Local Internet Radio is the New FM!

Around 40+ years ago, I got my first real radio job at WFIL-AM-FM in Philadelphia.  Back then, AM was king and radio had little electronic competition. The newspaper was the big bad wolf.

After a career in just about everything radio, including running major market FM stations in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, I decided to go out on my own. I became infected with the local radio bug. As an owner/operator of several AM & FM radio stations, including two here in the Philadelphia metro, I assure you, nothing is more satisfying than serving a local market with good radio and making a decent living at the same time. Unfortunately, our profession now spends more time talking about localism than doing it. 

Last June, I went over the wall and started the Philadelphia region’s first ALL-LOCAL Internet Radio station, BrandywineRadio.com. www.brandywineradio.com.  It must be asserted that this effort is not an Internet play but a real radio station with real jocks, real salespeople, real play-by- play sports and a real engineer. The whole enchilada!

Real radio professionals, who understand and appreciate real radio, staff BrandywineRadio.com.  We do several call-in shows and even run five church services on Sunday. The beauty of this thing is that there is no signal issue and the introduction of Internet Radio service on Sprint, Verizon and iPhone cellular and PCS systems are making it more available every day. Go to Google and search RCA Internet Radio. This set, which is the size of a small table radio runs under $100.00 now. No doubt they will be in Wal-Mart by next summer for $29.95.

I believe Local Internet Radio is the future. XM, Sirius and even the vaulted HD-Radio are toast. HD-AM doesn’t work and who wants to spend premium money for HD-FM you can already get on-line. BrandywineRadio.com transmits exceptional high-speed Digital Stereo (Yes fellow SBE guys, we use a superb Omnia audio processor in the air-chain.)   Every other radio station will be available on-line shortly. Why would you want to copy it any other way?

Interesting things are happening. NAB does not feel that Internet Radio is worthy of membership, nor does my state organization PAB.   This is amusing to me because I remember well when the NAB didn’t consider FM “Real” radio and as a result the NAFMB was founded.

If you have a marginal signal AM or an FM, which can’t quite get over the mountain, you may want to consider something like this.  Local Internet Radio is an education process with your listeners and your new advertisers. If you’re interested, BrandywineRadio.com has been in business since July 2008 and I have over 60 accounts on the station. My pal Bill Figenshu says, I may already be out-billing some of your “victim” AM stations. 

Internet Radio is the New FM!

--Lloyd Bankson Roach has been in radio since 1966.  He is the former owner of WCOJ-1420-AM, Coatesville, PA and WPWA-1590-AM, Chester, PA.  He was the founder of Route 81 Radio and the first manager of 100.3-FM in Philadelphia, formerly known as KISS-100 and Y-100.