Update at bottom
One of the guiding principles of StreamingRadioGuide is that the list of stations for a program is sorted by prior visitor’s choices. The theory is that the “best” stations will sort to the top, whatever that means based on the thought process and experience of the visitors. This is basically the same idea under the current Google ranking process and the original FindAnISP web site.
Stations that run pre-stream ads, frequent sports preemptions of a program, or have reliability or quality issues are penalized – but for the most part the rest is up to he people using the site. [qualifiers out of the way]
If I own/run an “over the air” radio station – the thing to worry about is that when people have a choice to listen on a free stream from a syndicator/CRN or an over the air affiliate, there is a strong willingness to listen to a free syndicator stream rather than an out-of-market local station.
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Top 50 Streaming Stations
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KCMO AM [Savage/Hannity]
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Kansas City, MO
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3,385
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WCOA AM [Limbaugh]
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Pensacola, FL
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2,474
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WVNN AM [Limbaugh]
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Athens, AL
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2,021
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WABC AM/HD [Limbaugh/Hanntiy/Imus]
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New York, NY
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1,992
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WOGO AM [Ingraham]
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Hallie, WI
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1,840
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KIXW AM [Limbaugh/Ingraham]
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Apple Valley, CA
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1,146
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KLIF AMHD [Glenn Beck]
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Dallas, TX
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1,134
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WINK AM [Beck/Levin]
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Fort Myers, FL
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1,082
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WSBA AM [Beck / Limbaugh]
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York, PA
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1,060
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KSFA AM [Beck / Levin]
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Nacogdoches, TX
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1,022
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KFAY AM [Limbaugh / Beck]
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Farmington, AR
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998
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KWAM AM [Beck]
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Memphis, TN
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997
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KYCR AM [Quinn & Rose / Dr Laura]
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Golden Valley, MN
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942
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WTNT AM/HD [Ingraham / Monica Crowley]
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Bethesda, MD
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931
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CRN #3 [Medved]
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Cable Radio Network
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919
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KBYR AM [Ingraham]
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Anchorage, AK
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824
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TRN 3 [Savage]
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Syndicator
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766
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KDWN AM/HD [Savage / JerryDoyle]
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Las Vegas, NV
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724
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East Point, GA
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686
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Pittsburgh, PA
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631
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Little Rock, AR
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610
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Boise, ID
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596
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Avon, NY
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596
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Toledo, OH
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584
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Zeeland, MI
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563
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Portland, OR
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559
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Stevens Point, WI
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551
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Lake Charles, LA
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533
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Washington, DC
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500
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CRN #4 [Mancow]
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Cable Radio Network
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483
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FOX News [Brian & the Judge, Gibson]
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Syndicator
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458
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CRN #2 [CRN Sports without regard to schedule]
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Cable Radio Network
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449
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Denver, CO
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423
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Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM
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422
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San Diego, CA
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410
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Boone, IA
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401
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Denver, CO
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382
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Selah, WA
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380
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Grand Junction, CO
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364
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Chicago, IL
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356
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San Francisco, CA
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341
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Los Angeles, CA
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326
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Richmond, VA
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325
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Colorado Springs, CO
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322
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Nampa, ID
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322
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Toledo, OH
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320
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Gainesville, GA
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312
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Colfax, IL
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299
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Tulsa, OK
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286
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Troutdale, OR
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286
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I have several theories about why
- Never a sports preemption
- stream is higher quality having gone through fewer digital relays/encodings
(why are syndicators still using satellites for program distribution?) - commercials either don’t exist or are much less annoying than local PSAs
- shows are not on live on broadcast stations or not available at all
- Fast startup with no pre-stream ads
- It’s always up – many local stations don’t monitor their streams 24/7
I don’t want to make too much noise about this – because affiliates might turn up the heat for TRN, Fox and CRN to turn off those feeds. Premiere and Westwood One try to derive subscription revenue from streaming and work to varying degrees to limit stations’ ability to stream. TRN offers a paid streaming/podcast service, but I think only about 3 people in the world know that.
If the NAB caves to government pressure and some form of “government enforced balance” shows up and the stations start dropping syndicated programs (think Rush Limbaugh), the syndicator becoming the source for direct listening using the Internet is a real threat to any attempt to reimpose “fairness” on radio.. The FCC has no jurisdiction over what services people offer over the web (yet).
*** Updated April 18 2009 ***
It looks like CRN is now requiring registration to listen to their streams and TRN is blocking CRN from streaming their shows. It’s good to know someone actually is reading this!