It’s curious that while increasing numbers of people are sampling Internet Radio that it hasn’t garnered sufficient Time Spent Listening (TSL) to threaten terrestrial radio.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Internet radio includes the distribution of both terrestrial and Internet-Only Radio stations.  On the surface, Internet Radio is easy to use thus addressing my long-held maxim: For the most part, people will not pay money nor invest any energy in obtaining radio/audio that—despite complaints about radio—they’re now receiving for free.  Internet Radio suffers from the handicap of obvious ease of use in the car, although easy-to-use iPod plug-ins also don’t appear to have broadsided in-car radio listening either.

In general, listeners are sampling Internet Radio about once or twice a month, but they’re not making it a significant part of their listening routine.  Could be that the maze of stations is too confusing and/or–with the exception of a very small percentage of listeners—people aren’t finding Internet radio compelling.  Too often Internet-Only Radio has—like their terrestrial brethren–cut costs thus making the service into a glorified jukebox.  In not being able to air terrestrial commercials, Over The Air station’s stop sets on the Internet are painful to wade through.

There are a very small percentage of Internet Radio listeners who chalk up substantial quarter hours listening to audio services via the Internet.  Whether these people find Internet Radio more convenient and/or compelling seems worthy of investigation in trying to unlock the key for sustained, significant Internet Radio listening.