AM

It won't play Pandora (or even FM radio for that matter), but this DIY radio-in-a-bottle project featured by Lifehacker is a great way to spend a weekend. Besides apparently not being a terribly difficult project, the radio also requires no power source.

"Whether you want to build it out of nostalgia, to learn some new skills, or to pass skills on to the next generation, this is a fun and inexpensive way to do it," writes Lifehacker.

You can find their coverage here and the radio-in-a-bottle project here.

In what Radio-Info rightfully dubs "a unique twist," the web-only version of Chicago's alternative rock station Q101 is now simulcast on 1530 AM. The AM station, WJJG-AM, flipped from talk radio (featuring Michael Savage, Steve Dahl and others) over the weekend, reports Radio-Info. It now broadcasts the same content playing on Q101.com.

Chicago's Q101 was an FM station found at 101.1 FM. It was flipped to all-news by Merlin Media in July 2011 (RAIN coverage here). Broadcast Barter Radio Networks purchased Q101's intellectual property and website soon after the flip (RAIN coverage here).

You can find Radio-Info's coverage here.

The new Retro-Fi app adds static and tons of compression to whatever you're listening to on your Apple device, to recreate the effects of listening to music on AM radio.

Radio Survivor blogger Paul Riismandel writes, "Maybe Retro-Fi fits into the Instagram/Hipstamatic trend in iPhone photography, where these apps add effects to make your photos look like they came from forty year-old Kodak Instamatic camera... I do understand why an artist or record producer may want to add a AM radio effect to elements of a song, (but) I’m having a hard time seeing why anyone would want to use this app for more than a few minutes."

We'll wait and see if AM radio broadcasters ask the FCC to make this app mandatory on all mobile devices.

Read RadioSurvivor here, and download the app here. H/T on finding this story to Radio World here.

Inside Radio reported earlier in December that some broadcasters feared Arbitron's coming all-in-one measurement service would "siphon off radio ad dollars" to pureplay online radio sites like Pandora (RAIN coverage here).

Now more broadcast radio executives are speaking out against an "apples-to-apples comparison" between pureplay webcasters and AM/FM radio, but agencies are reportedly clamoring for such a service.

Cumlus Media COO John Dickey worries Arbitron’s coming service will give Pandora Arbitron's "good housekeeping stamp of approval." Hubbard Radio EVP/COO Drew Horowitz reportedly said: "Taking a totally different business model and saying it’s the same as our model would be a very frightening approach." 

Arbitron EVP/COO Sean Creamer acknowledged broadcasters' fears, stating that “there is a level of concern on the part of over-the-air broadcasters about this increasing the threat to their pot of money from the pureplays and how they will fit into the service offerings.”

Meanwhile, "both buyers and sellers say universal audio measurement is needed to drive more dollars into the streaming audio marketplace," reports Inside Radio.

Fraser's Vivian Silverman says an all-in-one ratings platform would help "explain to a client in simple terms how they work together or how one might be more efficient for them in one of their buys." Former TargetSpot chief revenue officer Andy Lipset argued "It would be a game-changer in how media buyers and planners look at streaming."

“Not having [a cross-platform measurement] will hold us back from embracing some of the steaming elements on any large scale," said Maribeth Papuga, Mediavest EVP and director of local investment and activation.

But Inside Radio reports that broadcasters' fears may delay Arbitron's Total Audience Measurement service from launching, as it relies on server-side log files from broadcasters.

"We’d be hard pressed to provide" Arbitron with the necessary data for Total Audience Measurement, Dickey reportedly said. "We’re very skeptical."

Arbitron's Total Audience Measurement service would combine radio's over-the-air, web and mobile listening, with the addition of listening from pureplay webcasters (RAIN coverage here and here). It is unclear when the service will launch; Arbitron has previously stated the service will launch in 2012, but now reportedly says it "isn’t able to say whether its web ratings will go live in 2012."

Currently, the sole ratings service for the U.S. Internet radio industry is Triton Digital Media’s Webcast Metrics (formerly known as Ando Media).

You can subscribe to Inside Radio here.

According to Triton Digital, news/talk and sports AM/FM stations dominated other formats of online radio simulcasts in September. "Not a single [broadcast] music station was among the top ten most popular individual station streams in September [Domestic streams, Mon-Fri, 6am-8pm], according to Triton Digital data," writes Inside Radio.

The top ten list (at right) includes stations like New York's "The Fan" WFAN, WEEI in Boston and Chicago's WBEZ. Why no music stations in the list? Inside Radio says that broadcasters are pointing to competition from webcasters that let users customize the music they hear.

Spoken word stations, however, offer unique content and a "high level of engagement," said Entercom VP Tim Murphy. “People are starting to realize that this is about the brand, not internet radio,” he said. “Strong brands with great content are consumed voraciously by their fans in any way they can get it.”

The popularity of the news/talk format online has attracted advertisers, writes Inside Radio. For example, Cox Media Group's WSB "gets one of every three ad dollars spent on digital radio in Atlanta, according to Miller Kaplan data. That’s considerably higher than its share of on-air spot revenue...about 25% of WSB's digital revenue comes from in-stream audio ads."

You can read more by subscribing to the Inside Radio newsletter here.

Today RAIN is excited to bring you video coverage of Kurt Hanson's State of the Industry Address from RAIN Summit Chicago 2011.

In the video (embedded below), Hanson argues that we're not only entering a fourth golden age of radio, but that it's time to "pour it on." In ad revenue, audience size and more, Hanson shows how things are "moving faster than you think" when it comes to Internet radio.

You can also watch Pandora founder Tim Westergren's keynote from RAIN Summit Chicago 2011 right here and view photos from the event here. Stay tuned for more videos in the coming days!