CustomChannels.net Press Releases and Industry News


September 2008
Christmas Watch 2008 – WAJI Fort Wayne Gets Season Underway

Christmas just keeps coming earlier and earlier every year and CustomChannels.net has launched the first Holiday Music Channel of the year for WAJI “Majic 95.1” in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Read the full press release here.

June, 2008
John Bradley
of CustomChannels.net and SBR as featured in Fortune Magazine on CNNMoney.com.
See the article here.

June, 2008
CustomChannels.net launches In-Store Radio pilot for Whole Foods Market

Boulder, CO - Tom Rich is the store Team Leader of the busy Whole Foods Market on Pearl Street. And almost as much as he's into the locally-grown produce, fresh meats and seafood, organic dairy products and whole grain breads, he's into music. All kinds of music: rock, blues, folk, oldies, indie, bluegrass, world music. you name it. But short of programming his own iPod, Tom just couldn't find the right mix of eclectic music that fit the pace and vibe of Whole Foods Market. After trying other music services, Tom called CustomChannels.net to create a radio station for his store: Whole Foods Radio. "Whole Foods Radio has a very unique sound - it's organic and active - just like the stores themselves" said Dave Rahn, co-president of CustomChannels.net. CustomChannels manages a live, 24/7 stream of custom music programming directly to five Colorado Whole Foods Markets. The company hopes to expand the service to additional Whole Foods Market locations in the near future.

May, 2008
Emmis Communications' 101.9 WRXP Adds On-Line Radio from CustomChannels.net

New York - 101.9 RXP has retained CustomChannels.net to add three new online channels to it's website at www.1019rxp.com. In addition to RXP's live stream, listeners can now tune into the RXP New Music Channel, RXP Deep Tracks Channel and the RXP Nor'easter. In the short time since 101.9 RXP burst onto the New York Radio dial in February, the music-intensive station has gained a loyal following among New York music fans. "The RXP On-Line Channels help underscore what the idea behind RXP is all about," said John Bradley co-president of CustomChannels and a programming consultant to RXP. "The channels also allow RXP to go deeper and wider musically than is even possible over the air to superserve different audience interests. The New Music Channel for example goes beyond the singles and gives listeners the opportunity to really immerse themselves in new music. The Deep Tracks Channel features a lot of "B sides" and live tracks and the Nor'easter dives into the vast world of local, New York area bands." Listen to the 101.9 RXP On-Line channels at www.1019rxp.com.

January 1, 2008
SBR spawns CustomChannels.net, LLC; Focus on Digital In-Store and On-Line audio entertainment.

Boulder, CO - SBR Creative Media has been running its CustomChannels service since late 1999, specializing in providing on-line streaming and HD Radio "side channels" for radio stations. Now, SBR has set up CustomChannels.net, LLC as a wholly owned subsidiary of SBR Creative Media. While the people running CustomChannels.net will remain the same, the change is more than symbolic. "By setting up CustomChannels.net as it's own business entity, it shows our commitment to grow in the area of digitally delivered audio entertainment to a wider variety of clientele" said CustomChannels.net manager and SBR co president Dave Rahn. "Custom In-Store Radio will be a major new focus CustomChannels.net in the coming year in addition to growing our on-line radio client base" said Rahn.

November, 2007
Major Broadcasters tap CustomChannels.net for Holiday Music Channels

Boulder, CO - Leading Philadelphia Soft Rock station WBEB (B101) Philadelphia is well known for "going all Christmas Music" each holiday season. This year, B101 is offering its listeners more ways to listen to Christmas Music - and the station's regular Soft Rock blend - both online and over-the air. B101 has contracted with CustomChannels.net to create an exclusive, on-line, All-Christmas stream for listeners that just can't wait for the station to change format on-air the air. Then, when B101 does "flip format" for the holidays, listeners needing an occasional break from the holiday cheer will be able to tune into an on-line version of B101 featuring the station's regular (non Christmas) on-line mix. CustomChannels.net will serve up fully-branded, Christmas music streams for 75 radio stations this year. In addition to B101, other clients include New York News/Talk powerhouse 1010 WINS, Greater Media's WMJX/Magic 106.7 in Boston, Adult Rock WXRT Chicago, Country leader KSON San Diego and dozens more. Click here for more information on CustomChannels.net's annual Holiday Music Channels.

April, 2007
CBS Radio Taps CustomChannels.net for AT&T Blueroom On-Line Radio Channels.

New York - CBS Radio, a division of CBS Corporation and one of the nation's largest owner and operator of radio stations (140 stations nationwide) has contracted with SBR CustomChannels.net to provide five custom-branded on-line radio channels for CBS Radio client AT&T Blueroom. AT&T blueroom is a premier music and concert portal with emphasis on music, videos, interviews and live webcasts from major music festivals around the country. CBS Radio is a content partner for AT&T Blueroom. "We have a great track record of working with many individual CBS stations over the years and we're really pleased to be a part of this exciting, high-profile opportunity for CBS and AT&T Blueroom," said CustomChannels' co-president Dave Rahn. AT&T Blueroom Radio will feature year 'round channels such as Rock, Hits, Mix and Country plus a "festival channel" that will highlight music from major music festivals including Bonnaroo, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Austin City Limits, Vegoose and others.

March 2007
CustomChannnels.net releases whitepaper concerning 2006-2010 Webcast Royalty Rates
A three judge Copyright Royalty Board has issued its decision regarding royalties webcasters must pay to record labels for the use of music in on-line radio for the term 2006-2010. CustomChannels.net, alongside major broadcasters and webcasters, participated in the contentious, 18-month long process. Following the CRB determination, CustomChannels.net's David Rahn prepared a whitepaper on the decision, entitled, "The New Webcast Royalties - What they are, what happens next and what you should be prepared for." A PDF of the whitepaper can be downloaded here.

February, 2007
CustomChannels.net serves up Chipotle Radio for Chipotle Mexican Grill
Denver - Walk into any of the nearly 600 Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) locations across the U.S. for a burrito and one immediately notices the energy of the music in the dining rooms. As steak and veggies sizzle on the grill, an eclectic mix of world, indie rock, salsa, Latin, Americana, funk and more flows from the speakers. Music is such a part of the Chipotle Mexican Grill experience that music lovers can now listen to Chipotle Radio anytime at www.Chipotle.com (click restaurants | music). Chipotle Mexican Grill chose CustomChannels.net to provide a custom on-line radio solution to mirror the music played in Chipotle's. "There are two things we really love around here - Chipotle burritos and music. Chipotle Radio is a great station to have on at the office on a Friday afternoon," said Bodie Johnson, CustomChannels' customer service manager.

July, 2006
Entercom Communications Signs Up CustomChannels.net to Coordinate HD2 Radio Channels.
Boulder, CO - With over 100 radio stations in 23 markets across the country, setting up an additional 50 or 60 HD2 stations with quality programming can be a daunting logistical technical challenge. So, Entercom Communications Corporation has selected CustomChannels.net to design and build their network of digital "side channels" to be broadcast on stations' HD2 signals and webcast on-line. "This is a challenging project, but one that's right up our alley given our programming and technical experience creating on-line radio stations for years" said Dave Rahn, co-president of SBR Custom Channels. The project will entail working with individual format program directors to create 10 or more new music-based formats and then distributing that programming live to over 50 individual stations' digital transmitters. The CustomChannels.net solution enables individual Entercom stations to utilize "network" music programming while having complete control over local content, promos, public service announcements and commercials. Stations also have the option of streaming their HD2 channels on-line. For more information click here.

February, 2006
Greater Media Boston Taps SBR CustomChannels for HD2 Channels
Boulder - SBR CustomChannels announced it will be coordinating music and programming for two new HD2 channels for Greater Media stations WMJX and WBOS in Boston. WMJX HD2 will feature a Smooth Jazz format while WBOS HD2, The WBOS Coffee House, will have an acoustic music focus.

July, 2005
CustomChannels.net serves up national New Music Channel for Triple A Station Websites.
Boulder, CO - SBR Creative Media, through it's CustomChannels.net service, has launched the New Music Channel (NMC), a 24/7, on-line radio channel featuring recent releases from new and established Triple A artists. SBR CustomChannels is offering a branded version of the NMC free to select Triple A Radio stations to promote from their websites. "The NMC is a great way for Triple A stations to bring a wider variety and depth of new music to their musically curious listeners," said John Bradley, SBR CustomChannels co-president and program director of the NMC. "It's also a great way for artists and record labels to showcase their new projects to a wide audience," he added. SBR CustomChannels makes a limited number sponsorship positions available to record labels and artists per month. Stations receive a branded media player and NMC website page, and the opportunity to insert localized promos and commercials. The NMC can be accessed through any of 20 NMC affiliate station sites including WXRT Chicago, KBCO Denver, KTCZ/Cities 97 Minneapolis, WTTS Indianapolis and many others.

June, 2005
CBS Radio's Dallas Stations go online with CustomChannels.net
Dallas - Under the direction of CEO Mel Karmizan, CBS Radio owned and operated radio stations aren't known for streaming their stations on-line. While streaming isn't expressly verboten at CBS, technical, legal, revenue and other concerns make local station streaming - and especially music streaming - a tough sell to the higher-ups in New York. But CustomChannels.net has come up with a novel new way to enable CBS's four-station cluster in Dallas including KJKK/Jack-FM, KOAI/The Oasis, KLUV and KVIL to stream on-line: by creating custom on-line versions of CBS's over-the-air formats. By creating on-line versions of the stations, hosted and managed by CustomChannels.net, CBS is able to contract out the tasks of technology and webcast-compliance (i.e. music royalties, ad insertion and trafficking, etc) to CustomChannels.net. CustomChannels' Dave Rahn said "We were able to make this practically turn-key for the stations - everything is built and programmed to their exact specifications, but since we do all of the heavy-lifting behind the scenes, it's a service that passes muster at [CBS] corporate - it's a win-win situation for stations that want to be on-line, but need creative solutions."

April 2005
KINK-FM Portland Streams Four On-Line Side Channels with CustomChannels.net
Portland, OR - KINK FM has long been known for playing a wide variety of diverse programming - everything from rock and pop to acoustic, blues, jazz and more. KINK has teamed up with CustomChannels.net to expand its on-line offerings with four new on-line audio channels: The KINK Blues Room, Acoustic KINK, KINK Lights Out and the KINK New Music Channel. The channels allow KINK to superserve listeners with diverse music interests 2/7 all within the powerful KINK brand. KINK Program Director Dennis Constantine said, "The channels help us create a stronger bond with our listeners. We know that when they're listening to our channels, they're not listening to their iPod or satellite radio." CustomChannels.net provides KINK with music and programming coordination and hosting, streaming, custom media players and SoundExchange music royalties.

October, 2005
SBR CustomChannels to Participate in Copyright Royalty Board Proceeding on Webcast rates.
Washinginton, DC - If the sides can't agree, they'll have to go see the judge. That's what's happening in the on-going struggle between on-line radio webcasters and the record industry. At stake is what webcasters must pay record labels and artists for the right to "perform" sound recordings over the Internet. SBR CustomChannels has been in the webcasting business since early 2000 and the rates the small company pays to SoundExchange (a collective agency representing record labels) each year are eye-popping. Still, SoundExchange wants to raise the royalty rates even higher starting in 2006 through 2010. So, SBR CustomChannels' co-president David Rahn, along with dozens of other large and small webcasters and broadcast groups, will take his case to a three-judge Copyright Royalty Board that will hear arguments from both sides and make a decision. The case is expected to take a year or longer to complete. A copy of Rahn's Direct Testimony to the CRB can be found here.

October, 2005
WJJO Madison Makes Active Rock Move To Milwaukee with CustomChannels.
Milwaukee - When Saga Communications flipped longtime rocker Laser 103 to classic rock "The Hog" last month, heritage active rock station WJJO in nearby Madison saw an opportunity - even though their signal barely reaches Milwaukee. The Madison station launched "JJOMilwaukee.com", an on-line station targeted to hard rock fans in Milwaukee left without a station after the demise of Laser 103. WJJO teamed with CustomChannels.net to create and manage the music programming, stream, custom media player and webcast royalties. Billed as "Solid Rock JJOMilwaukee - Harder, Louder, Faster", JJOMilwaukee will be localized to the Milwaukee market, featuring local concert info, advertisers and promotions.

November 2004
Over 50 stations to go "All Christmas" on-line with CustomChannels.net Holiday Music Channels.
Boulder, CO - Despite the fact that many stations have turned off their year-round live streams due to concerns over bandwidth, music royalty and AFTRA licensing costs, SBR CustomChannels reports a record number of stations signing up for its Holiday Music Channel service this year. CustomChannels provides stations with turn-key, fixed-price customized programming and streaming of a 24/7 All-Christmas-Music version of client stations' formats during the holidays. "The number of stations coming to us just keeps growing year after year" reports Dave Rahn, co-president of SBR CustomChannels. "Clearly, stations are finding Holiday Channels a great way to serve listeners and generate additional revenue in 4th quarter." Some notable participating stations in 2004 include Clear Channel's WSNI/Sunny 104.5 in Philadelphia, the entire 10-station Delmarva Broadcasting Group, CBS Radio's WXRT in Chicago and dozens more. Click here for more information on CustomChannels.net's Holiday Music Channel offerings.

May, 2004
CustomChannels.net launches Custom On-line Radio for Bonnaroo Music Festival
Boulder, CO - The Bonnaroo Music Festival has chosen CustomChannels.net to create and manage its Bonnaroo Radio on-line radio station for it's website at www.bonnaroo.com. Bonnaroo Radio features music, interviews and live performances from past and present Bonnaroo Music Festival artists. The Bonnaroo Music Festival, first held in 2002, has become the nation's preeminent multi-day music festival highlight established and emerging artists like Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, My Morning Jacket, Jason Mraz and dozens more. Listen to Bonnaroo Radio at www.bonnaroo.com.