Days after Apex Broadcasting Inc. pulled the plug on alternative rock at its 96.1 "Wave" radio station, a whine of feedback has droned through Charleston's music scene.

The storied but long-struggling frequency stopped spinning songs from the likes of Soundgarden in favor of softer stuff like Simon and Garfunkel, and turned down the volume on aspiring local bands like Red Handed and The Working Title. The broadcaster also changed its moniker from "Wave" to "Chuck," as in "Chucktown," a slang term for Charleston.

Chris Johnson, an Apex vice president, described the new format as "adult variety hits" and said the frequency now has a "pretty wide-open play list."

"The thinking on it was that it would broaden the appeal," he said. "It's kind of an undefined thing."

The response from advertisers and listeners has been static-free and largely positive, according to Johnson, but many longtime residents and fans of independent, alternative music have lamented the change since Apex made the switch Friday night.

Chris Dixon, a Charleston-based freelance writer, recalled stringing a wire through his Litchfield home to pick up 96 Wave as a kid. Dixon said the new format hardly echoes the former fare.

"Who wants to hear Rick Springfield and Journey?" he said. "I feel like it changes the whole vibe of living in this town. ... There's nowhere on the air that you can find a new song by the White Stripes right now."

For about two decades, Wave acted as a sort of greenhouse for budding bands, broadcasting some littleknown acts and booking would-be giants like David Byrne and Wilco for Wavefest, its annual concert.

Apex, a Charleston-based company that now has about 40 full-time employees, played tracks that were overlooked or unsanctioned by corporate radio powerhouses.

Johnny Diamond, an agent who has represented a string of local bands, said 96 Wave's play list helped a number of his acts sign record deals.

"It's obviously a terrible thing for the Charleston music scene," Diamond said Tuesday. "There's nothing even close to that format out there now. ... People can abuse the term 'cutting edge,' but that's always kind of how I felt about Wave."

But despite resonating with rock purists, the Wave has grown weaker.

The frequency slid to No. 16 in local ratings this spring, according to Arbitron Inc., a New York-based company that tracks the industry. Only three of every 100 people listening to the radio in Charleston at any given time had their dials tuned to WAVF-FM. Apex's other three stations posted stronger results, with its Star 99.7 frequency grabbing the No. 2 slot.

The company cued up its new 96.1 at 5 p.m. Friday evening, bidding farewell to the old format with Soundgarden's "My Wave." Listeners on Tuesday heard a string of aging standards: "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel, Snap's "I've Got the Power," "Do You Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart and Loverboy's "Everybody's Working for the Weekend," to name a few.

Ed Seeger, who consults radio stations nationwide as chief executive of Mount Pleasant-based American Media Services, said Apex's new programming is likely crafted to gain more listeners between the ages of 24 and 55.

"That's what they call 'the money demo.' Most of your blue-chip advertisers are wanting that demographic," he said.

Seeger predicted that the station's ratings would rocket under the new format.
Apex commands about 18 percent of the Charleston radio market, according to Arbitron's most-recent statistics.

The six local stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., a Texas-based company, have 25 percent of listeners, while Las Vegas-based Citadel Broadcasting, grabs 22 percent of the market with its five stations.

Local Webcasters lash out against rate increase

On Sunday, Internet radio will owe big record labels $1 billion in unpaid music royalties, a bill that will cripple most of the industry, which grossed $200 million last year, Internet broadcasters said.

"It's an assault on the medium. These record companies just want to take control of Web radio," said Bunky Odom, who operates the Radio Free Charleston on Sullivan's Island.

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a request from Web radio broadcasters to halt a steep increase in royalty rates approved by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board. The new rates, which are retroactive to 2006, take effect Sunday.

The Save Net Radio campaign says the 300 percent to 1,200 percent increase of the recording royalties Webcasters pay to play music online has been hotly contested by Webcasters, Internet radio listeners and more than 6,000 artists.

Odom said that, on Sunday, he will play only music from independent labels instead of the major labels that pushed the royalty increase for Internet radio. "I hate to do that because my audience needs to listen to Bob Dylan," he said.

Web radio has 77 million listeners, said Reed Bunzel, president and chief executive of Mount Pleasant-based American Media Services-Internet, which operates 40 online radio stations.

Bunzel said some Internet broadcasters will knuckle under and pay the new royalties, but that's going to be impossible for most. Some have discussed not paying the rates.

"We do intend to go by the letter of the law. We have been reserving cash to pay for our streaming fees, and we will pay them. But we are part of the effort to have the rates overturned in Congress," Bunzel said.

American Media Services-Internet has contacted the Recording Industry Association of America to try to negotiate the issue, so far with no success, he said.

"It's not going to change our business plan. We're going to go forward with what we're doing," he said.

Legislation currently before Congress, the Internet Radio Equality Act, would vacate the Copyright Royalty Board's decision and set a 2006-10 royalty rate at the same level currently paid by satellite radio services, which is 7.5 percent of revenue, officials said.

Bunzel said his company is working on Capitol Hill with South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, as well as Rep. Henry Brown, to try to overturn the Copyright Royalty Board decision.

"It's an extremely unfair and egregious rate structure," he said.

Royalty payments are calculated by multiplying the royalty rate times the number of songs played times the number of listeners, Bunzel said. "It adds up very quickly," he said.

Some 15 million satellite radio fans can't be wrong.

Or can they?

In a bid to hang on to the airwaves, traditional radio companies are launching high-definition radio, technology that whips broadcast signals through the air in digital packets rather than waves.

It's an expensive proposition — for broadcasters and listeners alike — but it produces static-free, CD-quality sound. It also lets stations squeeze two or three signals onto bandwidth that used to hold only one. And because the signal is digital, broadcasters can send text data, from stock quotes to song titles.

The first HD radio hit the mass market in December 2005, and a month later an alliance of old-line radio giants launched a $200 million marketing blitz, promising to push HD radio into the country's 100 biggest cities within 18 months. Charleston, around No. 87 on that roster, started tuning into HD signals about a year ago.

Today, there are 1,307 U.S. stations broadcasting in the new, high-tech format, including 18 stations in South Carolina beaming 27 HD radio channels.

Five local channels owned by Texas-based radio titan Clear Channel Communications Inc. are now offering HD.

Las Vegas-based Citadel Broadcasting Co., which owns seven Charleston-area stations, is promising to put out digital signals in the next 12 months.

'Up in the air'

Those announcements represent some big investments. Analysts estimate that it costs about $100,000 for an individual station to buy the hardware and launch the HD format. For HD to thrive, a broadcaster needs to get the word out and "multicast," essentially produce extra stations to run on the same segment of bandwidth.

Theoretically, stations will be able to tap a wider spectrum of advertisers and charge their current clients more for airtime with HD, but the business model is relatively unproven, according to Citadel regional president Paul O'Malley.

"It's absolutely up in the air," he said. "I'm sure the industry folks will tell you, 'Oh, it's going to be great,' but we really don't know that yet."

O'Malley said, however, that HD is an imperative investment for a terrestrial radio station to stay connected and keep listeners from tuning into iPods or satellite stations.

"At the end of the day, the more options we give (listeners), the more we interact with them and the less likely they are to go elsewhere," he said.

But listeners can't tune into HD before forking out between $200 and $330 for a special radio.

Michael Corty, an analyst who follows radio companies for Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., said most consumers won't invest that much in hardware until there are is a critical mass of stations offering the HD option.

At the same time, some stations are hesitant to invest in HD upgrades without a healthy pool of potential listeners.

"It's a bit of a circular problem," Corty said. "Radio broadcasting has kind of been a slow-growth business for several years and I don't think HD radio is going to be a quick fix. ... In my universe, I don't see it as a major impact definitely for the next few years."

Mixed signals

Clear Channel, which owns almost 1,200 radio stations, made no mention of HD offerings in its most recent annual report to investors filed in early March.

Satellite radio, which also relies on digital signals, is cheaper upfront — often less than $100 for the required hardware — but requires a monthly subscription fee of about $12. At the end of the first quarter, the two satellite giants, XM and Sirius, had a combined 15 million customers, roughly 5 percent of the U.S. population.

HD radio costs listeners nothing after the upfront purchase of a receiver, but only some of the offerings will be ad-free, a major marketing point for XM and Sirius.

The automotive industry, the enabler for virtually every outfit that ever hoisted a blinking signal tower into the sky, has been slow to tune in to the new technology. Although a lot of cars are rolling out of dealerships with satellite radio systems already installed, only BMW is offering HD radio in its 2007 models — as a $500 extra.

Jaguar and Hyundai recently announced that they will each offer the technology in one of their 2008 models.

Some analysts contend that radio fans will leapfrog from a traditional signal to a wireless Internet signal, skipping HD radio — and its hefty sticker price — entirely.

Citadel Broadcasting estimates up to 16 percent of U.S. residents listen to radio online every week.

American Media Services, a Mount Pleasant-based company that consults for big radio companies on building more profitable stations, said every broadcaster in the country should be sending a signal to the World Wide Web, if they aren't already.

"I tell people, 'If you've got the financial ability to run HD, I would do it,' " said Ed Seeger, American Media's chief executive officer. "But I see an equal, if not greater, opportunity for stations to stream. ... If you go on your computer right now, you've got thousands and thousands and thousands of channels."

Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or kstock@postandcourier.com.

MOUNT PLEASANT - A locally based radio company is proposing to launch at least 50 Internet stations by April 15, while protesting higher fees that will drive up the cost of doing business for fledgling online broadcasters.

American Media Services said three of the stations are already operating. They are www.beachmusic.net, www.southernfriedrock.com and www.estandards.net.

"We have committed hundreds of thousands of dollars, hired staff members and created a business plan that shows that this will be a viable venture," said Edward Seeger, president and chief executive officer of AMS.

The company, headquartered on Chuck Dawley Boulevard, is proceeding with the rollout despite a ruling last week that increases by at least tenfold the royalties that Internet stations must pay to play music.

"We are organizing a vigorous appeal effort to repeal these outrageous fees," Seeger said.

In the decision, a three-judge panel that constitutes the Copyright Royalty Board of the Library of Congress ruled in favor of SoundExchange, an organization with members that include major record labels and their artists.

Seeger said Internet broadcasters are using lobbyists and political contacts in an effort to have the decision overturned.

"Hopefully, common sense and understanding that a fair rate of compensation for royalty payments will allow the full development of this new technology to reach its full potential with the establishment of a rate that will not kill this emerging technology," he said in an e-mail.

Reed Buzel, president of the AMS's new Internet division, said in an interview Wednesday that he was in the process of contacting members of Congress about the issue. He said Internet radio broadcasters will seek to have the fee ruling suspended, and then work to overturn it.

"We firmly believe that the decision will not stand," Buzel said. "When you apply it to a nascent industry it's a death knell."

AMS has regional offices in Austin, Chicago and Dallas. In addition to its new Internet division, its developmental engineering division leads the country in implementing radio station upgrades, according to its Web site. AMS also is considered a major player in the radio-station brokerage business.

Locally, the company is not the only online radio pioneer worried about the new regulatory obstacle.

Bunky Odom, founder of a new Internet station on Sullivan's Island, said last week his media venture would be crippled if the royalty ruling stands as is. Odom's www.radiofreecharleston.com has been in development since last fall, and he planned a major launch of the station at the end of the month.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Call HD Radio anything you like when you talk to a radio broadcaster - but don't call it an answer to satellite radio.
The response you'll invariably get is that there isn't any point in making a comparison between a subscription product with 14 million customers and a medium that draws 225 million listeners. It's apples-to-peas.

Rather, in conversations with veteran radio executives, you'll hear satellite being referred to as just another entertainment choice with the potential to divert listeners' attention - along with MP3 players, audio from cable television systems, Internet radio, and more.

To traditional broadcasters, then, radio's job is to fine-tune its offering and make sure it's in step with what today's consumers expect from any content provider.
"This is an improvement over what most consumers already know and understand anyway," said Peter Ferrara, chief executive of a consortium of major broadcasters known as the HD Radio Alliance. "So it's not really about answering anything. It's about moving our medium from analog to digital, and we live in a digital world."
However, digital radio has a hurdle to overcome, in that few people seem to truly understand what it is, despite a relentless advertising campaign by the radio industry's biggest players.

HD2 Multicasting
Using digital technology, a radio station is able to offer two or more additional channels in addition to its main broadcast signal, as well as wireless data, in a process known as HD2 multicasting. The sound quality is significantly better than analog radio, with AM sounding more like FM does today, and FM stations offering CD-like quality.

More than 1,100 radio stations in the United States are currently broadcasting in HD, with over 600 carrying HD2 multicast programming. HD2 multicasts have launched in 85 of the nation's top 100 markets.

Industry's effort
In 2005, Clear Channel Communications and others formed the HD Radio Alliance. The group's hope is that with a wider variety of formats available as digital channels, the local angle that the main station and their digital counterparts can provide, and the lack of a subscription fee will keep listeners engaged.

Broadcasters are encouraged to look at what genres have either greatly diminished or disappeared in their service areas, Ferrara said. In cities like Chicago and San Francisco, smooth jazz stations offer more traditional jazz on their digital secondary channels. Some rock stations are programming comedy formats, and hip-hop stations are offering "old school" hip-hop from the '80s and early '90s on their additional channels.

Ferrara says new variations are debuting all the time. "KLOS in Los Angeles has been doing a fusion of Hispanic and Anglo rock. Now that's just not something that you would normally hear on the air," he said. Elsewhere, there are gay channels, an Irish channel in Boston, and variations on every mainstream format, including country, R&B, urban and Christian.

The industry is combating the perception that traditional radio is uniform and bland, a notion that gained traction after a massive round of consolidation spurred by the 1996 Telecom Act.

For the remainder of 2007, HD channels are slated to remain without commercials, as the industry tries to build an audience. The lack of commercials may present a problem, says radio consultant and historian Donna Halper. "Several GMs I've talked to say they would like to put some new and innovative formats on HD," she said, "but they're running a business, and if they can't make money on HD, why would they bother?"

Ferrara stresses the temporary nature of HD's commercial-free era. "The time will come sooner rather than later that the HD2 multicast channels will be monetized," he said in an e-mail.

Consumer awareness - a mixed bag

Meanwhile, a recent study on consumer awareness of the product offered a mixed assessment.

According to a survey by Bridge Ratings, 72% of individuals 12 and over said they had heard of HD Radio in January, up from 62% in June of 2006. Among individuals 25-54, awareness spiked to 75% from 62%.

However, when asked what HD Radio actually is, just 15% of those 12 and over were able to identify it as a radio technology "that improves sound quality, offers additional digital interactivity and required a special radio," down from 19% six months earlier. In the 25-54 age group, the figure dropped to 13% from 15%.
"While overall awareness of the term 'HD Radio' has increased in the last year, there is considerable confusion, misinformation or total lack of understanding as to what HD Radio is or what its benefits are to the consumer," the Bridge Ratings study said in summary.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given these findings, the survey also noted that interest in purchasing an HD Radio seemed low. Only 8% of those 12 and over said they were very interested or somewhat interested, down from 11% in June 2006. For adults 25-54, the percentage dropped to 14% from 17%. Tabletop versions of the radios are available in the $200-$300 range, while radios for the car can range from $100 to $2,400, depending on how many other capabilities they have. The higher-end models might include an in-dash DVD player and navigation system, which utilizes a 20 gigabyte hard drive.

The HD Alliance recently announced that BMW will make factory-installed HD-ready radios available across all of its 2007 models. This was the most comprehensive automotive deal in the technology's history. "Having BMW be first is really really special, because they are known to their customers [and others] as being on the leading edge of new technology, for delivering to the consumer the best, if you will," Ferrara said.

Ferrara would not disclose names, but said nine different auto manufacturers and 51 models of cars have committed to HD Radio announcements and rollouts over the next 18-24 months.

Whatever the disparity in its audience size compared to terrestrial radio, Halper says satellite radio' publicity campaigns have played some role in the confusion over HD. "I think satellite radio has been so much more on the public's mind that the majority of people still don't know what HD is and what it can do."

In 2007, the HD Alliance plans to spend $250 million on its HD Radio advertising campaign to educate consumers.

Bridge Ratings now projects that there will be 1.5 million HD radio units sold in 2007 - down from its previous forecast of 2.1 million.

Internet hopes

Ed Seeger, president of radio brokerage firm American Media Services, says that although HD Radio is a good weapon for broadcasters to have in their arsenal, it's sreaming Internet Radio - now often framed as a competitor - that holds the greatest hope for the medium's future.

"The broadcasters have everything in place to take advantage of that technology," Seeger said, referring to creative staffs and advertising sales professionals with established relationships in local markets."

Once receivers are widely available that can pick up AM, FM, HD and, through a Wi-Fi connection, audio from the Internet, broadcasters can reach office dwellers over the PC, then reach them in a variety of other places, he said.

The idea isn't lost on Ferrara and the HD Alliance. Handheld HD devices are in the works. "I think that by late 2007, early 2008, you'll begin to [hear of] designs for portables. It all comes down to the chipset and power management," Ferrara said.
"I think there is going to be a convergence of digital offerings to the consumer," commented Ferrara. "And HD Radio will play a very key role in that. The main reason is that radio is still the No. 1 way that people discover new music. If you think about the possibilities that exist for HD Radio in an MP3-iPod device that could be dockable ... it's very powerful."

American Media Services is officially launched the creation of two streaming radio sites on its website (www.americanmediaservices.com), reflecting the culture of the company's home base of Charleston, SC. Both www.beachmusic.net and www.southernfriedrock.com are examples of the high-quality streaming radio sites AMS is creating through its new division, AMS-I.

"We are excited to create radio stations of every genre through our new Internet division," said Ed Seeger, AMS CEO. "However, we enthusiastically chose these two formats for our first stations to reflect the heritage of American Media Services' home in Charleston, South Carolina."

The format of BeachMusic.net is a Rhythm & Blues-based sound from artists such as the Drifters, Platters, Tams, Dominoes, Embers, Catalinas, Temptations, Chairmen of the Board, Four Tops, Archie Bell, Barbara Lewis, and Jerry Butler.

The format of SouthernFriedRock.com showcases artists such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers band, ZZ Top and the James Gang.

Edward F. Seeger, president and chief executive officer of AMS, said the company's new internet division will provide radio broadcasters with expertise in such areas as streaming onto the internet and creating internet radio sites that offer high-quality audio. "Too few stations offer streaming audio, and among those that do, the sound quality is not always as high as it should be to entice and keep listeners," he said.

"Many radio broadcasters seem to regard the internet as a technological enemy. We should be allies. Making radio and the internet fully integrated will enable radio station owners to reach additional pools of listeners and to tap into new streams of revenue," Seeger said.

Mr. Seeger is available for interviews to talk about why AMS made the decision to expand the company to encompass this new technology and why streaming technology will be a growth area for the radio industry.

"Many radio broadcasters seem to regard the Internet as a technological enemy. We should be allies," said Seeger. "Making radio and the Internet fully integrated will enable radio station owners to reach additional pools of listeners and to tap into new streams of revenue," he added. (12-12-06)

He says many broadcasters “seem to regard the Internet as a technological enemy [but] we should be allies.” The Charleston-based company’s dubbing the new division “AMS-I.”

AMS CEO Ed Seeger tells RBR AMS-I is a turnkey service that covers legal/rights fees, technical/installation, additional formats, design, bandwidth and more: "We think it's vitally important that every radio station offer streaming audio, as more and more people are viewing the PCs and laptops sitting in their offices and homes as a radio receiver. In addition, we can help them expand their horizons in developing other online formats, in creating their own internet stations. At some point in the future as broadband is being perfected, people will be listening to anything they want on the Internet riding down the road in their automobile. This is something broadcasters need to embrace, and jump in it with both feet."

AMS President & CEO Edward F. Seeger said the new division will provide radio broadcasters with expertise in such areas as Internet streaming and creating Internet radio sites that offer high-quality audio. Seeger said, “Too few stations offer streaming audio and among those that do, the sound quality is not always as high as it should be to entice and keep listeners.

“Many radio broadcasters seem to regard the Internet as a technological enemy. We should be allies. Making radio and the Internet fully integrated will enable radio station owners to reach additional pools of listeners and to tap into new streams of revenue.”

When asked to look ahead five years, only 11 percent said they expect to be listening to the radio less than they do now. Nearly three out of four (74 percent) said they expect to listen about the same, and 13 percent said they expect to listen more.

“Radio plays a vital role in American life. Reports of radio’s death seem greatly exaggerated,” said Ed Seeger, president and chief executive officer of American Media Services, which commissioned the survey.

The survey found that Americans rate radio as their primary source to learn about new music. When asked which ways they learn about new music, 63 percent said by listening to the radio. In comparison, 43 percent said it can be through talking with friends, 41 percent cited watching television, 24 percent cited reviews in newspapers or magazines, and 16 percent cited the Internet.

There's a new survey available on Radio listening which was commissioned by American Media Services, a radio brokerage, engineering and developmental engineering firm in Charleston, South Carolina.

Here's what it found:

Over The Past 5 Years

Given the various new media to receive music and news, a little more than one in four Americans (27 percent) said they are now listening to the radio less than they did five years ago.

About half (51 percent) said their radio listening hasn't changed during the past five years, and 21 percent said they are now listening more.

Over The Next 5 Years

When asked to look ahead five years, 11 percent said they expect to be listening to the radio less than they do now. Nearly three out of four (74 percent) said they expect to listen about the same, and 13 percent said they expect to listen more.

Still a Primary Music Source

The survey found that Americans rate radio as their primary source to learn about new music.

When asked which ways they learn about new music, 63 percent said by listening to the radio.
In comparison, 43 percent said it can be through talking with friends, 41 percent cited watching television, 24 percent cited reviews in newspapers or magazines, and 16 percent cited the internet.

Men, Women and Internet Radio

Men are more likely than women to listen to the radio over the Internet.

Forty percent of men, compared with 32 percent of women, said they have listened to the radio over the Internet, but the gender gap is likely to close in the future. Forty-two percent of men and 41 percent of women (a statistically insignificant difference) described themselves as likely to listen to radio over the Internet in the future.

The telephone survey of 1,008 Americans adults was conducted Aug. 11-13, 2006, by the national polling firm of GfK NOP of Princeton, N.J. The survey is considered accurate within plus or minus 3 percentage points.

It's safe to say that commercial radio, like the rest of the commercial media, is in a state of flux.

Word came last week from The New York Times that Clear Channel, the mega-chain with some 1,200 radio stations (including a half-dozen in Milwaukee) was considering selling some of its radio properties. The number floating around is 72 stations.

That story follows a study by American Media Services that says a quarter of Americans listen to less radio than they did five years ago. Radio advertising revenue is down, as well.

The listener study stresses the positives, which isn't a surprise since American Media Services is a radio station broker. But it does show troubling signs for the industry.

Almost 54% of respondents to the survey say they haven't heard anything about high-definition radio, which the industry sees as a way to battle the growth of satellite radio. A number of Milwaukee stations are broadcasting high-def signals, although there are few radios in circulation that can pick up the ultra-crisp sound.

Satellite radio is having its own problems right now. Although the numbers of subscribers are growing for XM and Sirius - with Sirius growing more quickly these days, thanks at least partially to Howard Stern - they're not pulling in money quite yet.

Talk continues to circulate that the satellite competitors will merge, which would create one larger competitor for old-fashioned terrestrial radio.

Add that to people, especially younger potential listeners, who program their own music choices on their iPods, and commercial radio has some problems to deal with.

Take all this into account when you hear of changes at your favorite radio stations.

Reach Tim Cuprisin at (414) 224-2397 or e-mail him at tcuprisin@journalsentinel.com.