[BC] WOLF-FM

[Mark Humphrey]

I must mention one of the favorite webcasters I've found is Virgin Radio
from London.

Their main rock/pop program is a simulcast of 105.8 and the national 1215 AM
network, but the website also offers some secondary "brand extension"
services.   Virgin's primary format is based on classic rock, with a
rotation of current singles (mostly UK bands, no "pimp and whore culture"
hip-hop junk) and entertaining personalities around the clock.  I guess you
would call it AC -- but I don't hear the Celine Dion kind of stuff.

According to their Media Pack, the programming is targeted at "musically
disenfranchised 20-44 listeners too developed for 'one day wonder' chart
music, yet too young for gold format stations."

Every major codec format is available in both low and high bandwidth.
There's no question they view streaming as a means of growth -- rather than
something to be feared -- and they want to do it well:

http://www.virginradio.co.uk/thestation/listen/streams.html

Ogg Vorbis at ~ 160K sounds better than anything I can find on the
Philadelphia commercial FM band (for one thing, there's no pre-emphasis
limiting), the 128K MP3 feed is nearly as clean and includes PAD.    I
listen with Winamp though decent speakers and have no complaints.   Yes,
there are subtle artifacts, but nothing as obvious as US satellite or HD
Radio.

Take a look at Virgin Radio's home page, and you'll see their marketing
approach is noticeably different from the typical US mega-group station.
The emphasis is on the station, the content, and the listener -- not seeing
how many banner ads and  "sell me something else I don't need" links can be
crammed onto the screen.   But this just may be evidence of cultural
differences between the UK and US.

www.virginradio.co.uk/

Enjoy,
Mark

On 2/25/06, SteveOrdinetz <hykker at grolen.com> wrote:

>
> Aside from an occasional visit to reelradio.com, I almost never listen to
> webcasts.  I'm not really into anything so esoteric that I can't hear
> something I like off-air, and the vast majority of non-simulcasts are
> pretty amateurish sounding.
>
>