Digitally Imported

Triton Digital's September Internet Audio Top 20 ratings reflect some pretty significant growth for the aggregation of NPR Member Stations. The group has taken the #10 spot for Average Active Sessions (AAS) 6a-12M Monday-Sunday in the September Domestic Ranker (see chart below). The 12,236 AAS for NPR Member Stations is 58% higher than its August number. (While Triton's press release gives no indication, we'd guess it likely that at least some of this growth reflects the addition of more stations to this group.)

Religious/conservative broadcaster Salem Communications, #14 for the same ranker, saw its AAS rise 24% since last month.

The largest webcasters saw little to now growth month-to-month. Pandora's AAS was up 3%; CBS's continued to slide, down 11% since August (CBS online listening in this particular ranker is down 54% in the past 12 months. Compare that to Clear Channel, which is up 94% over the same time period).

Finally, something seems to have changed for Digitally Imported some time in August. Traditionally leader among Internet-only webcasters, DI dropped 57% in this ranker in the past month alone. It's likely a change like this reflects a measurement error of some sort. [UPDATE: Digitally Imported has indeed informed us that not all of its streams were counted in these most recent ratings periods. -- PM]

See all of Triton Digital's Internet Audio Top 20 Rankers here.

TargetSpot has announced it will now serve in-stream audio ads to three new partners: Musicovery, Digitally Imported and AUPEO!.

Musicovery is a webcaster that offers streams based on mood, among other options. Digitally Imported is probably familiar to RAIN readers -- it's a popular destination for electronica and dance music (RAIN coverage here). AUPEO! is a Berlin-based Internet radio service offering custom music stations and was a finalist in the 2011 RAIN Awards (more here).

TargetSpot says their ad network now includes more than 80 radio groups and webcasters. You can find out more from TargetSpot's press release here.

One of the great things about the Internet is its power to aggregate smaller audiences of niche content, and by doing so, provide the creators of such content with a fanbase that makes producing it worthwhile. Content that would only attract a small gathering locally can add up to a gigantic audience globally.

Perhaps the best example of the power of niche programming online is Digitally Imported, the #2-ranked webcaster according to Triton Digital's All Streams Webcast Metrics from September 2011 (more here).

Launched in 1999 by Ari Shohat (pictured left), Digitally Imported originally focused on electronic music. They've since expanded through sister sites like Sky FM to include hundreds of "unique, super-niche stations that focus on the sub-genres of electronic, classical, jazz and pop music," writes web publication The Next Web in its feature on Digitally Imported.

Shohat even has plans for "branching out horizontally, encompassing even more genres such as rock, meditational music and others."

In addition to being one of the highest-rated independent webcasters in the industry, Shohat and Digitally Imported played a major role in the early lobbying efforts and negotiations which led to royalty settlements that enabled Internet radio to survive.

Concludes The Next Web (here), "the stations have a massive listenership, a profitable business model and a strong foothold in mobile. For focusing on the micro scale, Digitally Imported and its horizontal expansions have made a large dent in the macro side of online radio."

Supposedly free of tracker errors, Pandora's audience soared 40% month-to-month in Triton Digital's newly-released Webcast Metrics for August 2011, while nearly all other webcasters also grew.

The top-ranked Pandora now commands an AAS (Average Active Sessions, which is essentially equivalent to AQH — i.e., average simultaneous listeners) of 676,801 -- nearly double the combined audience of the other 19 ranked webcasters in the Domestic Mon-Sun 6a-12m daypart. Pandora's numbers have for the past few months been affected by the omission of tracking code in some of their mobile apps.

(Click the chart at right to view a larger version.)

Most other webcasters also saw gains over July, though many were only regaining ground lost during summer. For example, #2-ranked CBS Radio was up 16% month-to-month, but their AAS of 97,712 is lower than where it was in April (98,676). Clear Channel was in a similar position, growing 14% month-to-month but reaching an AAS lower than April's.

Slacker was the only webcaster in the Top 20 ranker to show a month-to-month decline, but even then it was very slight.

August also saw several webcasters reach new record highs for 2011. AccuRadio, Digitally Imported Inc., EMF Corporate, Greater Media and Radio One / Interactive One -- not to mention Pandora -- all reached new year-high AAS levels.

You can find the Domestic and All Streams Mon-Sun 6a-12m rankings below. Find out more from Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics report here (PDF) and find our coverage of July 2011’s ratings here.