For its part, BroadcastAmerica, which started in late 1998, last month attracted more than 1.5 million unique listeners. The Maine company has forged partnerships with about 750 radio stations and networks, about three times as many as SurferNetwork. Streaming audio is an industry that needs consolidation, with recognized brand names to help users make sense of the Net's infinite space. The combined company would have online deals with more than 1,000 stations, about 10 percent of the U.S. total, as well as with stations from four European countries. Free to users, streaming media services make money just as radio stations do, from advertisements played between songs and other content.
Revenue is shared with broadcasters.
SurferNetwork hopes to attract advertisers with its ad replacement technology, which can send ads to individual users based on their preferences. Online content and entertainment companies have struggled to make profits. Advertising dollars have slowed and, with broadband replacing telephone modems at slower than expected rates, listeners have continued to be plagued by poky Internet connection speeds. SurferNetwork was born in December as the first company sprung from Geode Electronics LLC, a technology incubator also based in Mount Olive, N.J. Bridge has served as CEO for e-commerce company ConnectInc. Plans call for BroadcastAmerica president John Brier and CEO Alex Lauchlan, as well as another Maine executive, to serve on the new company's board, along with Bridge and SurferNetwork's three founders.