Radio actors want to be paid extra if their commercials appear on Internet broadcasts in addition to the radio. Advertisers balked at the additional payment and persuaded radio stations to simply pull down all their webcasts commercials, music, everything. It's like removing a mole on your hand by cutting off your arm. The answer may be a machine that splits a radio station's broadcast signal into two streams one for the radio, one for the Web. This is good news for radio stations, which are desperate to get their webcasts back up potentially, they are a huge source of revenue and additional listeners.
Some inventive broadcasters are one step ahead of the pack.
KFOG, a San Francisco adult alternative station, has one of the nation's more popular webcasts, according to MeasureCast, a firm that monitors radio Web listening. KFOG is no longer allowed to transmit commercials over the Internet without permission. We'll continue with regular KFOG programming soon. The music continues for the duration of the commercial break several minutes. Then, it's back to the music and deejays.