URL Offers Online Radio
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| Emily Catalano |
| 11/2/2009 |
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| Turning the dial on a radio is becoming less and less common, thanks to the advent of Internet radio stations. They`re small, locally owned outlets that provide original content to online listeners. URL Radio is an online-only radio station that broadcasts out of a small studio in Bismarck. It was started by two friends who saw a hole in the broadcasting market. "Talk show hosts are taking their shows to Internet stations," says co-founder Nicole Morrison-Mathern. "The Internet is bigger than the phone book nowadays and so, we`re like, lets take it there, and we`re not limited to just this area. After learning that starting a regular radio station would cost over $500,000, Stacy Sturm and Morrison Mathern started looking at other options. "When we were looking at the expenses and actually looking at where radio is going to be in five years, it seems like almost everybody is going to be on the Internet anyways, so we might as well just beat everybody there, and already be the established leader," Sturm says. The two started gathering daily and weekly hosts, and broadcasting local shows, like this Department of Commerce hour. And because they broadcast exclusively online, they don`t have to conform to the standards of other radio stations. "I love Internet radio, just because of the freedom," Sturm says. "We`re not FCC regulated, which means we could go absolutely crazy, but we are common sense regulated. But I just love the fact that we can play whatever we want. We can play whatever people want, we can have whatever kind of programming we want on." So far, they say their business model is working. The station has been averaging about 40,000 listeners each month. It`s a sweet success for the pair, who weren`t so sure that people would tune in. URL Radio has listeners in 52 countries and 48 states. The only states that haven`t tuned in yet are Vermont and Delaware. |
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