Radio in the internet age: Pandora's listenership is soaring, but traditional stations say con petition is nothing new.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: VYING FOR LISTENERS

Video may not have killed the radio star, but can radio survive Pandora?

The online radio industry was on the verge of collapse until it negotiated a more Favorable royalty system with record labels in 2008. Now music sites like Pandora and Spotify are serious competitors to good old-fashioned terrestrial radio.

"Pandora is one of the top, if not the top, radio stations in every market.," says John Hilton, executive director for Oakland, Calif.-based Pandora, highlighting a March 2012 total of 1 billion listener-hours, up 88 percent from March 2011. "'Hie company is passing its own personal bests all the time for users and usage."

Pandora touted a 5.79 percent share of the nationwide radio audience in March. Radio ratings leader Arbitron pegged only two subscribing stations KOA AM and KQMT FM - as having more than a 5.0 Marc in the Denver-Boulder market during the same month. With more room for smart phone adoption - penetration is still below 50 percent in the U.S. - and more Internet-ready vehicles rolling off assembly lines, it's hard to see Pandora's numbers going anywhere but up.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The move toward Pandora, Spotify and other digital options might represent a bigger threat to traditional terrestrial radio than anything; else. including satellite radio. Is this the end of the radio world as we know it?

Not so last, says Boll Cat l, general manages' of Lincoln Financial Media in Greenwood Village, owner of such Denver-market stadons as KYGO FM, 104.3 FM (The Fan) and Cruisin' Oldies 930 AM. "Whether its the advent of TV or cassette tapes, CDs or Pandora, the questions always come up about the future of radio," Call says. "Radio has changed and adapted to listeners and clients for 90 years. I am confident in tin' future."

Mike Henry, CEO of radio consulting firm Paragon Media Strategies in Denver and the creator of the "Jack" format, agrees. "New Media is trying to position Old 'Media as dead, but the fact of the matter is 93 percent of the public listens to traditional free radio every week," Henry says, describing what he sees as the onset of "Pandora fatigue" among listeners. "The industry has actually caught its stride in the last six months to a year."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Radio is corning Out of what Henry terms an industry-wide "depression": Nationwide advertising revenue for radio plunged from $18.1 billion in 2005 to 513.3 billion in 2009, according to media analyst BIA/Kelsey. It's on a positive track fir...