As we've seen in years past, Internet radio entered a period of "summer doldrums" in June, according to Triton Digital's new Webcast Metrics. Most webcasters on the Top 20 ranker (Domestic Mon-Sun 6a-12m daypart) were flat or declined month-to-month, including industry leaders Pandora, Clear Channel, Slacker and CBS.
But the Top 20 chart in June also included a new entrant: NPR Member Stations, which came in at #16 with an AAS of 5,605. In March, NPR announced it would make Triton's Webcast Metrics and other services available to member stations (RAIN coverage here).
"Summer doldrums" are a period of flat or declining audience levels traditionally seen during the warm weather months as people vacation and generally spend less time in the office (where a majority of web radio listening takes place).
Pandora's AAS (Average Active Sessions, essentially equivalent to AQH) declined 2% month-to-month, reaching 1,215,904. That's up 143% year-over-year. Meanwhile, #2-ranked Clear Channel declined 1% month-to-month with an AAS of 181,679 in June. The broadcaster is up 126% year-over-year.
Ranked at #3, CBS Radio saw a sharper decline: down 8% month-to-month to reach 52,443 (down 44% year-over-year). And #4-slotted Slacker (which includes AOL Radio) dropped 2% month-to-month. The webcaster now stands at 48,502, up 58% year-over-year.
Bucking the trend, AccuRadio saw its AAS increase by 11%.
Radio One / Interactive One saw the largest month-to-month percentage decline with a 17% drop. Most other webcasters in the Top 20 ranker saw month-to-month declines of 0-5%.
(The chart above shows the growth of Pandora, CBS, Clear Channel, the top 5 terrestrial radio groups and Slacker from September 2009 through June 2012. Note that Pandora's AAS numbers from December 2010 through mid-August 2011 were affected by the omission of tracking code in some of its mobile apps. Click to view in full size.)
You can find the Domestic Mon-Sun 6a-12m ranking below. Find out more from Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics report here (PDF) and find our coverage of May 2012’s ratings here.
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