World Vibrations Radio Station in a Box 11-26-03!

The inventor, Russell Johnson, says his idea was to come up with a way to "democratize broadcasting" and build communities.

We have excerpts from an article on the Radio Station-in-a-Box in today's issue of "RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter," at http://www.kurthanson.com

Also today in RAIN...

From The Denver Post: "If you ever want to enjoy your CD collection again, beware of reading past this point.

"Discovering the enormous variety of Internet radio available can immediately start a layer of dust accumulating on your album library, at work or at home...

"With the strong growth in high-speed Web connections, especially in office buildings, and the standard inclusion of decent speakers with most home computer purchases, Internet radio is winning a steady following.

"'As more people get used to being online all the time, the audience will begin to pick up,' said Matt Jackson, a Penn State University professor of communications...

"Donald Tallman, a big fan of Denver's KVOD when it was a commercial classical station, seeks a wider variety of programming than local public radio offers... Though Tallman still sorts through his CD pile during certain moods, he said Internet streams are 'replacing my local radio listening during the day.'..

"Webcasts' intimacy allows for hyper-specific local content as easily as it allows Australians to tune in Zimbabwe. One station in Connecticut has interactive ads and other features that only work if you click on them from within a Connecticut ZIP code...

"As they grow more sophisticated, websites are starting to offer listeners two options. One is a free stream requiring you to endure either audio or pop-up banner ads mixed with the music. The other option is a paid subscription stream offering commercial-free channels for $3 or more a month.

"Paying may seem insane, given the thousands of free sites offered by home-based music fanatics. But as Jackson points out, subscriptions in a new medium always look implausible until listeners start demanding better service.

"'There was a time when people would have laughed in your face for suggesting they pay for television,' Jackson said. 'Now more than half the country writes a monthly TV check for more than $50.'"

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From the New Zealand Herald: "Auckland's ZM radio station says it has not had direct complaints about newly introduced technology that switches FM car stereos by remote control to ZM traffic reports when a button is pushed in the broadcaster's studio.

"But ZM operations manager Christian Boston said the station would stop triggering car radios to automatically switch to the traffic report if it upset significant numbers of listeners.

"'It's not our intention to spam people or to hijack their radios or irritate anyone,' he said...

"The Radio Data Service (RDS) technology has been common in Europe for a decade, but has been used by ZM for only about six months.

"Starting next month, National Radio plans to create national FM broadcasts of its programme. It plans to use the RDS technology to provide seamless 'links' so that as a car moves out of the signal reach of one FM station broadcasting National Radio, the receiver will automatically scan other frequencies for the same programme and switch, so there is no break in reception or need to hunt for the new frequency.

"ZM's use of RDS use has triggered a minor controversy on the Internet, after Auckland University of Technology broadcasting lecturer Andrew Dubber posted on his website a complaint by a former student that his new radio appeared to have been retuned to ZM by remote control...

"'Whatever station I'm on, whenever ZM has a traffic report, it jumps to ZM ... if I'm listening to a CD, and ZM has a traffic report, it jumps. I can't change back to CD until the report is over. Is it my stereo or is ZM actually Satan?'..

"About 700 of 5000 broadcasters employ it (RDS) in the United States, where attempts have been made to use it for advertising."

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