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West Central, Michigan

Thursday, January 12, 2017

STREAMING UPDATE FROM WION RADIO...



As many of you know, WION pulled it's streaming from the web this month as 2017 began. We did this while a solution to keeping the current app and player service going, while meeting new requirements for the "legal" side of things get integrated.
 
Streaming to you is not inexpensive. We pay additional fees to most of the terrestrial licensing companies over and above our usual terrestrial (AM/FM) licenses, plus we are required to pay an organization called "Soundexchange" for our music played on the web. On top of that, each artist, title, album from which the music came, and more data has to be collected and reported by WION to the licensing companies.

We've streamed since February of 2013, so almost 4 years. We covered most of the expenses and legalities with minimal bother to the listener thanks to 2 or 3 sponsors who specifically went "on the air" to help us with this great service. Since pulling the service, these sponsors have graciously remained to help support WION's regular over the air broadcasts, and we've extended extra airtime to them.

We're working on returning the streaming to your phones, our website, your Amazon Echo devices, internet radios, Tune-in Radio and other places you're used-to hearing us. To do this, we have to hire two monitoring services that will make sure all music is accounted-for, royalties paid, and reports submitted to the authorities that oversee copyright law for radio in the United States. Until now, WION's streaming was handled in-house with less cost, but now it has to be outsourced to guarantee consistency and compliance with new rules.

This is not a small undertaking, nor inexpensive. We understand how important the stream became too many of you for traveling, for listening during nighttime hours to WION, and even at your place of work. With that in mind, we have one request.

If the business for which you work was enjoying our streaming service, and is also advertising on our station, make sure you THANK your management for placing advertising on WION. A good example would be Sparrow-Ionia Hospital and Blundy-Hoppes Tire & Auto. If, on the other hand the business for which you work is enjoying WION and is NOT an advertiser, we ask simply that you talk to your management and ask them to consider advertising on WION. We'll help their business grow, and their dollars spent on WION will help us to maintain our excellent service to the community via every available means, including streaming. We won't "guilt" businesses into advertising. We know our product is well accepted by listeners and GREAT advertisers who endorse local radio. (they KNOW it works!)

That having been said, as Owner and Manager, I do feel it's within my reasonable rights to ask business owners who enjoy our product to support us with at least SOME advertising dollars. We know money is tight at times, but we also know that when businesses advertise on WION and allow us to exercise some creativity on their behalf, we all win, and local business grows and thrives.

Streaming has helped put Ionia County on the map, and we hope you value what this radio station contributes to our town and our area. With some changes in how we do things to adapt to current regulations, and hopefully at least ONE Premier sponsor for streaming in 2017 going forward, we hope never to have to interrupt your service again.

Understand that the interruption in streaming is caused by excessive requirements in reporting, and additional costs incurred this year; not because WION wishes to reduce service to you. On the contrary, we hope your AM STEREO experience on the web is back and playing in your homes, phones, cars, and businesses very soon.

Jim Carlyle, Owner and Morning Host,

WION