lange, The Original Company, Vincennes, IN

We only stream our local sports. We use Network 1 Sports. They do a great job.
—Sam Thomas, WJTH AM/FM, Calhoun, GA

We have worked with both Liquid Compass (in the past) and Abacast (presently) with our FM stations. There have been challenges with both companies, to be honest. On the AM side, we work with a company called RadioP1, which has the ability to stream just certain parts of our day.

Being ESPN affiliates on both Maui and the Big Island, we are not permitted to stream their content, as they want everyone to listen at espn.com. Therefore, we can only stream our local sports talk shows, as well as the local high school and collegiate sports that we cover. It’s a “dirty feed” that doesn’t allow for ad insertion, but we are covering the costs through banner advertising and sponsorship of the stream itself.

Though the RadioP1 template isn’t too fancy, it has worked out very well for us. They are perfect for those that carry small market local sports.

We are huge believers in providing our audiences with the ability to hear us on the stream. In fact, we have invested in iPhone apps for our Island Music stations on both Maui and the Big Island (KAPA and KPOA are our Traditional Hawaiian/Hawaiian AC stations, and Native 92.5 Maui and Native-FM Big Island are our Contemporary Island/Reggae music stations). There are only four of each genre in the entire world and we own two in each genre, so we want to be able to bring them worldwide exposure, and the stream has been able to do that. We get a lot of listening from Japan, Canada, the U.S. Mainland and Europe.

We have been able to monetize the streams in order to cover our costs but have serious concerns about the tactics and intentions of SESAC and others, in eventually preventing us from continuing to stream long term.

Finally, we are very active promotionally, and with the concert scene, out here in Hawaii. Our Island Music sites have some good video content. We have created individual YouTube accounts for each station and house the videos (after they are edited) there, with links originating from our station sites. Video is the fastest-growing area within the online platform, and the feedback from our listeners has been tremendous. If you’d like to see what I’m referring to, go to www.nativefm.com, www.native925.com, or www.kaparadio.com. We are just starting to build the video platform on www.kpoa.com.

In my opinion, you have to be in the online space to remain relevant and accessible to your listeners. If not, stations may go by way of the newspaper.
—Chris Osgood, Pacific Radio Group, Kahului, Maui, HI

We use WarpRadio; very pleased. Very good service; reliable; affordable. I’d recommend them.

We use EZ Stream for streaming most of our local shows and all of our local sports. So far it has done everything we want it to do. We even archive these programs for a couple of weeks.

An added benefit is that this company even will make copies of these events (for a fee, of course) for anyone who wants one. It’s great for sports parents, and it saves us a great deal of time and hassle.
—Lou Vito, WPKO/WBLL, Bellefontaine, OH

We use the following, all with good results:

For high school and college sports, we stream through Network 1 Sports. No cost (they sell banner ads on their site, plus sell access to the archived games we stream). They provide a web site to download Windows Media Encoder, which runs on a PC in the control room of the game we’re streaming, taking program audio.

For streaming our farm programming on our farm station, WHOW, Clinton, IL, we use RadioP1—$199 setup, $149 per month, and they provide hardware.

For streaming programming from a remote location or second studio to our main studio, or between clusters, we use Stream Guys. We have a limited number of users, password protected—$40 per month, month to month. They provide a web site to download Windows Media Encoder.

All three do a good job for us.
—Randal J. Miller, Miller Media Group, Taylorville, IL

We use RadioP1 and are very, very pleased with the service. They have software that enables us to automate live streaming nearly totally, and subsequently automatically upload recorded files for on-demand listening. Labor intensity is less than 10 minutes a day. We stream all local newscasts and talk shows then make them for on-demand listening, along with our high school play-by-play and coaches show.
—Joe Jindra, KNCK/KCKS, Concordia, KS

We have been using EZ stream for several years and have had excellent results.
—R. C. Amer, KADI AM/FM, Springfield, MO

We use MBC Web Radio. We are looking at something cheaper and better. They charge $250 per month per stream. There are so many others out there that are cheaper or free—and frankly better.

We just underwent an exhaustive search and chose Liquid Compass to do our streaming, and AirKast for our mobile platform.

We start with them next week. We’ll also be using ad replacement from Ando Media. I like their proposal because it’s turnkey and includes Sound Exchange reporting, geotargeting and detailed metrics.

We believe that beefing up our digital and particularly our online service is going to be essential to our thriving in the exciting future of the radio business!
—Bruce & Sue Goldsen, Jackson Radio Works/WKHM AM/FM WIBM, Jackson, MI

We have used FastServ they do a great job. Presently we use iCastCenter for both of our stations. Their customer tech service is almost immediate. I highly recommend them.
—Marvin Glass, WGNQ, Higdon, AL

We started streaming the FMs in our company late last year. We work through Crystal Media Networks. Despite some early technical issues on both our sides, we are very pleased with the service. No bandwidth issues, clear audio and many compliments from listeners and clients.
—Mike Tarter, Forcht Broadcasting, Somerset, KY

We stream only our local sports. We are using Network 1 Sports. Gregg Hitchcock (ggh@network1sports.com) has been very helpful; their service is very good.
—Brian Talley, Talley Broadcasting, Litchfield, IL

We are checking out streaming companies now, so I will be eagerly waiting for your story. I went to the Radio Sales Café (www.radiosalescafe.com), asked members for advice about streaming, and got several good responses.

Mike Peterson recommended Secure Net Systems; they can get a small market station started for as low as $99 per month.

Bill Horsch said he is also going through the same process as we are, and is looking at two companies: Liquid Compass, 303-839-9400; and Live365, 650-345-7400. He said their services are similar, and good for small markets.

We are looking at all of these and a couple more. Right now we stream our high school football through iHigh. They are great to work with, and will archive our past games so people can go back and listen to old games. Our sponsors’ commercials play on this stream, too.

I’m not clear about how streaming will effect ASCAP, SESAC and BMI. I need more info on that.
—M. Delores Wood, WRJW Radio/Swap Shop Paper/
Welcome Home Real Estate Guide, Picayune, MS

I have been using Viastreaming since last summer. They provide a good, reliable service and no contract, just month to month. Example: 100 slots at a time at 32K/44100 is only $52 per month, using Windows Media Encoder. It is even less expensive if you use Shoutcast. They also support all the other encoders. What is great is it only takes a few minutes to get up and running.

We work with Ando Media. There are things that I would like to see changed, but all in all I would recommend them.
—Debbi Gifford, WBCO & WQEL, Bucyrus, OH

Barnabas Road has been great for us.
—John Wishon, WWWC/Foothills Media, Inc., Wilkesboro, NC

We currently only stream high school ball games (oh, those pesky performance fees); we’ve been with Network 1 Sports out of Las Vegas for four years now, and have all six of our Kansas stations on their network. They have always provided reliable service, and are super to work with! Their business model is based on a subscriber fee for archives, so we are obviously pleased with the affordability for our small market stations.
—Bruce Dierking, Dierking Communications, Inc., Marysville-Norton-Glen Elder, KS

ADDED AFTER PRESS TIME

Yes, we are streaming. Our provider is Securenet.
— Ralph J. Carlson, KYDL

We did it ourselves with a local guy and then changed to Network 1 Sports and really liked how it worked. No charge and I like how easy it is to use for sports. We are planning on streaming 24/7 in the next three weeks.
— John Hoscheidt, WRMJ, Aledo, IL

Streaming is a subject that I have spent so much time researching!

Our stations currently only stream locally produced Sports, talk shows, and features utilizing the services of SecureNet Systems. We are very pleased with their service.

Their online players are attractive and easy to use, including banner ad placement. They offer an On Demand option that we use for the shorter features.

We want to move into full time air product streaming. This is where I've hit the wall. From a technical set up, we have a number of computers and satellite services that come into play. We're having a hard time finding the appropriate method for spot replacement and reporting to big brother, Sound Exchange.

We are live during drivetimes and some weekend dayparts, automated with voice tracking in others and on Dial Global at other times. Trying to set up a system that can capture meta data, or XML file or via TCP/UDP port from all of these sources has been the problem.

The guys at SecureNet and BSI (Simian) are attempting to be helpful in developing a solution, but we're not there yet.

I understand that many stations and web-only streamers are just flipping the switch and streaming with a "catch me if you can" attitude with regard to Sound Exchange reporting and spot replacement. That's not the way we want to do it.

The research continues. Your issue is helpful. Thank you.
—Steve Hopp, Sajak Broadcasting Corporation

As for streaming providers we use Liquid Compass and very happy with them and of course would recommend.
— Daniel K. P'Pool, East Ky. Broadcasting

Abacast is our Internet streaming provider of choice at Icicle Broadcasting. Abacast provides multiple streams offering listeners an easy way to hear us. We use a 64k stream (with an Abacast plug-in) as our primary feed. It is consistent, with very little buffering, and is of a higher quality than most streams offered by larger corporate broadcasting companies. The ad-insertion software is easy to use. Abacast also provides us with an .mp3 feed for mobile devices, both of which are accessible from our station websites.

A user friendly dashboard allows us to monitor current and historic stream stats and create custom reports. Abacast customer service is outstanding! I would highly recommend Abacast to other small market operators looking to maximize potential revenue and listenership that on-line streaming offers.
—Scott Rusk, Icicle Broadcasting, Central Washington

We utilize Live365 for streaming the broadcasts of 1420 the Breeze Radio. Been with them nearly two months and all is going well.
—Wayne Warnecke, 1420 The Breeze Radio

WPPA and WAVT have utilized 519 Tech Designs for both stations website's design and online streaming services. The process has been very simple and we are completely satisfied with their service.

Any time you can add an online component to your stations, your listenership and revenue will be impacted. 519 Tech Designs offers 24/7 streaming to our on-air signal as well as streams for Internet only local sports coverage. They are also easy to work with and are very affordable.

Also, as a side note, I turned off our streaming a few months ago due to licensing issues with Sound Exchange. I will start streaming again on August 16th, as before, with 519 Tech Designs. We will have a new annual streaming contract and my streams will be considered "new" so that I can license us under the "small broadcaster" option with Sound Exchange. 519TD can place caps on your streaming audience, if you wish, so you can stay under the Sound Exchange listener caps.
—Argie D. Tidmore, WPPA & WAVT, Pottsville, PA

We don't stream our music programming, but we do stream most other locally-produced non-music programs—local sports, news, public affairs programs, etc. For that we use Ustream. Very easy to use, good quality and free.
—Don Fredeen, WESB/WBRR

A couple of years ago we used a company called Sports Juice. Their service was not satisfactory. We used them for the sporting events at U M Western, here in Dillon. Western hired another streaming provider last year. They handle the expense. We have equipment allowing us to hook into their service. We would like to stream all the high school games, too. We broadcast over 225 games each year. If you have any good ideas, please let us know. We do not stream any of our music programs.

Additional information: We broadcast all the high school and college football games, all boys and girls basket ball games at the college, high school in Dillon, and in Twin Bridges and Sheridan, Montana. We also broadcast volley ball and wrestling. We have some great play by play announcers.
—Jo Ann Juliano, KDBM & KBEV, Dillon, MT

We use a combination of a local ISP and a national hosting company in San Antonio called Rackspace.

Rackspace is tremendous. Our server is never down, except for scheduled maintenance. I highly recommend them.
—Hal Widsten, KWED AM 1580/The Seguin Daily News, Seguin, TX

My only direct work has been with SurferNet. Our contact there is Any Hyland and she has been very helpful on several fronts, including assisting us with compliance with Sound Exchange.
—Mike Mahone, Mahone Media, Dallas, TX

We deal with a compamy called Intermedia Solutions in Fairmont, WV. We have worked with them for years and find them highly competitive and very cooperative.
—Rick Wachtel, WRNR

Making Money

This can consume an entire newsletter in itself, but for now let’s offer a few ways people are generating revenue from their online streams:

1. Banner ad on the media player
2. “Pre-roll”—an audio ad that plays just before the stream kicks in
3. Ad insertion—replacing some or all of the ads you play on the air with webcast-only ads
4. Sponsorship—may include some or all of the above, plus on-air promos

Is It Worth It?

In a word, absolutely. As Chris Osgood so eloquently puts it (see above), “You have to be in the online space to remain relevant and accessible to your listeners. If not, stations may go by way of the newspaper.”

We are no longer broadcasters in the traditional sense; rather, we are content providers, and to remain relevant, we must go where the audience is. . .which nowadays is online and on smartphones.

Our friend Dave Casper at the RAB thinks on-demand is the way to go, citing the excellent NPR website, www.npr.org, where nearly every story has one or more sound bites, if not video. “Give your audience what they want, when they want it,” Dave advises.

In the “make the week” culture in which we live, we sometimes make the mistake of forgetting how we got to the dance in the first place. Extend the relationship you have with your radio listeners. . .strengthen the bond of trust you’ve established. . .and the money will come.