RadioIDL aims for wider market with Internet blues station
Written by Media Encounters INC on March 27, 2023
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Radio IDL owner Media Encounters LLC is developing RadioBlues.us, an Internet radio station focusing on the international market.
This station generally uses the same infrastructure Media Encounters CEO and President Shannon Moudy developed for the 2-year-old RadioIDL.com. With no marketing, Radio Blues has generated more than 100,000 listening visits in its first month, Moudy said.
That compares to the 5 million monthly listens charted by Radio IDL. That places Moudy’s first creation among the world’s 10 most-followed blues stations, according to rankings by iTunes, ShoutCast.com and RadioForest.net.
Starting Radio Blues represents a strategic change for Media Encounters. Moudy had planned on using Radio IDL as a template for building small-market Web stations across the U.S. But as his flagship started attracting loyal listeners around the world, Moudy decided to focus on building a Tulsa-based companion serving that international audience.“From a branding view, Radio Blues gives us a broader reach,” Moudy said. “It’s really about branding.”
Media Encounters used the .us suffix to define its advertising parameters and recognize its historic base, he said.
“The blues is a U.S. music, so while other countries are embracing it and loving it, it is all about the U.S. sound,” he said. “With Radio Blues, it has the capability of encompassing the global reach.”
The new station uses about a third of Radio IDL’s existing programming, as well as its catalog of 180,000 tunes, Moudy said. Media Encounters has developed three shows for the new station and is designing more. It also receives airtime from a growing group of on-air personalities, including Moudy, who between the two stations broadcasts eight hours a day Monday through Friday.
Several elements of Radio Blues must still be completed before Media Encounters officially rolls out the new station, said Chief Marketing Officer eLiz, who prefers to go by one name. Those issues include assembling Radio Blues’ contracted sales staff and finishing its logo design.
Moudy foresees few problems with overlapping audiences. While Radio IDL, which stands for the inner dispersal loop of highways encircling downtown Tulsa, has attracted fans on each continent, Moudy said about 50 percent of its audience hails from the 918 area code, and 80 percent draws from Oklahoma and four neighboring states.
“We have small pockets of listeners all over the world, but they’re small pockets,” he said . “Radio Blues is our effort to make that same number globally. I don’t see them really competing with each other.”
Focusing on Radio Blues instead of multiple small stations also allows Media Encounters to better manage its costs. While Radio IDL advertising revenue has risen 30 percent from a year ago, eLiz said company profits have been redirected into establishing new programs and equipment.
“Every city has the local music being played, but we only have limited staff,” she said. “With our partnership with Cox, we saw the business opportunity to jump to a central beast.”
Using Cox Digital Media, Moudy said Radio Blues may track where its Internet listeners are. That will allow the station to provide geographically focused marketing across the U.S., just as Radio IDL does in the Tulsa area.
“We want to get to the same numbers that Radio IDL gets,” Moudy said. “We believe it will exceed it, but we want those numbers.”
Information from: The Journal Record, https://www.journalrecord.com
That compares to the 5 million monthly listens charted by Radio IDL. That places Moudy’s first creation among the world’s 10 most-followed blues stations, according to rankings by iTunes, ShoutCast.com and RadioForest.net.
Radio IDL owner Media Encounters LLC is developing RadioBlues.us, an Internet radio station focusing on the international market.
Source: RadioIDL aims for wider market with Internet blues station
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