Spike Networks Ltd., the first global Internet media group to base itself on the Hollywood studio, this week launched Spike Internet Radio Inc., the world’s first 24/7 Internet radio station targeting youth worldwide.
“The Internet is a nation unto itself. Youth is its natural citizenship.
Spike intends to be its national broadcaster,” said C. Chris O’Hanlon, CEO of
Spike Networks Limited.
Spike Networks, which recently relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles from
Australia, originated as a strategic Internet services company before
evolving into Asia-Pacific’s leading Internet media company. This visibility
in the marketplace has created such a following in the region’s business and
investment communities, that when the company listed on the Australian stock
exchange last week, it was so heavily oversubscribed that the company had to
scale back general public applications.
Beginning August 1, listeners from around the world can tune into Spike Radio to hear aggressive original programming, stocked with an
attitude-laden mix of music, news and chat. Melding streaming audio and video over the
Internet, the network is re-engineering the traditional broadcast radio
format to create an international forum with unlimited opportunities for
constant, live interaction with its audience.
Revenue will be derived
primarily through advertising, sponsorships and eventually e-commerce in such
areas as concerts, tickets and merchandising.
Appealing to what the company terms a “virtual nation,” SpikeRadio will
deliver stylized content from the international worlds of visual arts,
politics, fashion, adventure sports and technology as well as news and
information on social and environmental issues. To tailor content for
geographic relevancy, local news and issues will be covered through
collaboration with a network of community or public access radio stations
around the world. Further enhancing its universal appeal and content,
SpikeRadio’s on-air personalities will represent a wide range of
nationalities and ethnic backgrounds.
“From both consumer and advertiser points of view, broadcast radio as we know
it is dying,” O’Hanlon said. “The youth market is now an
international culture immersed in a digital lifestyle and the Internet is the
only way to reach them logistically and intellectually. Plus, advertisers
realize Internet radio not only offers continuous, targeted access to this
culture, but it also will prove to be an extremely efficient way to segment
the audience for more strategic marketing efforts.”
According to Ashley Farr, SpikeRadio’s CEO, several major U.S., Japanese,
European and Australian companies are already on board with Spike and are
considering yearlong advertising commitments.
Unlike traditional radio
organizations that receive revenues based on audience size, SpikeRadio plans
to sign up advertisers on a monthly or annual basis regardless of the number
of listeners which, by company estimates, total 2.5 million.
The company will eventually provide advertisers with online database management systems that
capture user data including stated and inferred user preferences and enable
advertisers to interact directly and immediately with its users.
