Radio

Radio is the leading media platform with the most reach. 93% of us listen to radio over FM/AM frequency airwaves, or via the internet, as opposed to 85% TV viewership, and 50% PC users. 295 Million American people over 6 years old listen to the radio each week, and over 65 Million people of the Millennial generation. The existence of radio waves and the feasibility of radio transmission was predicted by James Clark Maxwell in the 1860s. News/Talk/Information radio stations are some of the most popular stations, with an 11% share of total radio listeners. The word 'broadcasting', referring to radio transmissions, was originally an agricultural term for the wide scattering of seeds. Source: 2016 Nielsen Audio Today; Pew State of the News Media 2015 How can I run an internet radio station? Here's a brief explanation of how your station's audio stream gets from you to your audience: Source (You): Your computer produces audio, which can be live voice or music, then it converts it into a stream of data packets that are constantly sent to a server. Server (Provider): When your stream arrives at the server, it's cleaned up and dispensed to the appropriate channels. Listener (Everyone): Wherever and whenever your broadcast is online, if there's a direct streaming link to the server or via a player, anyone can connect to it and hear your output. Running an internet radio station is not necessarily difficult, and nothing should stand in your way, but it does require a certain amount of dedication. All you really need to start is a computer with the right software, but there are certain things such as a dedicated studio space and some good equipment (e.g. a decent microphone), that will be beneficial to have. Once you have your hardware, you need to download software that allows you to host your station and keep it online. Icecast is a good example of a user-friendly server project that streams in MP3 format. You'll then need to download WINAMP, plus the software that actually delivers the stream to your audience. One of the most common programs for this is SHOUTcast. For a full guide on how to set up an internet station, check out this link: